Research into the hypoalgesic effect of swearing has shown that the use of
profanity
Profanity, also known as cursing, cussing, swearing, bad language, foul language, obscenities, expletives or vulgarism, is a socially offensive use of language. Accordingly, profanity is language use that is sometimes deemed impolite, rud ...
can help
reduce the sensation of
pain
Pain is a distressing feeling often caused by intense or damaging stimuli. The International Association for the Study of Pain defines pain as "an unpleasant sensory and emotional experience associated with, or resembling that associated with, ...
. This phenomenon is particularly strong in people who do not use such words on a regular basis.
Effect
The effect has been described as being a form of stress-induced
analgesia
Pain management is an aspect of medicine and health care involving relief of pain (pain relief, analgesia, pain control) in various dimensions, from acute and simple to chronic and challenging. Most physicians and other health professionals ...
, with swearing due to a painful stimulus being a form of emotional response.
However, it is as yet unclear how swearing achieves the physical effects that have been described in the research. Swearing in response to pain may activate the
amygdala
The amygdala (; plural: amygdalae or amygdalas; also '; Latin from Greek, , ', 'almond', 'tonsil') is one of two almond-shaped clusters of nuclei located deep and medially within the temporal lobes of the brain's cerebrum in complex verteb ...
which in turn triggers a
fight-or-flight response
The fight-or-flight or the fight-flight-or-freeze response (also called hyperarousal or the acute stress response) is a physiological reaction that occurs in response to a perceived harmful event, attack, or threat to survival. It was first des ...
. This then leads to a surge in
adrenaline
Adrenaline, also known as epinephrine, is a hormone and medication which is involved in regulating visceral functions (e.g., respiration). It appears as a white microcrystalline granule. Adrenaline is normally produced by the adrenal glands and ...
, a natural form of pain relief.
Research
Researchers from
Keele University
Keele University, officially known as the University of Keele, is a public research university in Keele, approximately from Newcastle-under-Lyme, Staffordshire, England. Founded in 1949 as the University College of North Staffordshire, Keele ...
conducted a number of initial experiments in 2009 to examine the analgesic properties of swearing. Richard Stephens, John Atkins, and Andrew Kingston published "Swearing as a Response to Pain" in ''
NeuroReport
''NeuroReport'' is a peer-reviewed scientific journal covering the field of neuroscience. It was established in 1990 and is published by Lippincott Williams & Wilkins. The editors-in-chief are Michael Jakowec and Patric Stanton. According to the ...
'', finding that some people could hold their hands in ice water for twice as long as usual if they swore compared to if they used neutral words.
They also reported feeling less pain.
Stephens therefore says "I would advise people, if they hurt themselves, to swear".
Further research by Stephens and colleague Claudia Umland was published under the title "Swearing as a Response to Pain – Effect of Daily Swearing Frequency" in ''
The Journal of Pain
''The Journal of Pain'' is a monthly peer-reviewed medical journal published by Elsevier on behalf of the United States Association for the Study of Pain and covers research and reviews on pain, including anesthesiology and palliative care and rel ...
'' on 1 December 2011.
They showed that subjects who indicated that they swore regularly each day did not demonstrate any or as much improvement in tolerance.
Stephens theorises that the emotional attachment that a person has to a swearword affects the results. People who rarely use such words place a higher emotional value on them.
In addition to their research Harvard psychologist
Steven Pinker
Steven Arthur Pinker (born September 18, 1954) is a Canadian-American cognitive psychologist, psycholinguist, popular science author, and public intellectual. He is an advocate of evolutionary psychology and the computational theory of mind.
P ...
wrote in ''
The Stuff of Thought
''The Stuff of Thought: Language As a Window Into Human Nature'' is a 2007 book by experimental psychologist Steven Pinker. In the book Pinker "analyzes how our words relate to thoughts and to the world around us and reveals what this tells us ab ...
'' that "humans are hardwired to swear cathartically... Swearing probably comes from a very primitive reflex that evolved in animals."
The experiments were repeated on television in episodes of ''
MythBusters
''MythBusters'' is a science entertainment television program, developed by Peter Rees and produced by Australia's Beyond Television Productions. The series premiered on the Discovery Channel on January 23, 2003. It was broadcast internatio ...
'' and ''
Fry's Planet Word
''Fry's Planet Word'' is a documentary series about language. Written and presented by Stephen Fry, five hour-long episodes were first broadcast in September and October 2011 on BBC Two and BBC HD. The series was produced and directed by John-Pa ...
'', both seeming to confirm the findings.
The original research team of Stephens, Atkins, and Kingston were awarded the
Ig Nobel Peace Prize in 2010 for their study.
In 2017 researchers from
Massey University
Massey University ( mi, Te Kunenga ki Pūrehuroa) is a university based in Palmerston North, New Zealand, with significant campuses in Albany and Wellington. Massey University has approximately 30,883 students, 13,796 of whom are extramural or ...
examined whether verbal swearing would similarly reduce
psychological pain
Psychological pain, mental pain, or emotional pain is an unpleasant feeling (a suffering) of a psychological, non-physical origin. A pioneer in the field of suicidology, Edwin S. Shneidman, described it as "how much you hurt as a human being. It ...
. Using a similar method as Stephens and colleagues, Philipp and Lombardo found that people reported an emotionally distressing memory as less painful after swearing.
References
External links
*
{{Profanity
Pain
Profanity