Research Outline

Swearing Research

Goals

To find research and articles that support the idea that that swearing helps relieve stress or that it can be a positive coping mechanism for those struggling with mental health issues in order to build a case for a gift idea.

Early Findings

  • Swearing increases strength and exercise performance, according to a 2018 study published in the Psychology of Sport and Exercise journal.
  • A New York Times article states that swearing can be a positive way to express anger without becoming violent.
  • A paper published in the European Journal of Social Psychology in 2017 found that swearing can help ease social pain. Swearing helps alleviate the stress caused by social pain and exclusioninduced hyperalgesia.
  • Multiple studies, for example this one published in 2019, show that swearing has a distinct effect on the reduction of physical pain.
  • Swearing can be a good way to express anger because the specificity of swear words allows for better emotional expression, according to a philosophy lecturer at the University of London that is also writing a book about swearing.