Swearing Literally Makes You Stronger and More Focused, Now We Know Why
Swearing might be rude, but it helps us reach our full potential.
Sometimes we just need to swear.
A good four-letter word at the right time, and with the right gusto, can make all the difference in communicating a message or just making us feel a little better. And, as it turns out, there is a measurable physical benefit to letting a few curse words fly.
Studies have shown that dropping your favorite verbal bomb actually improves your ability to endure pain, maintain focus, and accomplish feats of strength. Now, a new study published in the journal American Psychologist explains the cognitive mechanisms behind the power of swears.
How swearing improves focus, strength, and more
“In many situations, people hold themselves back – consciously or unconsciously – from using their full strength,” said study author Richard Stephens, in a Dec. 18 statement. “Swearing is an easily available way to help yourself feel focused, confident and less distracted, and ‘go for it’ a little more.”
In previous work by Stephens and others, researchers improved performance of certain tasks including things like how long a person can hold their hand in ice water and how long they can hold their own body weight. Even grunting has been found to increase the power of a tennis player’s swing.
Stephens says the relationship between focus, endurance, pain management, and swearing is well established, but why it works is less well understood. He hypothesized that swearing puts us in a disinhibited state, allowing us to cast off the social shackles we usually wear and really give things a go. That hypothesis is based on an idea called state disinhibition theory, which suggests that disrupting social norms and turning down internal psychological barriers, stops people from holding themselves back and allows them to take fuller advantage of their capabilities.
Study authors wrote “although social norms often discourage swearing, research shows it may produce beneficial physiological, psychological, and social effects.”
To test that hypothesis, researchers asked 192 participants to repeat the swear word of their choice, or a neutral word, every two seconds while doing a chair pushup. Participants sat on a chair and then placed their hands on the seat to raise their bodies into the air and hold the weight for as long as possible.
Then participants answered a survey about their mental state during the task, measuring things like their level of positive emotion, if they found the situation funny, and how distracted or confident they felt. As with previous studies, researchers found that those participants who swore during the task were able to hold themselves up significantly longer than those who were chanting a neutral word.
They also found that this could be explained by an increase in psychological flow, distraction, and self-confidence, all things which are related to disinhibition.
“These findings help explain why swearing is so commonplace,” said Stephens. “Swearing is literally a calorie neutral, drug free, low cost, readily available tool at our disposal for when we need a boost in performance.”
Cursing has almost magical power, just as Chucky, streaming now on SYFY.
