Researchers at the University of East Anglia in the U.K. found that swearing actually helps co-workers bond. Yep, that’s right, using those colorful adjectives, and sometimes nouns, may put your co-workers at ease and make them feel like they can confide in you.
Anne Kreamer told the Harvard Business Review that swearing helped her in her first banking jobs and allowed her access to the gossip mill and used it as a networking tool.
“Swearing,” as one senior female attorney told [Kreamer], ‘gives others, men and women, reciprocal permission to let their hair down and feel comfortable sharing revelations.’ This approach ” swearing as an effective social tool that can enhance work relationships and allow women in particular to present an equal-to-men or even crypto-masculine identity ” has been documented by psychology and linguistics researchers.”
“Taboo words have an emotional impact that replacements cannot equal,” and when public figures use these expletives, they appear more relatable and are able to get their point across more effectively.” Dr. Robert Sutton, a professor of management science and engineering at Stanford Engineering School, stated in Forbes Magazine.
There may be other benefits to swearing, as well– it may ease your pain.
A study published in NeuroReport states, “Researchers at Keele University’s School of Psychology recruited more than 60 undergraduates for the study. The students were asked to stick their hands in buckets of icy water twice. The first time, participants repeated a curse word over and over. The next time, they were told to use a neutral word.
When the participants used a curse word, they were able to keep their hands in the water and tolerate the pain longer.
“Swearing has been around for centuries and is an almost universal human linguistic phenomenon. It taps into emotional brain centers and appears to arise in the right brain, whereas most language production occurs in the left cerebral hemisphere of the brain. Our research shows one potential reason why swearing developed and why it persists,” stated Richard Stephens, one of the study’s authors.
The reason for the link between bad words and less pain perception is unknown, researchers believe that cursing may fuel a negative emotion such as fear or anger, which prompts a fight or flight response. One of the study’svfindings — that people’s heart rates were higher when cursing — supports this theory.
We’re sure you’ve wanted to use a few of these with the DOT, the FMCSA or the gas pump, so go ahead, let loose.