No descriptive data are available about swearing in private settings, however, so more work needs to be done in that area. Most public uses of taboo words are not in anger they are innocuous or produce positive consequences (e.g., humor elicitation).
We have never seen public swearing lead to physical violence. We know this because we have recorded over 10,000 episodes of public swearing by children and adults, and rarely have we witnessed negative consequences. Our work so far suggests that most uses of swear words are not problematic. Swearing can occur with any emotion and yield positive or negative outcomes. Psychological scientists could certainly make a systematic effort to establish behavioral outcomes of swearing. Rarely are there attempts to quantify harm in terms of objectively measurable symptoms (e.g., sleep disorder, anxiety). A closely related problem is the manner in which harm has been defined - harm is most commonly framed in terms of standards and sensibilities such as religious values or sexual mores. The original justification for our obscenity laws was predicated on an unfounded assumption that speech can deprave or corrupt children, but there is little (if any) social-science data demonstrating that a word in and of itself causes harm. Is swearing problematic or harmful?Ĭourts presume harm from speech in cases involving discrimination or sexual harassment. To give the reader a sense of the work that we do as psychological scientists who study swearing, let’s consider some of the common questions we’re asked about swearing. Regardless of the reason for the relative lack of emphasis on swearing research per se inside psychological science, there is still a strong demand from outside the scientific community for explanations of swearing and associated phenomena. Arguably, a more domain-centered approach to psychological study would better accommodate topics such as swearing and other taboo behaviors. Another explanation for the relative lack of emphasis on this topic is the orientation of psychological science to processes (e.g., memory) rather than life domains (e.g., leisure activities), a problem described by Paul Rozin. Why the public-versus-science disconnect? Is swearing, as a behavior, outside the scope of what a psychological scientist ought to study? Because swearing is influenced so strongly by variables that can be quantified at the individual level, psychological scientists (more than linguists, anthropologists, and sociologists) have the best training to answer questions about it. It is far more common to see strong offensive words used as emotionally arousing stimuli - tools to study the effect of emotion on mental processes such as attention and memory. When swearing is a part of psychological research, it is rarely an end in itself. While hundreds of papers have been written about swearing since the early 1900s, they tend to originate from fields outside of psychology such as sociology, linguistics, and anthropology. In addition to consultation with mass media, expert testimony has been needed in cases involving sexual harassment, fighting words, picket-line speech, disturbing the peace, and contempt of court cases.Ĭonsidering the persistent need for an expert to consult for the above issues, it is odd that swearing expertise is weighted so differently when swearing is viewed from the perspective of psychological science.
Another word for things we have no control over professional#
Outside the scientific community, expertise on taboo language is justification for frequent consultation about contemporary issues that are perennial: Is swearing harmful? Should children be allowed to swear? Is our swearing getting worse? One of us has been interviewed over 3,000 times by various media with respect to the questions above, as well as those about the use of taboo words in television, advertising, professional sports, radio, music, and film. Why would a psychological scientist study swearing? Expertise in such an area has different practical significance inside and outside the community of psychological science.