Swearing is emotional and creative language say researchers who claim it is GOOD for you | Daily Mail Online

• Theory presented to British Psychological Society conference in Birmingham
• Participants played aggressive video game and held ice-cold glass of water
• Dr Richard Stephens of Keele University added it explains why we swear
• 'We want to use more taboo words when we're emotional', he said

By Dan Bloom

Published: 09:55 EST, 11 May 2014 | Updated: 04:56 EST, 12 May 2014

Scroll down for an audio interview

Swearing is a harmless emotional release which could make you feel stronger, researchers have claimed - though only in moderation.

Participants were made to play aggressive computer games and could recall a wider variety of swear words after their session, as well as turning the air blue much more often.

Rather than just proving we swear more when we're angry, the psychologists insisted, the study showed profanity can be an emotional coping mechanism which makes us feel more resilient.

Letting off steam: Swearing could be a harmless emotional release, at least in moderation, researchers claim

And it showed the reasons for swearing were far more complicated than simple rudeness, they said.

The psychologists at Keele University in Staffordshire have spent several years trying to understand why we swear and what it does to our brains.

They presented the findings of their latest study to the British Psychological Society's annual conference this week.

TURNING THE NET BLUE: TOP 10 UK SWEAR WORDS ON FACEBOOK

1. F***

2. S***

3. Bloody

4. P***

5. B****

6. Crap

7. C***

8. C***

9. Damn

10. D***

Source:Slate

In the video game study, they said, participants were asked to recall as many profanities as they could before and after playing.

Beforehand they could only recall an average of seven, but afterwards the total rose to eight.

Senior lecturer Dr Richard Stephens said: 'The video games made people feel more aggressive so their language became more emotional and they swore. This explains swearing and makes it more acceptable.

'We want to use more taboo words when we are emotional. We grow up learning what these words are and using these words while we are emotional can help us to feel stronger.

'Some words are more taboo than others - but the effects can be greater, the stronger the word.'

Speaking before the gathering of top psychologists, Dr Stephens also mentioned a previous study by his team which showed swearing made us feel less pain.

Participants were handed a glass of water filled with ice, and split into two groups - one told to swear and another told to keep quiet.

Intelligent: Dr Stephens said the average profile of a swearer is often sophisticated, like that of the spin doctor Malcolm Tucker (played by Peter Capaldi) in TV political satire The Thick of It

The group allowed to swear held the ice-cold glass for longer, they discovered.

Dr Stephens' interest in swearing began after he heard his wife cursing while she was in labour with their second daughter.

He has also studied research which he says debunks the theory that swearing is the language of the ignorant.

Instead, he said, the highly intelligent but foul-mouthed spin doctor Malcolm Tucker in political satire The Thick of It could be more accurate.

'The stereotype is that those who swear have a low IQ or are inarticulate is wrong. It is rich emotional language,' he said.

However, he warned: 'The more often someone swears, the less effective it is.'

Not everyone agrees that swearing is a harmless creative output.

BT Sport had to abandon post-match interviews outside grounds because fans could not be relied upon not to swear following an Arsenal-Liverpool match report in February which was repeatedly interrupted by foul language.

And Vladimir Putin reportedly signed a new law this week which bans swearing in Russian plays, films and books.