Swearing Associated With Honesty-Damn Right Study

Swearing Associated With Honesty

Swearing may be considered impolite and vulgar, but a new two-part study has revealed a more gracious attribute for those with an off-colour vocabulary: Honesty. According to the research, people are more likely to swear as a way to express themselves, rather than cause harm to others, and the more an individual swears, the more honest they are likely to be.

The researchers found that while liars are known to prefer third-person pronouns and negative words in their speech, honest individuals are more likely to use profanity. According to the researchers, that’s because swearing is often used to express one’s feelings, and people who do this more regularly portray themselves in a more honest light, The Independent reported.

“The consistent findings across the studies suggest that the positive relation between profanity and honesty is robust and that the relationship found at the individual level indeed translates to the society level,” the study read.
For their report, the team of international researchers asked a group of 276 participants about their swearing habits as well as how honest they were in different situations.

In addition, they analyzed the status updates of more than 73,000 Facebook users, measuring for honesty and profanity. In the second study, the same team used previous data to compare the integrity levels of US states with how often they swear. All the experiments had the same result: honesty was associated with higher levels of swearing. Full Story

People Who Swear May Be Happier, Healthier And More Honest

Consider this the next time someone chastises you for dropping an F-bomb or two.

While swearing may have once been considered an unsavoury habit, research has found there are some benefits to using more colourful language. Not only does cursing come with some mental and physical health perks, it also could positively affect how you converse with others. In other words, it’s pretty darn good for your overall well-being.

Need some evidence? Below are a few science-backed reasons why it isn’t so bad to incorporate a few swear words into your lexicon: Swearing is an effective way of communicating.

Research has shown that cursing might increase the effectiveness and persuasiveness of an argument.

Not only that, but swearing can also communicate how you feel about a certain subject without explicitly explaining it or resorting to a physical altercation, the BBC reported:

By swearing, we not only communicate the meaning of a sentence but also our emotional response to the meaning — our emotional reaction to something. It also allows us to express anger, disgust or pain, or indicate to someone that they need to back off, without having to resort to physical violence.

It might mean you’re more honest. A recent study found that people who swear often lie less and have higher levels of integrity. Researchers examined participants’ profanity use and had them do a lie scale, which is a series of evaluations that ask redundant questions to determine a person’s truthfulness. Full Story