Science Says That Swearing Is a Great Effing Thing to Do (for Real)
If watching the final debate, spilling that hot cup of coffee or getting stuck behind a bus in gridlock traffic induces a string of obscenities to fly from your mouth, it’s okay — science not only says you’re probably smarter than most, you’re not alone — far from it.
We already knew that swearing gives way to certain benefits, such as raising pain tolerance, making people laugh, aiding with stress management, replacing physical aggression and helping you relate to others. Now, more studies are making a pretty strong case for dropping as many “f” bombs when and wherever you please — even at work.
First, a November 2015 study published in Language Sciences debunked the myth that those who choose to swear do so because they cannot find another vocabulary word to choose. Instead, it was found that cussing was actually an “indicator of healthy verbal abilities,” with offenders choosing their words from what was found to be a larger vocabulary than their peers.
Now, a new study from Wrike of 1,512 people is showing that 67 percent of millennial women and 60 percent of men are probably taking their habit to the boardroom (or workplace in general), and what’s more? People are totally cool with it — in fact, 47 percent of men and 40 percent of women prefer to work in an environment where swearing is a natural occurrence.
Those in leadership positions had an even bigger impact, with 3/4 of female millennial execs/managers copping to the habit, and 66 percent saying they were more likely to swear if their boss did too.
That doesn’t mean you should go hog wild, though — while 94 percent of swearers say they do so in face-to-face convos, only eight percent were cool throwing around obscenities via email.
Well, f*ck. Time to retire the swear jar!
Do you feel comfortable dropping f-bombs at work? Share @BritandCo.
(h/t Pop Sugar, photos via Getty)