Dr Richard Stephens, who led the research, suggests that swearing may provoke a “fight or flight” response in people, with their heightened aggression helping them cope with pain.
The results may shed new light on to why some people feel the need to turn the air blue when they hit their thumb with a hammer.
Dr Stephens said he first got the idea for the study after his wife gave birth to their daughter.
He said: “There was a point in the labour where my wife was ‘effing and jeffing’ quite a lot.
“That got me thinking about how pain and swearing always seem to go together, and yet there had not been any research done in that area.”
In the experiment, which Dr Stephens carried out with colleagues John Atkins and Andrew Kingston, 67 student volunteers were asked to submerge their hands in ice water for as long as they could.
In one set of tests they were told to repeat a swear word of their choice, while in another they had to repeat a more commonplace word which they would use to describe a table.
The results showed that in nearly all cases, the volunteers were able to cope with the cold water for longer while they were swearing.
On average men could last 191 seconds while swearing, compared with 147 seconds when not swearing, while in women the difference was 120 seconds compared with 83.
any research that promotes the occasional f-bomb must have its merits, I guess its all to do with steess relief which sex could be another good alternative
Anyone who’s ever hit their thumb with a hammer will attest to this straight away.
You know, I take a whole lot of flak from the rest of the family but now I see that I have support that the”effing & jeffing” does help a lot!
I’m so glad that I always knew that swearing easies pain. I’m 72 years old and still life and kicking (and swearing when ever I can, just to lengthen my days)
To me, this study feels like they are looking for a specific result, and – lo and behold – that’s what they get! Anyway, if swearing makes you feel better, then by all means go ahead :).
F~YA…..now I can just tell my boss I curse to release stresses think he will buy it? :o)
Wow, great advice! I’m not sure if I would encourage my kids to do that at home though
Sam! That sounds like a plan I can follow! Cheers! hehehe 😉
Pretty good studies. Swearing will always be associated with a lot of emotions; and most probably when your are in pain.
Well Damn!
It’s always amazing to me what researchers choose to focus on!
I know swearing works for me, or at least it seem to work at least you feel better
If swearing eases pain my uncle shouldn’t be in such pain!! 🙂
I need to add “effing and jeffing” to my vocabulary…
I knew cutting out swearing would cost me, somehow. This pain in my backside has been growing ever since I stopped!
Now that’s research I can get behind…
So how come I’m effing and jeffing on the golf course when there’s no pain involved other than the ball never going in the direction that you are aiming? On a more serious note I tend to use the f word quite a bit when I have to run suddenly and fast, like from a dog!
So let me get this right if I dink a bottle of re wine a day and swear a lot I can maybe live forever ?
🙂