According to scientists, people who swear a lot make better friends
Hearing our friends curse for the first time and realizing we could do the same was liberating when we were younger.
It introduced us to a whole new world in which we could express ourselves using the same “dirty” words that would make our mothers break out the special soap if they heard us using them.
Most of us’ desire to cuss probably waned as we got older, but that doesn’t mean our friends’ did. And I’m pretty sure we all have at least one friend who has kept their colorful vocabulary well into adulthood.
As it turns out, those people make the best friends, and we now have the science to back it up.
According to Distractify, one study claims that people who swear a lot not only make better friends, but they’re also more likely to be intelligent than the average person.
Furthermore, they were more likely to have a larger vocabulary.
So it turns out Mom was attempting to keep us from making really good friends when she warned us to avoid that one kid at school who swore all the time.
The study, “Why We Curse: A Neuro-Psycho-Social Theory of Speech,” was written by psychologist Timothy Jay of Massachusetts College of Liberal Arts.
“Curse words have only piqued the interest of a few psychologists and linguists,” he wrote. “The lack of research on emotional speech has resulted in language theories that are polite but inaccurate. Curse words are words that we are not supposed to say; thus, curse words are extremely powerful.”
He has a valid point. Swearing can feel so good at times!
According to Jay and co-author Kristin Janschewitz in another study, “The Pragmatics of Swearing,” people who curse are more genuine and trustworthy.
Their research discovered a link between a person’s proclivity to swear and their innocence. People who cuss more frequently were discovered to be more honest, and isn’t that the type of BFF you want in your life?
Oh, and another study claims that our cussing friends are less violent as well.
According to Adrianus Vingerhoets’ study, “Swearing: A Biopsychosocial Perspective,” those naughty words help us convey our emotional responses to certain topics.
Essentially, we can communicate whether we are angry, sad, or frustrated without resorting to physical violence.
And let’s not kid ourselves: that’s a great quality to have in a bestie!
In their conclusion, Jay and Janschewitz stated that “offensive speech,” such as cursing, is critical to understanding the relationship between what we say and how we behave.
They go on to say that swearing does not imply that those people have a limited vocabulary. The opposite is true, and this also means they prefer to get to the point as quickly as possible.
In fact, a slew of studies suggest that people who swear are smarter, happier, healthier, calmer, and better at dealing with pain.
So make an effort to keep those people in your life! Also, try to spice up your own speech from time to time.
