Does swearing make you stronger? Science says yes.
Ars Technica••health
Key Points:
- Research shows that swearing can reduce pain perception, a phenomenon known as the “hypoalgesic effect of swearing,” with studies indicating that people who swear can tolerate pain longer and experience higher pain thresholds.
- Psychologist Richard Stephens and colleagues found that swearing increases heart rate and may serve as a primitive cathartic reflex, especially benefiting those who do not swear often and therefore attach more emotional significance to profanity.
- Follow-up experiments demonstrated that only genuine swear words, such as the F-word, have pain-relieving effects, while neutral or fake swear words do not influence pain tolerance or threshold.
- Recent studies reveal that swearing enhances physical strength and endurance, as participants chanting swear words during a chair push-up task performed significantly better
