Why do people swear? Why does using a swear word make us feel better? How do we choose which word we use?

Luckily for you, the Association of Psychological Science’s Perspectives on Psychological Science just published an article that answers these important scientific questions in an article by Timothy Jay (2009). If swear words hurt your eyes, you may want to stop reading now.

Jay notes that swear words (or taboo words, as he calls them) can include sexual references (fuck), those that are profane or blasphemous (goddamn), scatological or disgusting objects (shit), animal names (pig, ass), ethnic/racial/gender slurs (fag), ancestral allusions (bastard), substandard vulgar terms and offensive slang. Taboo words can be mildly offensive to extremely offensive, and people will often use a more mild euphemism to replace a swear word when in mixed (or unknown) company.

How do we choose what word to use and when? We make choices about which word to use depending upon the company we’re in, and what our relationship is to that company, as well as the social setting. We’re more apt to use less offensive terms in mixed company or in settings where more offensive swear words might result in recrimination (such as work). For instance, people are more comfortable and are more likely to use technical terms for sexual references in mixed crowds, and to reserve the taboo words for same sex crowds or with their sexual partner. Most people feel uncomfortable saying, “Fuck” in a business or public crowd, instead falling back on less offensive words like, “Damnit.”

As Jay notes, “Swearing is like using the horn on your car, which can be used to signify a number of emotions (e.g., anger, frustration, joy, surprise).”

Taboo words can be used for a variety of reasons, including to achieve a specific reaction from others. Swearing injects a direct, succinct emotional component into the discussion, usually in order to express frustration, anger or surprise (up to two-thirds of our swearing is for just such expressions). These insulting swears can be name calling or wishing someone harm, so it’s no wonder they are often a defining feature of hate speech, verbal abuse, sexual harassment and obscene phone calls.

Swearing is beneficial in ways that people may underestimate or take for granted. Swearing is often cathartic — it often frees us of the feelings of anger or frustration we hold and allows expression for them. It can also be a useful substitute to physical violence (who would rather be punched out than to withstand being sworn at?).

Swear words can also be used in a more positive manner, in the form of jokes and humor, sex talk, storytelling, self-deprecation or even social commentary. Imagine when you want to emphasize how great you feel something is, a swear words emphasizes the positive feelings you have for that object, situation, person or event (”This concert is fucking awesome!”). Sure, we could just say “This concert is awesome,” but the addition of the swear word emphasizes the emotional reaction we have toward it — and easily conveys that emotional reaction to others.

Virtually all people swear, and people swear pretty consistently throughout their lifetime — from the moment they can speak to the day they die. Swearing is almost a universal constant in most people’s lives. Research, according to Jay, has shown we swear on average from 0.3% to 0.7% of the time — a tiny but significant percentage of our overall speech (frequently-used personal pronouns occur at approximately 1.0% rate in speech). Swearing is more common than you might think. But personality research suggests that people who swear more, not surprisingly, score higher on traits such as extraversion, dominance, hostility and Type A personalities. Swearing is not just for the uneducated or people of a lower socioeconomic class — it knows no social boundaries in its expression.

Swearing is a natural part of human speech development. We learn which words are taboo and which words are not through our normal childhood development. We also learn that not all swear words are equal, as Jay notes — “Fuck you! represents a greater level of anger than crap!” We then learn that we may be able to say a swear word in one social context, but not another.

Jay’s article was a bit of an eye-opener for me as well, as I didn’t know that swearing was really as commonplace as he notes, and I never much considered the beneficial effects of swearing. Jay calls on more psychological research to be done on this topic, and after reading his article, I’d have to agree.

人为什么要说粗话？为什么用上粗口会让我们感觉更好？我们怎么选要用什么词？

现在好了，心理科学协会（原美国心理学会）出版的《心理科学新知》上刚发表了一篇文章，Timothy Jay在文章中回答了这些重要的科学问题。如果粗口让你不舒服，你就不必继续往下读了。

Jay提到，粗口（或者按照他的话，禁忌词汇）包括了和性有关的内容（比如f***)，那些不敬或者亵渎的词汇（goddamn），排泄物或者恶心的东西（shit），动物名字（pig），和种族/民族/性别有关的蔑称（fag），污蔑祖先(bastard），还有一些非正式的庸俗词汇和污蔑性的短语。禁忌词汇的程度可能从轻度污蔑到严重污蔑，人们一般常会在复杂（或者不明）的场合下，用温和些的婉转语来代替粗口。

我们是如何选择什么时候用什么词呢？我们会根据和什么人在一起、我们和这些人的关系、以及社会场合来选择要用什么词。如果周围的人龙蛇混杂、或者是用那些更重的词可能导致指责（比如工作），我们就更容易用一些没那么冒犯的词。比如，和一群不同背景的人在一起，说到和性有关的事情，人们更愿意用一些技术层面的词汇，而把那些禁忌词汇留到当我们和同性在一起或者跟性伴侣在一起的时候。大多数人都会觉得在商业或者公共场合说“f***”很不舒服，因而会说些没那么冒犯的词，比如“damnit”。

就像Jay指出的，“说粗口就像在车里按喇叭，可以用来表示不同的情绪（比如生气、受挫、高兴、吃惊）。”

使用禁忌词汇可能会处于不同的原因，也包括激起他人特定的反应。说脏话将直接、简洁的情绪成分带进了讨论中，一般都是为了表达受挫、生气或者吃惊（高达2/3的粗口是为了表达这些情绪）。这些不敬的粗口可以使骂人或者诅咒某人受到伤害，因此，毫不奇怪，他们往往是界定怨恨言论、言语暴力、性骚扰和淫秽电话的标志。

而人们往往会低估说粗口的好处，或者认为是天经地义。说脏话常常是一种发泄——它能帮我们宣泄那些被压抑的生气或者沮丧的感觉，让他们表达出来。他也是身体暴力的有效代替品。（比起被骂一两句，谁愿意被暴打呢？）

粗口还能更积极地使用，比如在笑话或幽默、性对话、讲故事、自嘲或者社会评论中。想象一下，当你想强调你觉得一样东西多棒的时候，粗话会强调你对这个东西、清净、人或者事件的正面感觉（这个音乐会太他妈棒了！）。当然，我们也可以就说“这个音乐会太棒了”，不过加上一个粗口，会强调我们对它的情感反应——也会很容易的吧这种情绪反映传递给他人。

基本上所有的人都说粗口，人们说粗口的频率在一生中相当稳定——从我们能说话到我们死的那天。粗口是在大多数人的生活里几乎是普遍存在的。Jay的文章中指出，研究发现我们说脏话的平均频率占到0.3-0.7%，在我们的言语中，是个虽小但是不可忽视的组成。说脏话比你想象的更普遍。不过关于人格的研究指出，那些说脏话更多的人，在外向性、统治倾向、暴力倾向和A型人格方面分数更高。并不是只有那些没受过教育或者社会经济层次低的人才会说脏话，人们发现这种表达方式并没有什么社会界限。

说脏话是人类语言发展中很自然的一部分。在正常的儿童发展过程中，我们学会了那些词是禁忌、哪些不是。我们还知道了并不是所有的粗口都一样，就像 Jay写的“F*** you!比Crap!所表达的愤怒程度更高”我们之后还明白了，在有些社会场合中我们能说个脏话，但是在另一些场合则不能。

Jay的文章也让我开阔了眼界，因为我之前并不知道说粗话像他说的真有那么常见，而我也从没认真考虑过说脏话有什么好处。Jay呼吁在这个问题上进行应该更多的研究，在看过他的文章之后，我也不得不同意这个观点。