Public lecture on "swearing as a response to pain"

Keele UniversityOct 27 2009

A Keele University psychologist will discuss his research into swearing as a response to pain at a public lecture next month.

Dr Richard Stephens and his colleagues John Atkins and Andrew Kingston found that swearing can increase pain tolerance. Sixty-four undergraduate volunteers were asked to submerge their hand in a tub of ice water for as long as possible while repeating a swear word of their choice; they were then asked to repeat the experiment, this time using a more commonplace word that they would use to describe a table.

The researchers found that the volunteers were able to keep their hands submerged in the ice water for a longer period of time when repeating the swear word, establishing a link between swearing and an increase in pain tolerance.

The research, published in the journal Neuroreport, generated international media attention and was covered in major outlets worldwide including: CBS television news, ABC television, CNN, New York Times, Scientific American, and Time Magazine. Dr Stephens gave live radio interviews across the world including BBC Radio 4's The Today Programme. The paper remains the most viewed and most e-mailed article on the NeuroReport website.

Dr Stephens said: "Swearing has been around for centuries and is an almost universal human linguistic phenomenon. It taps into emotional brain centres and appears to arise in the right brain, whereas most language production occurs in the left cerebral hemisphere of the brain. Our research shows one potential reason why swearing developed and why it persists."

This event is part of a series of public lectures is organised by the School of Psychology to increase public understanding of the relevance of psychology in the modern world.