Saying “swear words” has become a cool way of being among teenagers and (certainly) among some adults. However, the social price is still high, according to the study published in the Journal of Language and Social Psychology, by Melanie DeFrank and Patricia Kahlbaugh.
The study
138 students were recruited, including 101 women, who rated the “offensiveness” of 10 swear words. Then they were given to read conversations between two 15-year-olds: between two men, then between two women, and then between a man and a woman. Also, one or both of the speakers used the bad words on the list, or neither of them did. The purpose was to rate the first speaker based on overall impression, intelligence, reliability, sociability, courtesy, and sympathy.
Results
The words in order from highest to lowest offense, according to the ratings were: Bitch, Fuck, Bastard, Shit, Ass, Idiot, Fuck You, Butt, Shit, and Damn.
From the perception obtained from the dialogue, it turned out that both the men and the women who swore, in addition to being considered less intelligent and less trustworthy, were rated as less pleasant, more offensive and more aggressive. Furthermore, speakers (male or female) who cursed during a mixed-gender conversation were rated as less sociable, and males who used profanity in a conversation with women were rated as more offensive.
The researchers observed another detail in their study: “Just under half of the participants said they did NOT consider the swearing version of the dialogue to be” profane. ” In their conclusion, the authors found that “it appears that people have become very insensitive to the words they select because they feel they are not that important. However, the perception of others is still influenced by language ».
What do you think about this study? How flexible are you with the use of these types of words, do you allow your child to say them, do you usually occupy them?