What motivates a person to swear?

Several theories have been presented in the few scientific studies that have been made—the words chosen, the manner and frequency in which they are delivered, and of course the personality who delivers the swear words.

It has been written that the person who likes to swear a lot often lives in an environment charged with negativity. The person who lives under constant stress, who is angry at the world or emotionally distressed will always have the extra negative energy that he will want to release.

Others, they say, engage in “swear fests” because they wish to project a certain identity— “I’m a bad boy,” or “I’m a mean girl, don’t mess with me.” The desire to project such an identity provides the motivation for people to swear in front of an audience.

Ironically, swearing or cursing may also be used as a means to protect oneself by scaring and pushing people away.

Benjamin Bergen, who wrote “What the F: What Swearing Reveals About Our Language, Our Brains and Ourselves,” says that across the board, there are primarily four categories for swear words: religious concept, sexual activities, bodily functions and organs, and derogatory language for other social groups. “Profanity is most likely to derive from things that tend to be taboo across societies.”

Cathartic

In one interview, Bergen was asked if swearing was cathartic. “That’s the big mystery I’m actually pursuing in the lab right now. We think it can be. There are lots of physiological indicators that it should be. And by cathartic, I mean relieve strong, typically negative emotions. If you are angry, you can relieve the anger and reduce subsequent aggression by swearing… But we don’t actually know how or if that changes how aggressively people subsequently act, or how upset or sad they may feel.”

In a separate study, rather than just proving we swear more when we are angry, a team of psychologists lead by Dr. Richard Stephens posited that profanity can be an emotional coping mechanism which makes us feel more resilient.

The group presented the findings of their video game study at the British Psychological Society’s annual conference. In the study, participants were asked to recall as many profanities as they could before and after playing.

Stephens said, “The video games made people feel more aggressive so their language became more emotional and they swore. This explains swearing and makes it more acceptable.”

Swearing is, after all, an emotional language. When you swear, you are triggering an emotional response. Stephens says that from mothers giving birth to black box recordings of pilots of planes that are about to crash, swearing can easily be called the language of life and death.

In a Stanford University study conducted by Timothy Jay, on “Why We Curse – A Neuro-Psycho-Social Theory of Speech,” he writes that cursing is an emotional element of language that alters the way we view ourselves and others. “The aggressive person learns aggressive curse words and uses them to express his or her aggression towards others; he/she perceives others on how they use aggressive language.”

How we use curse words portrays our deep emotional investment in a personal identity which we use to experience the world, to differentiate ourselves from others, and to express our attitudes and feelings about others.

Impulsiveness

There are several personality factors associated with the motivation to use curse words, such as impulsiveness and masculinity. Some personality types strongly associated with cursing are the antisocial personality and the Type A personality. Jay says, “These kinds of people have difficulty restraining their use of curse words to achieve personal states or effects (e.g. stress reduction) or affect others (e.g. bullying). Thus, one’s personality is associated with cursing in both productive and reactive ways.”

The psychological motives for cursing come from a variety of sources—language acquisition, personality traits, child rearing practices, social rewards and punishment, human sexuality and intimacy, and emotional needs.

The next time we become appalled or shocked by an expletive or a swear word uttered in disregard, it will help manage our stress over the behavior and the language used if we pause momentarily and look into our reactions: Why does this behavior shock us?

Contextualize the milieu in which this person on a “swear fest” has been socialized. The person who likes to curse does not do it randomly. It is something that he or she has learned from the early years, and is now ingrained into the fabric of their very being.

In his or her mind—unless, of course, there has been some damage to the brain which can under certain instances result in involuntary swearing—the swearing or cursing is both powerful and “purposeful.”

Can this person change? Yes, if he or she desires to, but it won’t be easy. The swearing, after all, has become part of their identity, and has perhaps, rightly or wrongly, helped them achieve success or popularity. The swearing can be tamed if the messenger desires to; unfortunately, it is not something we can expect them to undo overnight. So if it continues to jar you, learn instead how you can protect yourself from it.