Why do people swear?

Why do people swear and curse?
Is swearing related to people's personality?
Or is it something that all people does?

In my previous article why are some people unfriendly i explained how sometimes we get charged by emotional energy as a result of the situations we go through. This extra energy usually motivates us to take certain actions in order maintain our mental stability.

Getting Mad at someone is one example of the release of the energy of anger. Swearing works almost the same way as your mind considers it a method to get rid of extra energy whether its positive or negative.

People don't just swear when they get charged with bad emotions but they also swear to express happiness and excitement. Think of swearing as a method the mind uses to retain balance by releasing the extra energy we acquire throughout the day.

Pain endurance and swearing

In one study people were divided into two groups then asked to put their hands in very cold water. One group was asked to keep swearing then the time each group took before they couldn't stand keeping their hands in the water was reordered.

It was found that almost two thirds of the group who did swear managed to keep their hands in the water for a longer period of time than those who didn't swear.

In order words swearing was found to make pain more bearable. This is another reason why people swear. Its because emotional pain can be eased by swearing.

A study has found that rejection activates the same brain areas in the brain associated with physical pain and this is why people who swear when they get emotionally distressed report feeling better.

Why do some people swear all the time?

All of the previous facts apply to people who swear once every while but why are there people who swear and curse all the time?

1) They are charged with negativity all the time: The person who lives in continues stress, who is angry at the world and the one who is always emotionally distressed will always have extra negative energy that he wants to get rid of and that's why he keeps swearing all the time (see also Living with emotional pain)
2) To get an identity: Some people engage in bad behaviour such as swearing because they want to get a certain identity. Some guys want to appear like bad boys, some women want to appear less fragile while some men want to appear more tough. All of these needs can motivate people to swear and curse believing that such an action can help them meet these goals
3) To protect themselves: The ones who got hurt the most are usually the ones who push people away the most. Some people want to protect themselves from others by keeping a distance. Those people might either become cold, unfriendly, bullies or they can sometimes swear a lot in order to scare people away. (see also The psychology of cold people)

Is swearing a good thing?

No.

In my article How words affect your brain and life i explained how using certain words over and over can result in changing your brain structure and thus affecting your mood in bad way.

In other words, while swearing can provide a temporary relief the use of negative words can cause serious damage to your brain and life that outweighs any relief you might get.

One got idea to get over this problem is to swear using words that have no meaning or that rhyme with swearing words. This almost has the same effect as swearing using the popular words.

"What the Hen" can have the same effect as "what the hell" and yet it has no psychological side effects.

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