Swearing loads is fucking great for your health, science says

If you’re prone to foul-mouthed fuckery, you’re probably doing yourself some good – at least that’s what new research suggests.

Scientists at Massey University in New Zealand have found a link between swearing and emotional health, with those who swear being less prone to physical pain and “social distress.”

The new research comes after a study which suggested those who swear all the time are actually more intelligent than non-swearers.

The study, published in the European Journal of Social Psychology, categorised social distress as “anything from a lovers’ tiff to being excluded from a social situation.”

70 participants were asked to write about such situations to elicit an emotional response, and then were either asked to swear aloud or speak without swearing.

“The results suggest that socially distressed participants who swore out loud experienced less social pain than those who did not,” says Dr Michael Philipp, who conducted the study.

He said: “Previous research suggests that social stressors, like rejection and ostracism, not only feel painful but also increase peoples’ sensitivity to physical pain.

“Pain Overlap Theory suggests that social distress feels painful because both social and physical pain is biologically coupled. Pain overlap theory predicts that anything affecting physical pain should have similar effects on social pain.

“There is still speculation about why swearing aloud has the effect it does on physical pain and social pain. What’s clear is that swearing is not a completely maladaptive reaction to a sore thumb or a broken heart.”

Fuck yeah!