Study Claims Profanity Causes Aggression

[Jegsimmons]

other studies say that profanity release tension and stress.

so what is it experts and scientist? this is why i stopped caring about studies because they always contradict each other. even with repeatable results.

 

[Dastardly]

"There is literature that shows the prosocial effects of media on children, the authors ignore these reports," he told Fox News [http://www.foxnews.com/scitech/2011/10/17/swearing-on-tv-linked-to-teen-aggression/]. "The authors make no case for profanity being beneficial, as in humor elicitation, or social bonding, or as a coping mechanism, or as a relief from pain."

As usual, the problem is that both the good and the bad effects share the same root cause -- and neither side is acknowledging that.

Why does swearing lead to increased aggression? Because it indicates the initiation of an excited emotional state, in which aggression is more likely to appear.

Why does swearing lead to increased "humor elicitation" or pain tolerance? Because it indicates the initiation of an excited emotional state, in which emotional influence (like humor) carries a bit more weight (it's easier to shove a car off-course when it's already moving, after all) or an increase in certain pain-management hormones (not the least of which is adrenaline).

So, the "big news" here is that anything that we associate with an excited emotional state will put us in that state. And when we're in an excited emotional state, we are more heavily influenced by a lot of other things. There's no real "disagreement," but there's also not much of value here.

 

[Irridium]

well thats bullshit and they can go fuck themselves before i smack them.

Well for anyone who's ever played call of duty on xbox it seems rather obvious.

maybe aggression causes profanity...

Pretty much.

Not everyone who swears if violent. But everyone who's violent, swears.

Because when you do something violent, you don't really care about not using swears. They've found out something everyone knows, but called it something else.

 

[Lenin211]

Did anyone consider that those more likely to watch media with profanity are possibly the more violent types? The article implies causation whereas they can only show correlation.

 

[Tiger Sora]

This just in 'from the future' social scientists loose pensions and benefits from angry middle aged politicians.

Bet they never saw this coming eh.

 

[randomsix]

Correlation, not causation.

It would be just as valid from this information to say that violent people gravitate towards more profanity laced entertainment.

 

[Mikeyfell]

A study at Chicken Before the Egg university claims that aggression causes profanity.

Also I heard that people who swear have a 30% higher pain tolerance than people who don't.

If we combine these two studies that means that people who start the fight by cussing the other person out have a much higher chance of winning the fight. ************.

 

[The_root_of_all_evil]

Profanity having a positive effect?


Myth BUSTED.

Shall we see that again in ENGLISH?

 

[Something Amyss]

All you need to read:

Brigham Young University

Move along, folks, nothing to see here.

I hate to be dismissive, but....It's BRIGHAM YOUNG UNIVERSITY. I'll be horribly disheartened if I even have to explain what's wrong here.

Anyway, I'm pretty sure swearing is the best pressure release valve I have, and therefore is probably responsible for my normal lack of aggression.

 

[Something Amyss]

Correlation, not causation.

To pseudo-science, they're one and the same.

 

[Drake the Dragonheart]

Barbara Streisand.

...

Hey now, we don't need that kind of language on this site!

I'd love to see how well Dr. Coyne adheres to her honor code when she stubs her toe or locks herself outside her house.

In the meantime, I'll be putting together a study examining if pointless, biased anti-new-media studies cause higher aggression and profanity in the newborn-to-dead age group.

Again I really have to wonder what we are paying these people for?

 

[Beryl77]

Another one of these studies.
Well, I swear a lot, especially when gaming and it doesn't go well or I can't get past a certain point etc. But I've yet to become a violent person, the same goes for most of my friends. We all swear and no one is particularly violent. So I don't really know how she got to that conclusion.
Also, swear words are only considered to be "naughty" because we decided them to be naughty. If I use the word "shit" instead of "excrement", how can that magically make me more violent? Like I said, it's only naughty to say it because we say it's naughty. What if "shit" suddenly is a real polite word, will it also suddenly stop making me more violent? I'm sorry but that logic just doesn't make sense to me.

 

[Sporky111]

Huh, that's funny. Last time I read about a study like this is had the opposite conclusion; that people who use profanity often hold less stress and show less violent behaviour.

Of course, correlation does not imply causation. I don't take anything like this seriously. I know plenty of people that talk big but when it comes to actual aggression they shy away, and vice versa. And what was all that "non-physical aggressive behavior like gossiping and spreading rumors about someone". Let me remind everyone that this is a study on a group of 223 young teenagers. Sounds like they're being overly broad with their definition of "aggression" in order to get the results they want.

 

[superline51]

Of course, BYU thinks you'll go to Hell for kissing out of marriage.

 

[zerobudgetgamer]

I Fucking watch George Fucking Carlin religiously and Fucking love the Fucking works of Lewis Fucking Black. And I see fewer Fucking problems coming from Fucking them than I do when I Fucking play Grand Fucking Theft Fucking Auto./

Shit Piss Fuck **** Cocksucker ************ Tits, Bitches.

 

[BoogieManFL]

Maybe whatever makes someone more prone to gossiping and being aggressive makes them more likely to use profanity rather than the other way around. That seems far more likely to me. I highly doubt being exposed to "naughty words" alone could shape a person's personality so much as simply those people who are naturally more aggressive simply like to use profanity to express themselves aggressively.

Psychology "reports" constantly baffle me as it seems to me people are perceiving them in the way they want to, or are biased to see it take way from personal beliefs. I see nothing conclusive about the words because they could easily be swapped in for each other and make just as much sense.

And that my good fellows is why we need peer reviews and good solid data that illustrates cold hard facts that prove or disprove something no matter how you want to look at it.

 

[Rad Party God]

Well... that's why we have a rating system, you know, so that our poor yungsters don't play grown ups games?.

Spoiler: Courtesy of Critical Miss