Hell Yeah! New Study Says The More You Curse, The More Authentic You Are

Cursing isn’t necessarily a big deal, but it’s still considered unladylike, uneducated, and inappropriate in certain circles, and screw that! While it’s important to be able to express yourself clearly and intelligently without using profanity, sometimes there’s nothing better than letting a stream of expletives rip — after all, those words sometimes capture the true spirit of a given situation in ways that less R-rated descriptors lack. Turns out, cursing doesn’t just feel good, it’s actually a pretty good indicator of good character, as a new study has concluded that people who regularly use profanity tend to be way more authentic.

The three-part study, published in an article entitled “Frankly, We Do Give A Damn: The Relationship Between Profanity and Honesty,” researchers surveyed 276 people about their propensity towards using profanity, the emotions those words provoke, and which curse words they prefer before studying the status updates of more than 73,000 Facebook users for instances of foul language. Finally, they compared profanity and integrity indexes for each US state. The result? In every instance, people who cursed more were less likely to lie and potentially have more integrity than those who censor their word choices.

Of course, assuming that those with potty mouths are paragons of virtue and integrity is probably a mistake. Just because they are less likely to intentionally be dishonest doesn’t necessarily mean they’re not capable of partaking in other ethically questionable decisions and behavior. Still, it’s more than a little vindicating for those of us who blurt out curse words several (or several dozen) times a day.

Jennifer Still is a writer and editor with more than 10 years of experience. The managing editor of Bolde, she has bylines in Vanity Fair, Business Insider, The New York Times, Glamour, Bon Appetit, and many more. You can follow her on Twitter @jenniferlstill
close-link
close-link