Dirty Words, Filthy Kids, and Other Surprisingly Good-for-You Vices

By Ian Yarett

It’s the oldest prop gag in the world: man picks up hammer; man swings hammer. Man hammers thumb. That’s what Richard Stevens, a psychologist at Keele University in England, did. And just like countless men and women before and after him, he cursed. Loud and long, and it felt good.

In fact, so good that he wondered whether there might be something to the power of profanity—a curiosity that only increased when his wife, while participating in the miracle that is childbirth, swore like a drunken sailor.

So Stevens looked into it. And he discovered that uttering profanity may actually make one better able to withstand pain. In a study published in this month's issue of NeuroReport, he and his colleagues put that theory to the test. They asked participants to submerge their nondominant hand in ice-cold water for as long as possible (or for a maximum of 10 minutes) while either repeating a swear word or a neutral word (one that describes a table). The volume and pace used for swear words and neutral words were kept similar. Then, the researchers compared those who swore and those who didn’t to determine the effect on the length of time that participants were able to keep their hands submerged.

Subjects who swore managed an average of 40 seconds, or about a third longer than those who didn’t—evidence that a few well-placed word bombs of your choosing actually has a protective effect. The biological basis for this observation remains unclear, although the researchers suspect that since swearing is emotional language, it may lead to an increase in aggression and invoke the flight-or-flight response, which is associated with increased pain tolerance. “For some people, swearing is a rational response to pain that might make them feel better,” Stephens says.

As it turns out, swearing is not the only “bad” behavior with redeeming qualities. We found three other examples of unjustly maligned behavior that's actually good for you:

Playing videogames

Despite the fact that videogames are here to stay, they still get a bad rap, with studies that link gaming to various harmful outcomes such as lower performance in school, aggressive or violent behavior, and childhood obesity.

Yet the very thing that can make videogames problematic—the fact that they are usually very engaging—can also have therapeutic, medical, and motor-skills benefits, says gaming expert Mark Griffiths, a professor of gambling studies (yes!) at Nottingham Trent University in England.

For example, he notes, videogaming can distract people from various painful conditions, like psoriasis or the painful side effects of chemotherapy, leading them to require less pain-killer medication.

A recent study published in Archives of Surgery suggests another benefit: videogame playing may help train for carrying out laparoscopic procedures, which are done through small incisions using an endscope—a tool that requires both fine motor skills like hand-eye coordination. Surgeons who had a history of playing videogames for more than three hours each week performed better during surgery training exercises, making 37 percent fewer errors and completing the tasks 27 percent faster than those who never played videogames.

Given that addiction can result from excessive gaming, how much is too much? According to Griffiths, it depends. “Just because it’s excessive does not mean it’s problematic,” he says, citing case studies of two adults who played videogames excessively. One of them was able to stop his gaming habit when there were other things in his life to occupy him, like a girlfriend and a job, while the other allowed gaming to literally ruin his life, getting him fired from his job and destroying his marriage.

“The real difference between a healthy enthusiasm and an addiction is that an enthusiasm adds to life, whereas an addiction takes away from it,” Griffiths says.

Gossiping

Anyone who has watched Blair and Serena battle for power over the Upper East Side social set knows that gossip can be a destructive force: reputations ruined, secrets exposed, and poor Jenny Humphrey forced to leave school. And yet…you know you love it.

Relax. While gossip may get a bad rap from us laymen, psychologists say it’s not all bad.
According to Sarah R. Wert, a psychology researcher at the University of Colorado at Boulder, the power of gossip is too complex a social force to be stuck with labels like “good” and “bad,” and there is evidence that gossip serves an important but often overlooked social role. 

Gossip is a means by which people trade essential information. It is a means by which social norms get developed and passed on. “If there were no gossip, we would be in the dark about a lot of things,” Wert says. The information that is traded through gossip may help us to make important social comparisons and evaluate our abilities or opinions based on the experiences of others.

Roy F. Baumeister, a psychologist at Florida State University, says that gossip is a means by which the experiences—and misadventures—of others are shared, and that this can be a positive thing. “It saves us from having to repeat the mistakes of others,” he explains.

Gossip also facilitates social bonding. “When a group of people talk about others…it makes them vulnerable, they go out on a limb. It is fun, entertaining,” Wert explains. “It makes people feel closer together at least when the gossip is going on, and maybe even after.”

Whether gossip is helpful or hurtful really depends on the situation. “Bonds can be strengthened,” Wert says. “But you can turn that around and see how bonds can be destroyed, too.”

Sitting around in your own filth

Sadly, this one applies mainly to children—but if you were one of those kids who ate mud and made messes and walked around like a miniature Pig-Pen, you’re probably healthier than your former classmates—especially that one kid who always wore white and never spilled ice cream on himself and had antibiotic gel stashed in his backpack. Many researchers believe that exposure to certain harmless or beneficial microorganisms is essential for proper immune development in children.  Letting kids play outside and get dirty might be the way to go.


While we need exposure to microbes to develop a healthy immune system, good hygiene is still important to protect us from pathogens that can cause infections, says Sally Bloomfield, an honorary professor at the London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine. Still, there’s no need to be obsessive about it. Bloomfield says, “Day to day, we should not be afraid to get dirty.”