Self-reported frequency of swearing in English: do situational, psychological and sociobiographical variables have similar effects on first and foreign language users?

Abstract

An analysis of data collected from 2347 users of English on their self-reported swearing behaviour in English revealed significant higher values for the 1159 native English (L1) users than for the 1165 English foreign language (LX) users. Parallel analyses on the data of the L1 and LX users revealed that the interlocutor effect was slightly stronger among L1 users. Swearing was reported to be most frequent in interactions with friends, when alone, followed by interactions with family members, colleagues and strangers. Participants scoring high on Psychoticism, Extraversion and Neuroticism reported significantly more swearing in English. Extraversion and Neuroticism had the strongest effects on LX users' self-reported swearing with friends and alone while Psychoticism and Neuroticism had the strongest effects on L1 users' self-reported swearing with strangers and with friends. The effects of sociobiographical variables (education level, age group, gender) were broadly similar among L1 and LX users but were significant in more categories of interlocutors for the L1 users. It is argued that the weaker effect of situational, psychological and sociobiographical variables on self-reported frequency of swearing among LX users of English could be linked to larger heterogeneity in their history of learning, socialisation, proficiency and use of English.

“Cunt”: On the perception and handling of verbal dynamite by L1 and LX users of English

“…However, LX users who scored high on Psychoticism also reported more frequent use of the word. These findings are very similar to the ones for self-reported frequency of swearing by the same participants (Dewaele 2017b). Participants scoring high on Extraversion, Neuroticism and Psychoticism reported more swearing in English with different interlocutors.…”

“…The finding that younger L1 and LX users reported more frequent use of the word is again in line with sociolinguistic research (cf. McEnery and Xiao 2004) and with the earlier finding that teens swear more frequently than older age groups (Dewaele 2017b). The fact that the difference between L1 and LX users is biggest among the teens, with the former reporting more use of the word than the latter confirms the advantage of L1 users being fully socialised in their L1.…”

“…It thus seems that people scoring high on Psychoticism hone and sharpen their linguistic arsenal, which may take a little extra time in an LX, and practice the taboo words regularly. This does not imply that these words are always used aggressively: Dewaele (2017b) found that most swearing was reported in the presence of friends, where swearing was part of friendly banter. It does confirm the general finding in the literature that people with an antisocial personality swear more frequently (Vingerhoets et al 2013).…”

“…Using the same database, Dewaele (2017b) looked at individual differences in the self-reported frequency of swearing among the English L1 and LX users. Participants reported most frequent swearing in interactions with friends, when alone, and gradually less swearing with family members, colleagues and strangers.…”

Linguistic taboos in a second or foreign language

“…I decided that the next phase of research in this domain would require more granularity, which would imply a set of actual words and expressions in a single language, and feedback from L1 and LX users of that language. Dewaele (2016Dewaele ( , 2017b are based on data collected from 2347 English users via an online questionnaire with the aim to catch individual differences in selfreported swearing frequency in English and the perception of offensiveness and frequency of use of 30 negative emotion-laden words extracted from the British National Corpus. Independent variables included sociobiographical variables, linguistic profiles and three personality traits.…”