Taboo gesticulations as a response to pain

Jacobs, Maarten; Beest, Ilja van; Stephens, Richard

doi:10.1515/sjpain-2018-0321

Cited by 3 publications

(6 citation statements)

References 18 publications

Supporting

Mentioning

Contrasting

Order By: Relevance

“…Our finding that taboo gestures can have a hypoalgesic effect differs from the conclusion of Jacobs et al (2018) who found that producing a taboo gesture did not affect pain in their study. There are several methodological differences that could account for the difference.…”

Section: Discussioncontrasting

confidence: 99%

“…They found that, despite being rated as similarly humorous to the swear word (“fuck”), the made-up word did not reduce pain on the cold pressor task compared to a neutral word whereas the swear word did. Further, Jacobs et al (2018) found that the middle finger gesture was rated as more humorous than the neutral gesture, though the middle finger gesture did not actually relieve pain in their study. Taken together, these findings suggest that humor is probably not the most important component of a swear word or taboo act that leads it to reduce pain.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 78%

“…If taboo gestures activate aggressive thoughts, then it is possible that they mitigate the experience of pain in the same way that profane language does. In one previous study that investigated this possibility, Jacobs et al (2018) found that extending the middle finger in an ice bath did not increase pain tolerance on the cold pressor task compared to extending the index finger. However, there are several limitations of the Jacobs et al experiment that should be noted.…”

mentioning

confidence: 94%

See 2 more Smart Citations

F@#k Pain! The Effect of Taboo Language and Gesture on the Experience of Pain

Hostetter

Rascon-Powell

2022

Psychol Rep

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

Swearing has been shown to reduce the experience of pain in a cold pressor task, and the effect has been suggested to be due to state aggression. In the present experiment, we examined whether producing a taboo gesture (i.e., the American gesture of raising the middle finger) reduces the experience of pain similar to the effect that has been shown for producing a taboo word. 111 participants completed two cold pressor trials in a 2 (Language vs. Gesture) × 2 (Taboo vs. Neutral) mixed design. We found that producing a taboo act in either language or gesture increased pain tolerance on the cold pressor task and reduced the experience of perceived pain compared to producing a neutral act. We found no changes in state aggression or heart rate. These results suggest that the pain-reducing effect of swearing is shared by taboo gesture and that these effects are likely not due to changes in state aggression.

show abstract

Section: Discussioncontrasting

confidence: 99%

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 78%

mentioning

confidence: 94%

See 1 more Smart Citation

F@#k Pain! The Effect of Taboo Language and Gesture on the Experience of Pain

Hostetter

Rascon-Powell

2022

Psychol Rep

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

show abstract

“… Hostetter and Rascon-Powell (2022) did not report effect sizes or conduct power analysis. However, Jacobs et al (2019) conducted two well-powered experiments to assess the pain modulating effect of the “middle finger” gesture. Their results showed no significant impact of taboo gestures on pain tolerance or pain perception ( Jacobs et al, 2019 ).…”

Section: Overview Of Swearing and Pain Modulationmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…However, Jacobs et al (2019) conducted two well-powered experiments to assess the pain modulating effect of the “middle finger” gesture. Their results showed no significant impact of taboo gestures on pain tolerance or pain perception ( Jacobs et al, 2019 ). These inconsistent findings may stem from variations in the experimental procedures.…”

Section: Overview Of Swearing and Pain Modulationmentioning

confidence: 99%

F@#$ pain! A mini-review of the hypoalgesic effects of swearing

Hay,

Sills,

Shoemake

et al. 2024

Front. Psychol.

Self Cite

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

Swearing, or the use of taboo language, has been repeatedly shown to induce hypoalgesia. While reliable hypoalgesic effects have been observed across studies, the mechanisms by which swearing influences pain and the optimal dosage of swearing remain poorly understood. Plausible mechanistic rationale for swearing’s impact on pain include sympathetic response, emotion, humor, distraction, aggression, state disinhibition, psychological flow, risky behavior, and self-confidence. It remains unknown how the intensity of the swear word, speech volume, frequency, or timing influences pain modulation. While the majority of evidence demonstrates the efficacy of swearing at attenuating acute pain responses, these studies have utilized healthy populations with controlled experiments in laboratory settings. Comparatively, less is known about how laboratory findings translate practically/clinically to diverse populations, various dosages, and different pain chronicities. A greater understanding of mechanistic underpinnings and practical implications are necessary to feasibly implement swearing as a therapeutic modality to combat pain. The purpose of the following mini-review is to provide an overview of the current evidence on swearing for the reduction of pain, speculate on plausible underlying mechanisms, and discuss the potential for optimization of swearing for real-world translation. Lastly, identifying knowledge gaps to aid in directing future research will be discussed.

show abstract