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All Outputs (29)

F@#$ pain! A mini-review of the hypoalgesic effects of swearing (2024)
Journal Article
Hay, C. M., Sills, J. L., Shoemake, J. M., Ballmann, C. G., Stephens, R., & Washmuth, N. B. (in press). F@#$ pain! A mini-review of the hypoalgesic effects of swearing. Frontiers in Psychology, 15, Article 1416041. https://doi.org/10.3389/fpsyg.2024.1416041

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... Read More about F@#$ pain! A mini-review of the hypoalgesic effects of swearing.

Using expletives to enhance therapeutic outcomes: A case report (2023)
Journal Article
Washmuth, N. B., Stephens, R., McAfee, B., McAfee, A. D., Bise, C. G., & Durham, J. (in press). Using expletives to enhance therapeutic outcomes: A case report. Health Psychology Research, 11, https://doi.org/10.52965/001c.89726

Background
Swearing deserves attention in the physical therapy setting due to its potential positive effects on pain, physical performance, and therapeutic alliance. The purpose of this case report is to describe the strategic use of swearing in the... Read More about Using expletives to enhance therapeutic outcomes: A case report.

A Physical Therapist Who Swears: A Case Series (2023)
Journal Article
Trummer, G., Stephens, R., & Washmuth, N. B. (in press). A Physical Therapist Who Swears: A Case Series. Journal of Rehabilitation Medicine - Clinical Communications, 6, jrmcc010277. https://doi.org/10.2340/jrmcc.v6.10277

Swearing deserves attention in the physical therapy setting due to its potential positive psychological, physiological, and social effects. The purpose of this case series is to describe 2 cases in which a physical therapist swears in the clinical se... Read More about A Physical Therapist Who Swears: A Case Series.

The power of swearing: What we know and what we don’t (2022)
Journal Article
Stapleton, K., Loveday, C., Stephens, R., & Beers Fägersten, K. (2022). The power of swearing: What we know and what we don’t. Lingua, -. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.lingua.2022.103406

Swearing produces effects that are not observed with other forms of language use. Thus, swearing is powerful. It generates a range of distinctive outcomes: physiological, cognitive, emotional, pain-relieving, interactional and rhetorical. However, we... Read More about The power of swearing: What we know and what we don’t.

A review of gamified approaches to encouraging eco-driving (2022)
Journal Article
Stephens, R. (in press). A review of gamified approaches to encouraging eco-driving. Frontiers in Psychology, 13, https://doi.org/10.3389/fpsyg.2022.970851

Eco-driving is a style of driving that minimizes energy consumption, while gamification refers to the use of game techniques to motivate user engagement in non-game contexts. This paper comprises a literature review assessing applying gamification to... Read More about A review of gamified approaches to encouraging eco-driving.

Effect of swearing on strength: Disinhibition as a potential mediator (2022)
Journal Article
Atkins, K., Stephens, R., Dowber, H., Barrie, A., & Almeida, S. (2022). Effect of swearing on strength: Disinhibition as a potential mediator. PsyArXiv, https://doi.org/10.31234/osf.io/dfyc8

<p>Introduction: Swearing fulfils positive functions including benefitting pain relief and physical strength. Here we present three experiments assessing a possible psychological mechanism, increased state disinhibition, for the effect of swearing on... Read More about Effect of swearing on strength: Disinhibition as a potential mediator.

Frankly, we do give a damn: improving patient outcomes with swearing (2022)
Journal Article
Stephens, R., & Washmuth, N. B. (2022). Frankly, we do give a damn: improving patient outcomes with swearing. Archives of Physiotherapy, 12(1), 6 - ?. https://doi.org/10.1186/s40945-022-00131-8

BACKGROUND: Words can change the way a patient thinks, feels, and performs. Swearing, or uttering a word that is considered taboo, is an often-ignored part of our language, even though over 50% of the population swears "sometimes" or "often". If used... Read More about Frankly, we do give a damn: improving patient outcomes with swearing.

Effect of speed on flow and enjoyment for driving and rollercoasters (2022)
Journal Article
Stephens, R., Dowber, H., Barrie, A., & Almeida, S. (2022). Effect of speed on flow and enjoyment for driving and rollercoasters. Transportation Research Part F: Traffic Psychology and Behaviour, 276-286. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.trf.2022.02.001

Worldwide, road traffic injuries are the eighth highest cause of death, and campaigns targeting excessive speed are a common approach to tackling this issue. Yet one element missing from these campaigns is acknowledgment that speed is inherently enjo... Read More about Effect of speed on flow and enjoyment for driving and rollercoasters.

Effect of swearing on strength: Disinhibition as a potential mediator (2022)
Journal Article
Stephens, R., Dowber, H., Barrie, A., Almeida, S., & Atkins, K. (2023). Effect of swearing on strength: Disinhibition as a potential mediator. Quarterly Journal of Experimental Psychology, 76(2), 305-318. https://doi.org/10.1177/17470218221082657

Swearing fulfils positive functions, including benefitting pain relief and physical strength. Here we present two experiments assessing a possible psychological mechanism, increased state disinhibition, for the effect of swearing on physical strength... Read More about Effect of swearing on strength: Disinhibition as a potential mediator.

Swearing as a Response to Pain: Assessing Hypoalgesic Effects of Novel “Swear” Words (2020)
Journal Article
Stephens, R., & Robertson, O. (2020). Swearing as a Response to Pain: Assessing Hypoalgesic Effects of Novel “Swear” Words. Frontiers in Psychology, https://doi.org/10.3389/fpsyg.2020.00723

Previous research showing that swearing alleviates pain is extended by addressing emotion arousal and distraction as possible mechanisms. We assessed the effects of a conventional swear word (“fuck”) and two new “swear” words identified as both emoti... Read More about Swearing as a Response to Pain: Assessing Hypoalgesic Effects of Novel “Swear” Words.

Taboo gesticulations as a response to pain (2019)
Journal Article
Jacobs, M., van Beest, I., & Stephens, R. (2019). Taboo gesticulations as a response to pain. Scandinavian Journal of Pain, 397-406. https://doi.org/10.1515/sjpain-2018-0321

Prior research indicates that swearing increases pain tolerance and decreases pain perception in a cold pressor task. In two experiments, we extend this research by testing whether taboo hand gesticulations have a similar effect. Study 1 focused on m... Read More about Taboo gesticulations as a response to pain.

Playing in the UEFA Europa League Does Not Adversely Affect English Premier League or La Liga Performance (2018)
Journal Article
Stephens, R., Bosworth, G., & Shepherd, T. A. (2018). Playing in the UEFA Europa League Does Not Adversely Affect English Premier League or La Liga Performance. Journal of Functional Morphology and Kinesiology, 4(1 (Special Issue Sport Psychology)), https://doi.org/10.3390/jfmk4010002

Purpose:
This article presents data challenging the widely held but untested view that concurrently playing mid-week Union of European Football Associations (UEFA) Europa League matches adversely affects domestic league performance.

Method:
Over... Read More about Playing in the UEFA Europa League Does Not Adversely Affect English Premier League or La Liga Performance.

Effect of swearing on strength and power performance (2018)
Journal Article
Stephens, R., Spierer, D., & Katehis, E. (2018). Effect of swearing on strength and power performance. Psychology of Sport and Exercise, 111-117. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.psychsport.2017.11.014

Objectives: Swearing aloud increases pain tolerance. The hypothesis that this response may be owed to an increase in sympathetic drive raises the intriguing question as to whether swearing results in an improvement in strength and power.

Design:... Read More about Effect of swearing on strength and power performance.

Swearing as a response to pain: a cross-cultural comparison of British and Japanese participants (2017)
Journal Article
Robinson, S., Stephens, R., & Robertson, O. (2017). Swearing as a response to pain: a cross-cultural comparison of British and Japanese participants. Scandinavian Journal of Pain, 267-272. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.sjpain.2017.07.014

Background and aims
Research suggests swearing can moderate pain perception. The present study assessed whether changes in pain perception due to swearing reflect a “scripting” effect by comparing swearing as a response to pain in native English and... Read More about Swearing as a response to pain: a cross-cultural comparison of British and Japanese participants.

Does Emotional Arousal Influence Swearing Fluency? (2017)
Journal Article
Stephens, R., & Zile, A. (2017). Does Emotional Arousal Influence Swearing Fluency?. Journal of Psycholinguistic Research, 983-995. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10936-016-9473-8

This study assessed the effect of experimentally manipulated emotional arousal on swearing fluency. We hypothesised that swear word generation would be increased with raised emotional arousal. The emotional arousal of 60 participants was manipulated... Read More about Does Emotional Arousal Influence Swearing Fluency?.

Does familial risk for alcohol use disorder predict alcohol hangover? (2017)
Journal Article
Stephens, R., Holloway, K., Grange, J., Kruisselbrink, D., Owen, L., & Jones, K. (2017). Does familial risk for alcohol use disorder predict alcohol hangover?. Psychopharmacology, 1795-1802. https://doi.org/10.1007/s00213-017-4585-x

Aims
Positive family history of alcohol use disorder (FHP), a variable associated with propensity for alcohol use disorder (AUD), has been linked with elevated hangover frequency and severity, after controlling for alcohol use. This implies that han... Read More about Does familial risk for alcohol use disorder predict alcohol hangover?.

The effect of alcohol hangover on choice response time (2016)
Journal Article
Grange, J., Jones, K., Stephens, R., & Owen, L. (2016). The effect of alcohol hangover on choice response time. Journal of Psychopharmacology, 654-661. https://doi.org/10.1177/0269881116645299

The effect of alcohol hangover on cognitive processing has received little attention. We explored the effect of alcohol hangover on choice response time (RT), a dominant dependent variable (DV) in cognitive research. Prior research of the effect of h... Read More about The effect of alcohol hangover on choice response time.