TY  - JOUR
PY  - 2022//
TI  - F@#k pain! The effect of taboo language and gesture on the experience of pain
JO  - Psychological reports
A1  - Hostetter, Autumn B.
A1  - Rascon-Powell, Dominic Knight
SP  - ePub
EP  - ePub
VL  - ePub
IS  - ePub
N2  - 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.<p />  <p>Language: en</p>
LA  - en
SN  - 0033-2941
UR  - http://dx.doi.org/10.1177/00332941221125776
ID  - ref1
ER  -