While it may seem surprising that the first comprehensive study into profanity in the media has only just been carried out, its results are predictable enough with researchers finding what has long been established in other areas of research where violent scenes are shown to increase aggression levels. The same holds true for bad language and profanity which appear to increase aggression in teenagers.

Scientists at Brigham Young University gathered information from 223 middle school students in the Midwest. The data is not longitudinal, but BYU family life professor Sarah Coyne explains that the statistical techniques applied give more clues than would simple correlation tests.

“On the whole, it’s a moderate effect … We even ran the statistical model the opposite way to test if the violent kids used more profanity and then sought it out in the media, but the first path we took was a much better statistical fit even when we tried other explanations.”

In short what appears to happen seems logical, in that exposure to profanity, leads to acceptance of it, and more common use of it. The same thing happens with non profane slang or street language such as the infamous : – ) or LOL in SMS texts or other verbal expressions like cool, sick or wicked that rapidly spread in their daily use. As youth become more accustomed to using profanity and aggressive language it begins to influence their physical and relational aggression.

Brad Bushman, a mass communications professor and media expert at Ohio State University who was not involved with the study, concurs after reviewing the research :

“This research shows that profanity is not harmless …. Children exposed to profanity in the media think that such language is ‘normal,’ which may reduce their inhibitions about using profanity themselves. And children who use profanity are more likely to aggress against others. These are very important findings for parents, teachers, and pediatricians.”

Researchers say that the link between profanity and adolescent aggression was significant even while accounting for the content of the programming or games. However from a layman’s point of view it would appear that there is a real danger in the study that profanity is simply acting as a marker for more violent and aggressive content. A romantic comedy with no aggressive content would be weird with swearing in every line, whilst an aggressive video game or war movie would seem peculiar if all the language was toned down and polite.

Coyne says the ratings systems were “ahead of their time” by keeping young people away from profanity without specific scientific research to show the cause and effect. Yet she also sees a gap in the video game ratings system when it comes to educating parents about games that enable online interaction between players.

Coyne and other BYU faculty and students adhere to BYU’s “Honor Code” which includes a commitment to use clean language. Co-authors on the study include former grad student Laura Stockdale, Professor David Nelson and current grad student Ashley Fraser.

Written by Rupert Shepherd