Thank f**k for that
By Lester Haines ? More by this author
Published Tuesday 16th October 2007 16:00 GMT

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There's some good news today for El Reg hacks and indeed anyone who likes a
solid bit of effing and blinding at work - the University of East Anglia has
found "the use of non-conventional and uncivil language can be a useful
emotional release and an effective way of promoting social relationships
with others".

Put simply, profanity can reduce stress and promote team bonding with a
beneficial knock-on effect for business.

According to the East Anglian Daily Times, Professor Yehuda Baruch,
professor of management at the UEA-based Norwich Business School, and
graduate Stuart Jenkins conducted a probe to "challenge leadership styles
and investigate the positive impact swearing could have".

They suggest that "by allowing staff to swear as a means of expressing
feelings of frustration and tension... working conditions could improve".

However, before you lot go rampaging round the office letting rip with a
hideous string of expletives, be aware that the researchers advise that
"abusive swearing should not be encouraged where it generates increased
levels of stress rather than helping to relieve it".*

Prof. Baruch concluded: "We hope that this study will serve not only to
acknowledge the part that swearing plays in our work and our lives, but also
to indicate that leaders sometimes need to 'think differently', and be open
to intriguing ideas." ®

Bootnote
*ie, telling the boss to "suck a fat one" or calling a colleague a "useless
c**t", and so forth.

--
~ A man needs a woman like a lion needs a stove. ~

~ Women deserve only equal opportunity, not equal outcomes. ~

~ Men are not collectively "guilty" of anything. ~

~ Never needing to be pregnant is a blessing. ~

~ Feminist ideology "men have to respect women, but women have no reason to
respect men" ~

~ Everybody makes choices, and nobody should be entitled to special
treatment because of those choices.
Equal results based on unequal treatment amounts to no kind of equality at
all. ~