Swearing at work: the mixed outcomes of profanity
通过访谈52名英美法三国的律师、医生和高管，发现说脏话在职场中并不罕见，且能带来减压、丰富沟通和增强社交等正面效果，挑战了传统上认为脏话属于不文明行为的观点。
Purpose The purpose of this paper is to explore the use and misuse of swearing in the workplace. Design/methodology/approach Using a qualitative methodology, the authors interviewed 52 lawyers, medical doctors and business executives in the UK, France and the USA. Findings In contrast to much of the incivility and social norms literatures, the authors find that male and female business executives, lawyers and doctors of all ages admit to swearing. Further, swearing can lead to positive outcomes at the individual, interpersonal and group levels, including stress-relief, communication-enrichment and socialization-enhancement. Research limitations/implications An implication for future scholarship is that “thinking out of the box” when exploring emotion-related issues can lead to new insights. Practical implications Practical implications include reconsidering and tolerating incivility under certain conditions. Originality/value The authors identified a case in which a negative phenomenon reveals counter-intuitive yet insightful results.