TY  - JOUR
AB  - 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.
VL  - 32
IS  - 2
SN  - 0268-3946
DO  - 10.1108/JMP-04-2016-0102
UR  - https://doi.org/10.1108/JMP-04-2016-0102
AU  - Baruch Yehuda
AU  - Prouska Rea
AU  - Ollier-Malaterre Ariane
AU  - Bunk Jennifer
PY  - 2017
Y1  - 2017/01/01
TI  - Swearing at work: the mixed outcomes of profanity
T2  - Journal of Managerial Psychology
PB  - Emerald Publishing Limited
SP  - 149
EP  - 162
Y2  - 2024/04/16
ER  -