Participants in a recent study at Keele University in the UK were told that the researchers were investigating the degree of stress that various forms of language elicit during stressful experiences and then asked to plunge their hand into a tank of cold water and keep it there for as long as they could while repeating a word of their choice.
They found that swearing people could keep their hand submerged significantly longer than their non-swearing counterparts, perceived the sensation as less painful and exhibited a greater increase in heart rate (see figure below).
The authors suggest that swearing might increase fear-related emotional responses, which have been linked to analgesia responses. They also posit that swearing might elicit aggressive tendencies, which can prompt greater stoicism or machismo. Both of these putative mechanisms are purely speculative and it remains to be seen why exactly swearing helps to reduce pain sensitivity.
PubMed Link: http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/19590391
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