Jay, K. L., & Jay, T. B. (2015). Taboo word fluency and knowledge of slurs and general pejoratives: deconstructing the poverty-of-vocabulary myth. Language Sciences, 52251-259. doi:10.1016/j.langsci.2014.12.003
https://mcla.edu/Assets/MCLA-Files/Academics/Undergraduate/Psychology/fluency%202015.pdf
This study completed by K. L. Jay and T. B. Jay discusses the use of taboo language as it related to the myth that foul language is typically used by those people who have a small vocabulary, lower level of comprehension, and lower IQ. The idea behind the three studies shown in this paper was to measure the use of taboo word fluency and then to relate that measurement to traditional fluency as typically measured by the Controlled Oral Word Association Test (COWAT).
“The study revealed that people who could name the most swear words in one minute tend to have a greater overall vocabulary.”
The time frame used for the three language studies differed for test one compared to test two and three. In test one, participants were given one minute to come up with as many swear words as they could; in this study the participants also verbally indicated their words into a microphone and they were recorded. In tests two and three the participants wrote the taboo words as a list as there was some indicators that some participants from study one may have been reluctant to use taboo words out loud in the laboratory.
The study did find that verbal fluency and taboo word usage are positively correlated with “other measures of verbal fluency.” So in other words, knowing a large amount of taboo words and being able to use them properly is an indicator that you have a healthy vocabulary.
“In the end, the participants of the study were able to come up with 533 different taboo words.”
Ultimately there were three separate correlational studies completed that were all assessed prior to coming up with the end result. Study one participants came up with a total of 400 taboo words, study two came up with the indicated 533 taboo words, and study three came up with 1,396 different taboo words.
“Curse word fluency was found to be connected to traits of neuroticism and openness.”
Connected is one way to put this. The study shows that use of taboo words is negatively correlated with agreeableness and conscientiousness while being positively correlated to neuroticism and openness.
“The study also showed no major difference in results between men and women”
This is accurate. The study or group of studies were able to state that men and women showed similar lexical access or access to a large number of words, when assessed for the use of taboo words.
“So congratulations, you're a f***ing genius!”
No actual IQ testing was completed during this study; however they did use the following line at the beginning of the paper when discussing beliefs about word fluency: “Verbal fluency is the hallmark of intellectual acumen; the more words one knows and uses, the greater ones verbal prowess or intelligence.” This could suggest that those who have a larger vocabulary also have a larger overall IQ; however, I believe the distinction for this testing is verbal intelligence, which the study found to be accurate.