Those who use language to think may have a cognitive advantage on tasks requiring holding information in mind.

Taboo words occupy a specific and irreplaceable function within the lexicon.

People rate swearers as less intelligent and less trustworthy than non-swearers.

Most of us have a fairly tidy mental image of what an “intelligent person” looks like: someone with good habits, who’s always articulate, composed, and chooses their words with the utmost care. The allure of this unassuming, quiet type who has everything figured out before they speak can be quite tempting. But psychological research keeps dismantling this image.

Over the past decade, researchers studying language, cognition, and verbal processing have identified several behaviors that correlate with higher cognitive ability but that are routinely mistaken for their opposite. Two of the most compelling involve habits that many intelligent people might have been quietly apologizing for their whole lives.

Although neither will win you friends at a formal dinner, both are supported by a growing and credible body of peer-reviewed research. Here’s a breakdown of both.

1. Talking to Yourself Out Loud

There is a long-standing cultural assumption that people who talk to themselves are, at best, eccentric and, at worst, showing signs of something more concerning. It’s the kind of behavior that invites sideways glances in supermarket aisles and prompts well-meaning family members to ask if you are OK. The research, however, tells a different story.

In a 2012........

© Psychology Today