Regular swearing at work can help boost team spirit among staff, allowing them to express better their feelings as well as develop social relationships, according to a study by researchers.

Yehuda Baruch, a professor of management at the University of East Anglia, and graduate Stuart Jenkins studied the use of profanity in the workplace and assessed its implications for managers.

They assessed that swearing would become more common as traditional taboos are broken down but the key appeared to be knowing when such language was appropriate and when to turn to blind eye. The pair said swearing in front of senior staff or customers should be seriously discouraged or banned, but in other circumstances it helped foster solidarity among employees and express frustration, stress or other feelings.

The study, "Swearing at Work and Permissive Leadership Culture: When Anti-Social Becomes Social and Incivility is Acceptable,” is published in the latest issue of the Leadership and Organisational Development Journal.