Abstract
Swearing is increasingly understood not merely as a form of offensive language but as a socially situated practice whose acceptability is shaped by interpersonal relationships, normative expectations, and group contexts. Previous studies have demonstrated that swearing may function as an expression of emotion, solidarity, group identity, and social affiliation, while religious and social norms may simultaneously influence the boundaries of acceptable language use. However, empirical research integrating religiosity, social control, and peer control into a single explanatory model of swearing normalization remains limited. This study examines the relationships between religiosity, social control, peer control, and swearing normalization using partial least squares structural equation modeling (PLS-SEM). The analysis was conducted using 300 valid observations and four reflective constructs. The measurement model demonstrated satisfactory indicator reliability, internal consistency, and convergent validity, with outer loadings ranging from 0.746 to 0.839, Cronbach's alpha from 0.945 to 0.974, composite reliability from 0.952 to 0.976, and AVE from 0.609 to 0.673. Discriminant validity was also supported, with HTMT values ranging from 0.095 to 0.648. The structural model explained 53.5% of the variance in swearing normalization (R² = 0.535). Religiosity showed a significant positive relationship with swearing normalization (β = 0.461, t = 10.778, p < 0.001), followed by social control (β = 0.328, t = 7.659, p < 0.001), whereas peer control showed a significant negative relationship (β = −0.269, t = 6.576, p < 0.001). Effect sizes were moderate for all three predictors, while Q²predict values ranged from 0.298 to 0.393. The positive association between religiosity and swearing normalization provides a theoretically important insight, suggesting that religious commitment may not translate uniformly into behavioral restraint across different forms of everyday language use. This finding highlights the context-dependent expression of religious norms when language practices are embedded in informal social interaction. Overall, the findings suggest that swearing normalization is embedded in a complex normative environment in which religious identity, broader social regulation, and peer-based control may operate in different directions. Given the cross-sectional design, these findings are interpreted as statistical associations rather than causal effects.