The foreign language effect on motivational quotes

According to the 'reduced emotionality hypothesis', we are less emotionally driven when reasoning in a foreign language (FL) than in a native language (NL). We examined whether this foreign language effect (FLe) extends to the way we perceive motivational quotes (i.e., encouraging slogans conveying a profound and inspirational message): we expected FL participants to rate motivational quotes as less profound than NL participants. Strikingly, we observed the opposite: FL participants found motivational quotes more profound than NL participants, even after controlling for potential confounders (e.g., IQ, reasoning style). Both FL and NL participants gave similarly low profundity ratings to pseudo-profound bullshit sentences (i.e., meaningless sentences sounding profound), indicating that the message must be meaningful for the FLe to arise. We propose that, like space or time, language could promote psychological distance. This favours a focus on the background of a message to indicate profoundness

The Foreign Language Effect on Tolerance of Ambiguity

Previous research has shown that bilingual speakers may be more tolerant to ambiguity, they might perceive situations of ambiguity more interesting, challenging and desirable (e.g., Dewaele & Li, 2013). To our knowledge, no data is available addressing the question whether the language in use can have an effect on the personality trait of tolerance of ambiguity (ToA). This study investigated whether and how reading statements in a second language (L2), as opposed to the native language (L1), affects ToA. 387 Italian/English bilingual adults completed a questionnaire measuring levels of ToA either in English or Italian. Results revealed that processing information in L2 promoted higher scores of ToA overall and in sentences that were related to challenging perspectives and change. Age, gender and L2 proficiency were significant predictors of higher ToA scores. This study offers new evidence that processing information in a L2 can affect tolerance of ambiguous situations

The moral foreign language effect is stable across presentation modalities

YesPeoples’ judgments and decisions often change when made in their foreign language. Existing research testing this foreign language effect has predominantly used text-based stimuli with little research focusing on the impact of listening to audio stimuli on the effect. The only existing study on this topic found shifts in people’s moral decisions only in the audio modality. Firstly, by reanalyzing the data from this previous study and by collecting data in an additional experiment, we found no consistent effects of using foreign language on moral judgments. Secondly, in both datasets we found no significant language by modality interaction. Overall, our results highlight the need for more robust testing of the foreign language effect, and its boundary conditions. However, modality of presentation does not appear to be a candidate for explaining its variability. Data and materials for this experiment are available at https://osf.io/qbjxn/

Bilingualism: The foreign language effect does not extend to rational decision making

This research investigated if the foreign language effect extended to rationality. Four groups (English speaking monolingual group; Polish speaking monolingual group; Bilingual Polish group who were presented with decision task in English; Bilingual Polish group who were presented with decision task in Polish) completed a series of decision scenarios. The results highlighted that: 1) bilingual individuals did not display more rationality in general (or in specific decision scenarios); 2) the presentation of a decision in a non-native language did not aid rational decision making in bilinguals. The paper suggests that the foreign language effect may not increase the chances of bilingual individuals being more rational decision makers in general, but may promote more rational behaviour in specific decision contexts

Foreign language effect in decision-making: How foreign is it?

It has been shown that decisions and moral judgments differ when made using native languages compared to foreign languages. Cross-linguistic differences appeared in foreign languages that monolinguals typically ac- quired in school and used neither routinely nor extensively. We replicated these differences with two popula- tions of proficient, native bilinguals (Italian-Venetian; Italian-Bergamasque). Venetian and Bergamasque are spoken in households and informal circles, unlike Italian, which is also used in more formal contexts. The findings reported in foreign languages for the Asian Disease Problem and the Footbridge Dilemma were re- produced in Venetian and Bergamasque. Our results show that language effects on decision-making and moral judgments are not restricted to foreign languages. The explanation proposed for foreign languages of cross- linguistic differences in emotion responses does not apply to our proficient, native bilinguals, who showed emotion responses of equal intensity in their languages. We propose that the contexts in which bilinguals use a language \u2013 either native, regional or foreign \u2013 could affect decisions

The directionality of uncertainty expressions and the foreign language effect

Purpose – This study investigates two issues inherent in accounting judgements: (1) the directional influence of uncertainty expressions and how they might positively or negatively affect accounting judgements and (2) the foreign-language effect (FLE), which refers to the reduction of judgement bias that occurs when an accounting judgement is made in one’s foreign language. This study examines both issues in the context of accounting judgements made in Chinese and English languages. Design/methodology/approach – This study conducts two experiments. The first experiment applies a 2x2 between-subject research design, and the second experiment adopts a 2x2 within-subject approach. Findings – The overall results reveal that directionality biases exist in the exercise of accounting judgement in subjects’ native and foreign languages. However, when switching the language from the subjects’ native tongue to a foreign language, overall directionality biases are reduced. Research limitations/implications – This study suggests that the use of native and non-native languages can have unintended consequences on accounting judgements. However, due to the limitations of using students as proxies for professionals and applying self-assessed language scales, the literature would benefit from future research that extends the subject profile to professional accountants and that assesses language skills more objectively. Originality/value – This study contributes to the literature on cross-lingual accounting, both theoretically and methodologically. It also extends the FLE theory to an accounting context, providing insights on how language is involved in judgements concerning uncertainty expressions

(Not so) Lost in Translation: How Foreign Language Use Affects Decision-Making

Using a foreign language in decision-making under uncertainty has been found to influence the choices people make. This foreign language effect has been studied for a very restricted selection of cognitive phenomena including framing effects. Therefore, my study aimed to extend the range of cognitive phenomena to the availability and the anchoring heuristic, but also replicate previous studies concerning framing for a new sample as a baseline for comparisons. The foreign language effect was assessed using a questionnaire which was randomly administered to Norwegian students (N=204) in either Norwegian or English. Framing was assessed using the Asian disease task, the availability heuristic was assessed using a probability estimation task, and anchoring was assessed using a frequency estimation task. The participants’ responses in the two language conditions did not differ significantly, which indicates that the FLE did not emerge in the current study. Possible explanations are discussed.Masteroppgave i psykologiMAPSYK360INTL-SVINTL-KMDINTL-MNINTL-HFINTL-PSYKMAPS-PSYKINTL-MEDINTL-JU

Parochial Altruism and the Foreign Language Effect: An Experimental Investigation

In an increasingly multilingual world, understanding whether judgments vary as a function of language is an important topic. The idea that a non-native language may affect the cognitive processes responsible for judgment and decision-making has received significant attention from psycholinguistic research. The effect, known as the foreign-language effect (FLE) has been extended to moral judgments and several studies have shown that when presented with moral dilemmas people tend to be more inclined towards sacrificial harm when the dilemmas are presented in the foreign than in the native language. In addition, recent data collected at the University of Padova have shown that the FLE is present in four of the five moral foundations as measured by the Moral Foundation Questionnarie developed within the Moral Foundation Theory. Of particular interest to the present study is the finding that individuals tend to score higher on the in-group foundation when using their foreign language. According to this finding, people tend to value loyalty to the group more in their foreign language in comparison to their native language. Importantly, a separate line of research has shown that identification with the in-group correlates with higher levels of parochial altruism. Parochial altruism refers to the propensity to direct prosocial behavior towards members of one’s own in-group. The aim of the present study is to test whether the FLE found in measures of the in-group foundation extends to a tendency to direct altruism parochially. In other words, we are interested in understanding how altruistic attitudes and behaviors in a bilingual population vary as a function of language. We aim to do so by employing an experimental design in which Italian-English bilingual participants are given the chance to donate money to either one of two charities. The two charities presented differ in the inclusiveness of their scope (i.e., one operates on the local (provincial) and the other on the national level). Participants are randomly assigned to one of two language condition, so that the questionnaire would be presented either in Italian or in English. After collecting some personal data, participants are told that they will be given an extra-amount of money for their participation to the experiment. They could decide to donate or not, all or a part, of the sum they will receive. They are also told that the sum they will donate will be doubled by the experimenter and given to the charity they opted for. Data will be collected from about 400 participants. According to the aforementioned theoretical framework, we expect a difference in the propensity to donate and in the amount of the donation, according to the language used, in particular when the donation is in favour of the local community