The foreign language effect in bilingualism: Examining prosocial sentiment after offense taking

Abstract

This study examines whether the foreign language effect mitigates reactions to value-inconsistent sociopolitical content. We examined 69 English–Spanish bilinguals and 31 Spanish–English heritage bilinguals, half of whom did the experiment in their native language and half in their second language. Participants were administered a survey in which trial emotiveness was manipulated by using the quantifiers some and all (e.g., Some Trump supporters are racists vs. All Trump supporters are racists). The some-types (n = 30) served as a baseline for the all-types (n = 30). After each target, participants rated their willingness to be prosocial (e.g., holding the door for a stranger) on a scale of 1–7, 1 being totally agree and 7 being totally disagree. Our results suggest that processing emotional information in a second language is less emotional than in a first language and that such a decrease in emotionality results in the neutralization of offense taken. However, individual differences in linguistic profiles across participants, as well as contextual framing, lead to discrete value judgments. Proficiency, learner type, political affiliation, and context type affect willingness to engage in prosocial behavior. As a group, the bilinguals showed no decrease in their willingness to engage in such behaviors, regardless of context type; speakers of higher proficiency and stronger political values increase prosocial sentiment; and lower proficiency and weaker views lead to neutral prosocial sentiment.

Bilinguals on the footbridge: the role of foreign-language proficiency in moral decision making

“…Notably, prosocial personality traits seem to weaken as L2p decreases. This has been shown, for example, in bilingualism studies tapping on altruism (Liu et al, 2022 ), prosocial amicability (Miller et al, 2021 ) and empathic concern (Dewaele & Wei, 2012 ). The evidence further suggests that higher L2p might be correlated with enhanced fast emotional reactions to social contexts (Liu et al, 2022 ), likely because proficient bilinguals have easier access to emotional and emotion-laden words related to socialization and cooperation (Ferré et al, 2022 ; Miller et al, 2021 ), and an empathic tendency toward learning their L2 properly (Dewaele & Wei, 2012 ).…”

“…This has been shown, for example, in bilingualism studies tapping on altruism (Liu et al, 2022 ), prosocial amicability (Miller et al, 2021 ) and empathic concern (Dewaele & Wei, 2012 ). The evidence further suggests that higher L2p might be correlated with enhanced fast emotional reactions to social contexts (Liu et al, 2022 ), likely because proficient bilinguals have easier access to emotional and emotion-laden words related to socialization and cooperation (Ferré et al, 2022 ; Miller et al, 2021 ), and an empathic tendency toward learning their L2 properly (Dewaele & Wei, 2012 ). Social detachment as a result of bilingual experience has been often proposed as a potential explanation of the MFLE, with different works discussing how specific contexts of L2 acquisition and use could blunt emotional and normative responses (Del Maschio et al, 2022b ; Hadjichristidis et al, 2019 ; Hayakawa et al, 2016 ; Miozzo et al, 2020 ).…”

“…L2p might be one of such variables. In particular, lower L2p would be related to lower altruism, amicability and empathic concern, which are negatively associated with instrumental harm and psychopathy (Dewaele & Wei, 2012 ; Everett & Kahane, 2020 ; Liu et al, 2022 ; Miller et al, 2021 ). Utilitarian choices could thus be increased based on the “negative” proto-utilitarian principle of instrumental harm for welfare.…”

“…As such, higher L2p levels have been linked to heightened emotional processing (activation of affective mechanisms by arousing stimuli; Caldwell-Harris, 2015 ; Harris et al, 2006 ; Imbault et al, 2021 ; Pavlenko, 2017 ; Sutton et al, 2007 ), enriched mental imagery (visual or otherwise perceptual representations of events in the absence of direct sensory input; Hayakawa & Keysar, 2018 ), increased inhibitory control (the capacity to suppress prepotent information to favor adequate task completion; Goral et al, 2015 ; Hui et al, 2020 ; Thanissery et al, 2020 ), more efficient lexico-semantic processing (access to and retrieval of words' meanings; Abutalebi, 2008 ; Bialystok & Craik, 2010 ; Cuppini et al, 2013 ; Dijkstra et al, 2019 ; Ibáñez et al, 2010 ; Keating, 2017 ; Liberto et al, 2021 ; Zheng et al, 2020 ), stronger embodied resonance (reactivation of sensorimotor brain mechanisms subserving the bodily experiences denoted by linguistic material; Bergen et al, 2010 ; Birba et al, 2020 ; Ibáñez et al, 2010 ; Kogan et al, 2020 ; Vukovic, 2013 ), enhanced code switching flexibility (alternation between languages during continuous speech; Kootstra et al, 2012 ) and better numerical processing (the ability to perform mental operations involving digits and figures; Hoshino et al, 2010 ; Van Rinsveld et al, 2016 ). Higher L2p also impacts complex social phenomena, as it is related to more effective lying and lie detection (Caldwell-Harris & Ayçiçeǧi-Dinn, 2009 ; Elliott & Leach, 2016 ), increased prosocial sentiments (Miller et al, 2021 ), greater altruism (Liu et al, 2022 ) and enhanced theory of mind capabilities (Nguyen & Astington, 2014 ). Briefly, L2p is a key determinant of multiple operations in bilingual cognition.…”