The Moral Foreign-Language Effect

Cipolletti, Heather; McFarlane, Steven; Weissglass, Christine

doi:10.1080/09515089.2014.993063

Cited by 119 publications

(121 citation statements)

References 37 publications

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“…Now if foreign language increases deliberation then its effect should be felt in the footbridge dilemma that typically supports deontological responses-it should increase utilitarian choices-but not in the switch dilemma that typically supports utilitarian responses. This is exactly what it was found (e.g., Cipolletti et al, 2016;Costa et al, 2014;Geipel et al, 2015a). The increased deliberation account is also consistent with the finding that foreign language increases moral leniency towards relatively harmless taboo actions (Geipel et al, 2015b).…”

Section: Why Does Foreign Language Sway Moral Judgments?supporting

confidence: 88%

“…Initial studies on whether language influences moral judgments employed the trolley dilemmas (Cipolletti et al, 2016;Costa et al, 2014;Geipel et al, 2015a). In these dilemmas, participants have to imagine that a runaway trolley is in a course to kill five workmen unless an action is taken.…”

Section: Foreign Language Sways Moral Judgmentsmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Several such decisions-Should we impose immigration quotas?-involve moral considerations. Research has shown that using a foreign instead of the native language can sway our morals (e.g., Cipolletti, McFarlane, & Weissglass, 2016;Costa et al, 2014;Geipel, Hadjichristidis, & Surian, 2015a, 2015b). This finding is in stark opposition with the widely held belief that our morals define who we are (Strohminger & Nichols, 2014, 2015, and implies that foreign language use might be shaping international policymaking.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Previous work on the moral foreign-language effect examined sacrificial actions that promote the aggregate benefit (Cipolletti et al, 2016;Costa et al, 2014;Geipel et al, 2015a), and taboo actions that are relatively harmless (Geipel et al, 2015b). In both cases, foreign language increased moral endorsement.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

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Foreign language affects the contribution of intentions and outcomes to moral judgment

2016

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We examine whether the use of a foreign language, as opposed to the native language, influences the relative weight intentions versus outcomes carry in moral evaluations. In Study 1, participants were presented with actions that had positive outcomes but were motivated by dubious intentions, while in Study 2 with actions that had negative outcomes but were motivated by positive intentions.Participants received the materials either in their native or a foreign language. Foreign language prompted more positive moral evaluations in Study 1 and less positive evaluations in Study 2.These results show that foreign language reduces the relative weight placed on intentions versus outcomes. We discuss several theoretical accounts that are consistent with the results such as that foreign language attenuates emotions (triggered by intentions) or it depletes cognitive resources.

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Section: Why Does Foreign Language Sway Moral Judgments?supporting

confidence: 88%

Section: Foreign Language Sways Moral Judgmentsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

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Foreign language affects the contribution of intentions and outcomes to moral judgment

2016

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“…This "foreign-language effect" has been replicated in several studies and across different kinds of bias (e.g. Costa, Foucart, Hayakawa, Aparici, Apesteguia, Heafner and Keysar 2014;Cipolletti, McFarlane and Weissglass 2016). Explanations for the foreign language effect include the increased psychological distance attained through use of a second language, the muting of language-linked intuitions and emotional response, and the encouragement of systematic rather than automatic thinking processes.…”

Section: Practical Steps For Moral Learningmentioning

confidence: 81%

On learning how to live in this strange place

Buckland

2018

South African Journal of Philosophy

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In "How do I live in this strange place?", Samantha Vice contends that white South Africans ought to feel shame for their unjustly acquired privilege and their morally compromised selves, and recommends that they engage with humility and political silence in projects of personal transformation though private, critical self-examination. On one view, philosophy is in part concerned with practical inquiry into how one might lead a good life, and for many, at least, this necessitates some form of moral learning. Ideally, the philosophers concerned with this question could give practical, action-guiding advice on how one might undertake this moral learning, advice well-supported by evidence and with reasonably good prospects for success. I argue that philosophically "therapeutic" projects of the kind advocated by Vice necessarily involve forms of moral learning, and that a range of empirical research in cognitive, moral, and educational psychology thus bear on their methods and prospects. These considerations undermine the outlook of therapeutic projects that rely principally on solitary methods of critical reflection and introspection. I challenge philosophers to develop more practical, actionable, evidence-based counsel on how to engage in moral learning of the type that Vice and her critics recommend, and I articulate several candidate proposals inspired by research from the educational, learning sciences and debiasing literatures.

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The role of language and emotional intelligence in judgments of real‐life social and moral transgressions among Greek, Hungarian, and British users of English

Dewaele,

Mavrou,

Kyriakou

et al. 2023

Behavioral Decision Making

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Previous research suggests that people are more prone to commit moral transgressions when they face moral dilemmas in a second language (LX) as opposed to their first language(s) (L1). This study investigated the influence of language, emotional intelligence, and the degree of severity of real moral transgressions on bilinguals' judgments of offense seriousness, the intensity of the emotions they experienced, and the punishments they proposed for the perpetrators. To this end, 256 British L1 users, 209 Greek–English bilinguals, and 187 Hungarian–English bilinguals watched four videos presenting moral transgressions of mild and extreme severity. Data were analyzed by means of robust linear mixed‐effects models and moderated mediation analyses. For the extreme severity videos, the results revealed strong correlations between offensiveness, emotionality ratings, and proposed punishments for the perpetrators. However, the Greek and the Hungarian participants who watched the videos in their LX English reported lower offensiveness and emotionality ratings and less harsh punishments for the perpetrators than they did in their L1 (Greek and Hungarian, respectively). Furthermore, the role of language in the proposed punishments for the perpetrators was mediated by emotional intensity, but only for the extreme severity stimuli. The results also suggest that higher levels of emotional intelligence are linked with tougher judgments of offense seriousness and stronger emotions when watching real moral transgressions. These findings highlight that the moral foreign language effect does not only exist in the hypothetical moral realm but affects perceptions of offensiveness and emotionality and decisions for the future of perpetrators in real‐life situations.

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The Moral Foreign-Language Effect

Cited by 119 publications

References 37 publications

Foreign language affects the contribution of intentions and outcomes to moral judgment

Foreign language affects the contribution of intentions and outcomes to moral judgment

On learning how to live in this strange place

The role of language and emotional intelligence in judgments of real‐life social and moral transgressions among Greek, Hungarian, and British users of English

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