Thinking in a Foreign Tongue Reduces Decision Biases

Keysar, Boaz; Hayakawa, Sayuri L.; An, Sun

doi:10.1037/e502412013-138

Cited by 172 publications

(398 citation statements)

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“…However, it remains unclear how this mechanism generally affects decision making in business. Whereas some studies find that foreign language processing causes psychological distance and therefore triggers deliberate and reflective thinking (Keysar et al 2012), others demonstrate the opposite, namely that decision making and behavior becomes more intuitive, automatic, emotional, and less analytic when people are cognitively distracted . Neurolinguistic research on the processing of language in the human brain (for a review see Leikin 2016) should aim to resolve this puzzle, for example by using functional MRI technology (Cabeza and Nyberg 2000) to measure individuals' brain activity while performing foreign language tasks.…”

Section: The Promise Of Theories From Other Academic Disciplinesmentioning

confidence: 99%

Language in International Business: A Review and Agenda for Future Research

2017

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A fast growing number of studies demonstrates that language diversity influences almost all management decisions in modern multinational corporations. Whereas no doubt remains about the practical importance of language, the empirical investigation and theoretical conceptualization of its complex and multifaceted effects still presents a substantial challenge. To summarize and evaluate the current state of the literature in a coherent picture informing future research, we systematically review 264 articles on language in international business. We scrutinize the geographic distributions of data, evaluate the field's achievements to date in terms of theories and methodologies, and summarize core findings by individual, group, firm, and country levels of analysis. For each of these dimensions, we then put forward a future research agenda. We encourage scholars to transcend disciplinary boundaries and to draw on, integrate, and test a variety of theories from disciplines such as psychology, linguistics, and neuroscience to gain a more profound understanding of language in international business. We advocate more multi-level studies and cross-national research collaborations and suggest greater attention to potential new data sources and means of analysis.

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Section: The Promise Of Theories From Other Academic Disciplinesmentioning

confidence: 99%

Language in International Business: A Review and Agenda for Future Research

2017

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“…According to one hypothesis-the increased deliberation account-foreign language triggers emotional distance, which in turn prompts deliberative processing (e.g., Costa et al, 2014; see also Keysar, Hayakawa, & An, 2012). This account aimed to explain the results with the trolley dilemmas and is based on Greene and colleagues' dual process theory of moral judgment (e.g., Greene et al, 2001).…”

Section: Why Does Foreign Language Sway Moral Judgments?mentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Further supporting evidence comes from other domains. For example, studies show that foreign language influences risk and benefit judgments through affect (Hadjichristidis, Geipel, & Savadori, 2015) and reduces emotion-based decision biases such as framing effects (see Keysar et al, 2012).…”

Section: Why Does Foreign Language Sway Moral Judgments?mentioning

confidence: 99%

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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“…The role of the input language in decision-making tasks has been widely discussed by psychologists. In particular, decision-making has been shown to be modulated by the language in which a problem is presented in contexts involving a high emotional connotation (Keysar et al 2012). In decision making under uncertainty, the use of a foreign language has proved to promote consistent choices and to reduce ambiguity aversion (Costa et al 2014).…”

Section: Lack Of Significant Differences In the Dictummentioning

confidence: 99%

Counterfactual Conceptualizations in L2 French: From Cognitive Principles to Semantic and Lexical Realizations

Repiso

2017

SHS Web Conf.

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Abstract. This preliminary survey examines how 30 native speakers and 30 Spanish learners of French evoke counterfactual scenarios from a semantic and a lexical perspective. Counterfactual thinking is a universal cognitive process in which reality is confronted with an imagined view of what might have been (Kahneman & Tversky 1982). The world as we know it is based on a set of enabling conditions that can be mutated, i.e., modified in order to evoke counterfactual worlds. This can be done by modifying various elements in a sentence. For example, speakers might produce counterfactual scenarios by replacing an accusative (1) or by changing some attribute of the subject (2).(1) I should have had coffee at breakfast rather than tea.(2) If I were a man, my life would have been quite different. In each case, a specific language property is changed. Example (1) results from a modification operated on transitivity, and example (2) on affectedness. While counterfactual thinking is universal, its concrete form is only shaped in childhood together with the acquisition of the first language. Is this concrete form preserved or changed in second language acquisition? Earlier research has shown that speakers of different languages have different preferences to do that (Repiso 2013). This survey compares whether non-native speakers of French adopt the same preferences which native speakers have at the level of Verb-Argument Constructions (VACs).Résumé. Conceptualisations contrefactuelles en français L2: des principes cognitifs aux realisations sémantiques et lexicales. Cette étude préliminaire explore la façon dont 30 locuteurs natifs et 30 locuteurs hispanophones du français relate des scénarios contrefactuels dans une perspective sémantique et lexicale. La pensée contrefactuelle est un processus cognitif dans lequel la réalité est confrontée à une vision imaginaire de ce qui aurait pu se passer (Kahnenan & Tversky 1982). Le monde tel que nous le connaissons repose sur un ensemble de conditions de possibilité qui peuvent être changées, c'est-à-dire modifiées afin d'évoquer des mondes contrefactuels. Par exemple, les locuteurs peuvent produire des scénarios contrefactuels en remplaçant un complément d'objet par un autre (1) ou en changeant un attribut du sujet (2). (1) J'aurais dû avoir un café plutôt qu'un thé au petit déjeuner.(2) Si j'étais un homme, ma vie aurait été assez différente. A chaque fois, une propriété langagière spécifique est modifiée. L'exemple (1) témoigne d'une modification du ressort de la transitivité, et l'exemple (2) de l'ordre de l'affectedness. Alors que la pensée contrefactuelle est universelle, sa forme concrète est façonnée durant l'enfance lors de l'acquisition de la langue première. Cette forme concrète est-elle préservée ou changée dans l'acquisition de la langue seconde ? Des recherches antérieures ont montré que des locuteurs de langues différentes ont des préférences différentes pour le faire (Repiso 2013). Cette étude observe de façon contrastive si des locuteurs non natifs du français adopte...

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Thinking in a Foreign Tongue Reduces Decision Biases

Cited by 172 publications

References 0 publications

Language in International Business: A Review and Agenda for Future Research

Language in International Business: A Review and Agenda for Future Research

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

Counterfactual Conceptualizations in L2 French: From Cognitive Principles to Semantic and Lexical Realizations

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