Using a foreign language increases risk tolerance, but not due to attenuated emotional responses or greater accessibility of risk-increasing thoughts

Abstract

People have been observed to take more (calculated) risks when deciding in their foreign language compared to their native language. But the underlying mechanism of this phenomenon remains unclear. In three experiments involving a total of 544 lab participants, we explored two potential explanations: (1) the effect is attributed to reduced anticipation of regret, or (2) it is linked to increased accessibility of risk-increasing thoughts. Participants in both native and foreign language conditions were presented with two variants of a prenatal test: a less sensitive but safe option, and a more sensitive one. Their task was to specify the maximum level of risk of miscarriage they would tolerate for the more sensitive test while still choosing it. While all three studies consistently demonstrated greater risk tolerance in the foreign language condition, this effect was not mediated by changes in the accessibility of thoughts or in anticipated regret. Consequently, both proposed explanations fail to account for the observed results of the foreign language effect.