How Foreign Languages Influence Our Moral Judgments

Summary

Research indicates that using a foreign language can significantly alter an individual's moral judgments, making them more utilitarian in ethical dilemmas.

Abstract

Studies, such as those conducted by Albert Costa and Janet Geipel, reveal that when individuals confront moral dilemmas in a non-native language, they exhibit different moral judgments compared to when using their native tongue. This effect is attributed to the reduced emotional resonance and increased cognitive load associated with foreign language use. For instance, in the "trolley problem," participants were more likely to sacrifice one person to save five when presented with the scenario in a foreign language. Similarly, when judging actions that violate social norms but do not cause harm, such as consensual incest or cannibalism under unusual circumstances, individuals using a foreign language tended to be less critical. These findings have practical implications, especially in international settings where decisions are often made in a language that is not the native tongue of the decision-makers.

Opinions

The use of a foreign language can lead to a more utilitarian approach to moral dilemmas, as seen in the increased willingness to sacrifice one to save many.
Emotional distance created by a foreign language may reduce the perceived reprehensibility of actions that violate social norms.
Cognitive overload due to the effort required to use a foreign language might diminish the influence of emotions on moral decision-making.
Native languages are believed to carry deeper emotional connections, which can strongly influence moral judgments.
Awareness of the influence of language on moral judgments is crucial for informed decision-making, particularly in international contexts like the United Nations.

Why does the moral compass point in different directions, depending on the language we are currently using?

Many people who speak more than one language often feel that, in each of these languages, they are a slightly different person, which suggests that a foreign language can not only shape one’s picture of the world but also influence the moral attitudes of the individual.

Psychologists who study moral judgments have become very interested in this issue and have therefore conducted several studies focusing on how people think about ethics in a non-native language.

The trolley and footbridge dilemmas

In a 2014 study led by Albert Costa, volunteers faced a moral dilemma known as the “trolley problem.”

Imagine that a trolley is speeding along the rails towards a group of five people who are unable to move. You are next to a switch that can switch the arrows and direct the cart to other rails, thereby saving five people, but as a result, one person standing on the side rails will die. Will you hit the switch?

Most people said yes. But what if the only way to stop the cart is to throw a large stranger standing on a footbridge in the way?

As a rule, respondents were very reluctant to agree with this, even though, in both cases, one person would be sacrificed to save five.

Interestingly enough, Costa and his colleagues found that asking volunteers to resolve this dilemma in a foreign language dramatically increased the number of those willing to push a person off a footbridge for sacrifice. From less than 20% of those who agreed in their native language to 50% of those who used a foreign language.

Reacting to violations of social norms

Proposing an entirely different experimental setup, Janet Geipel and her colleagues also discovered that the use of a foreign language changes the moral judgments of the participants in the experiment.

In their study, volunteers read descriptions of activities that didn’t seem to harm anyone but that many people find morally reprehensible, such as stories of siblings engaging in consensual sex or of someone cooking and eating their own dog after it got hit by a car.

Those who read stories in a foreign language regarded these actions as not too reprehensible, in contrast to those who read the same stories in their native language.

Why does language influence our moral beliefs?

One explanation is that the use of a foreign language requires more intellectual effort than a native one, which leads to cognitive overload. Since the speaker must focus on the correct use of the language, some other cognitive functions may slow down.

Another explanation is that the native language is more emotionally rich than the language we learn in an academic environment. Because the language we spoke while growing up is saturated for us with deep, personal, and emotional content; whereas the language we mastered at a later age, peering into a dictionary or sitting in front of a monitor screen, enters our consciousness emotionally emasculated compared to how it is perceived by people for whom it is native.

Why is it important?

The practical dimension of this issue lies in the fact that delegates of international institutions, such as the UN, often have to make decisions using the official language and not their native tongue.

“What this study tells us is that moral judgments can be affected depending on whether the language in which it is presented is a native or foreign one,” Costa said. “Awareness of this impact of languages on moral dilemmas is fundamental to making more informed choices.”