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The moral Foreign Language effect beyond the L2

Non-first languages behave similarly (but there are nuances)

 | University of Warsaw
ORCID logo | University of Warsaw
Bilinguals’ decision-making may be affected by the linguistic context, depending on whether the scenario to be evaluated is presented in their first or second language. This phenomenon is known as the (moral) Foreign Language Effect (FLe/MFLE). To the best of our knowledge, the present study is the first to investigate whether a difference can also be observed between decisions taken by multilinguals in their second (L2) vs third languages (L3). Expectedly, akin to the L2 Status Factor hypothesis, the results of a survey experiment showed no significant distinctions in scenario evaluations across non-native languages, suggesting that the “foreign status” of these renders similar emotionality and/or exemption from social normativity. The few nuances that do emerge are traceable to the specific scenarios used in FLe research.
Keywords: moral foreign language effect (FLe/MFLE), decision-making, ethical dilemmas, moral judgments, L2 vs L3
Article outline
  • Introduction
  • The current study
    • Participants
    • Materials
    • Statistical Analyses
  • Results
  • Discussion
  • Limitations
  • Conclusion
  • Acknowledgments
  • Author queries
  • References
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References (38)
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