The Foreign Language Effect (FLE) on moral judgment and the role of emotions induced from moral dilemmas.

This study aims to broaden the understanding of the phenomenon of the foreign language effect (FLE), which stands for the systematic impact of a foreign language (FL) on decision making (Dylman, & Champoux-Larsson 2020). The current study explores in more depth the role of emotionality, specifically on emotionally charged moral judgements. FL emotionality is examined by employing a validated emotion measure PANAS-X; Positive and Negative Affect Schedule, (Horne et. al, 2016) prior to (Pre-test Emotion Measure) and following moral judgements (Post-Test Emotion Measure). 106 participants (NL; Greek, FL; English) were presented with moral dilemmas where after reading each one of them they had to rate how likely it would be to commit the hypothetical action stated in the dilemma. Participants’ current emotional states and moral decisions were collected in each language in a within-subjects design using an induced-language context paradigm. Results revealed a clear FLE, with reduced emotionality scores of Negative Affect and Hostility in the FL compared to the NL. Hence, we provide conclusive evidence in support of the reduced emotionality hypothesis, suggesting that making decisions in an FL lead to more rational outputs by reducing emotional biases.