Bilinguals on the footbridge: the role of foreign-language proficiency in moral decision making

IF 2.5 1区 文学 Q1 LINGUISTICS
Federico Teitelbaum Dorfman, Boris Kogan, Pablo Barttfeld, Adolfo M. García
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引用次数: 0

Abstract

Socio-cognitive research on bilinguals points to a moral foreign-language effect (MFLE), with more utilitarian choices (e.g., sacrificing someone to save more people) for moral dilemmas presented in the second language (L2) relative to the first language. Yet, inconsistent results highlight the influence of subject-level variables, including a critical underexplored factor: L2 proficiency (L2p). Here we provide a systematic review of 57 bilingualism studies on moral dilemmas, showing that L2p rarely modulates responses to impersonal dilemmas, but it does impact personal dilemmas (with MFLEs proving consistent at intermediate L2p levels but unsystematic at high L2p levels). We propose an empirico-theoretical framework to conceptualize such patterns, highlighting the impact of L2p on four affective mediating factors: mental imagery, inhibitory control, prosocial behavior and numerical processing. Finally, we outline core challenges for the field. These insights open new avenues at the crossing of bilingualism and social cognition research.

天桥上的双语者:外语能力在道德决策中的作用
对双语者的社会认知研究指出了道德外语效应(MFLE),即相对于第一语言而言,在第二语言(L2)中出现的道德困境中会有更多的功利性选择(例如,牺牲某人来拯救更多人)。然而,不一致的结果凸显了主体层面变量的影响,其中包括一个未被充分探索的关键因素:第二语言熟练程度(L2p)。在此,我们对 57 项有关道德困境的双语研究进行了系统回顾,结果表明,L2p 很少调节对非个人困境的反应,但它确实影响个人困境(MFLEs 在中等 L2p 水平时被证明是一致的,但在高 L2p 水平时则不系统)。我们提出了一个经验理论框架来概念化这种模式,强调了 L2p 对四个情感中介因素的影响:心理想象、抑制控制、亲社会行为和数字处理。最后,我们概述了该领域面临的核心挑战。这些见解为双语和社会认知研究的交叉开辟了新的途径。
本文章由计算机程序翻译,如有差异,请以英文原文为准。
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来源期刊
CiteScore
8.90
自引率
16.70%
发文量
86
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