No foreign language effect in Schizotypy: Evidence from German-English bilinguals

Abstract

Previous research has suggested that fewer schizophrenic and schizotypal traits are reported in a second language than a mother tongue. Such results make sense in the light of the so-called Foreign Language Effect (FLE), whereby bilinguals make more rational decisions and are less influenced by emotions and biases in a learned second language (L2) than a mother tongue (L1). However, this previous research is to date very limited, and apart from one large-scale quantitative study is based primarily on anecdotal evidence. In the study reported here, we gave German-English bilinguals the Schizotypal Personality Questionnaire in either English or German. If doing the questionnaire in an L2 (here English) makes participants think more rationally and less emotionally, then fewer schizotypal traits should be reported in these participants than those who answer the same questions in their L1 (German). Results failed to support this hypothesis; there was no evidence that bilinguals reported fewer traits in their second language. We interpret these data as suggesting that the link between schizotypy (specifically) and language context may be weaker or less reliable than hitherto supposed.