TITLE:
Decision-Making in Foreign Language Reduces Emotional Arousal
AUTHORS:
Josef N. Lazar, Atar Stern, Ran Cohen
KEYWORDS:
Decision-Making, Emotion, Arousal, Foreign Language
JOURNAL NAME:
Psychology,
Vol.5 No.19,
December
25,
2014
ABSTRACT: The study
of bilingual’s qualities suggests that their decision-making process might
differ in both languages. A recent research by Keysar, Hayakawa & An (2012) investigated the phenomenon of
reduction in emotional reactivity in the second language on decision-making
process, especially amongst bilinguals who acquired their second language later
in life, often in a more formal setting (Pavlenko, 2005). This research intended to show
a more convincing argument regarding this phenomenon by checking the participants’
physiological arousal during the decision processes, using three physiological
measures (Electrocardiogram, Galvanic Skin Response and Electroencephalogram).
In congruence with the detachment effect theory, our hypothesis is that when
bilinguals think in their foreign language, less emotional reactivity will be
shown. The participants (N = 69) are students from Tel-Hai academic college. All
of them, native Hebrew speakers who speak English as a foreign language,
accomplish a decision-making task (Robert’s apperception test for children 2). All
the tasks were performed in both languages, one after the other, while being
connected to the physiological measures which measured their arousal in-vivo. In accordance with our
hypothesis, a significant difference was found in the task. A significant
difference was also found in the Electroencephalogram of the right prefrontal
cortex but in the opposite direction to our initial hypothesis. No other
significant differences were found. The explanation for these results might
derive from a different phenomenon that is well documented, and the anxiety
that stem from the need of using a foreign language (Woodrow, 2006). Although we were not able to
demonstrate an emotional detachment effect on a physiological level, we believe
that holding the anxiety variable constant will yield that effect in future
studies.