Bilingualism and emotion: Do bilinguals experience emotions differently in their first and second languages

The present study investigated the verbal expression of emotions in English and Spanish among compound and coordinate Hispanic bilinguals. Compounds were individuals who had learned both languages simultaneously before the age of five. Coordinates had acquired the second language after age 18. Participants were 136 highly educated males and females between the ages of 20 and 60. They were divided into 4 groups: coordinate bilingual (37), compound bilingual (38), Spanish monolingual (34), and English monolingual (27). Monolinguals were used as control groups. Language proficiency and type of bilingualism were determined using an oral interview, Guttfreund's Bilingual Questionnaire (1990), and a demographic questionnaire. Sad and happy mood states were induced using two film clips and two recall-of-events procedures. Bilinguals were randomly assigned to a Spanish or an English experimental condition Emotional expression was measured using a Mood/Affect Adjective Checklist. Bilinguals also completed the Short Acculturation Scale for Hispanics (Marin et al., 1987).;As expected, for both types of monolinguals, more negative affect than positive affect was elicited under the negative mood induction condition ( p = .0001). Conversely, more positive affect than negative affect was elicited under the positive mood induction condition (p = .0001). Spanish monolinguals were significantly more expressive of positive and negative affect than English monolinguals (p = .009). They were also more expressive than the Spanish bilingual samples ( p = .004). Significant interaction effects between language condition and affect (p = .035), and between group and affect ( p = .024) were found when the two bilingual groups were compared. Contrary to prediction, coordinates and compounds expressed significantly more positive and negative affect in English than in Spanish. The language differences in the expression of affect were larger among compounds, however. Compounds also reported significantly higher levels of acculturation than coordinates (p = .0001). The findings of this study suggest that in addition to language, variables such as level of education, acculturation, and the cultural context in which bilinguals and monolinguals are embedded may play a major role in emotional expression.