Foreign Language Effect On Intention And Outcome Information Processing In Moral Judgement

Along with the increase of international cooperation and collaboration,communication in a foreign language has gradually become a norm rather than a rare case in negotiation and decision-making.This has led to an important question about whether decisions would be different in a foreign language as compared with the native language context.Research into the foreign language effect in moral judgement has revealed a more utilitarian decision mechanism in a foreign language context,in which people focus more on the agent's intention in their native language,but more on the outcome of the action in the foreign language context.However,no such difference has been found in some studies.Hence,whether the foreign language could affect the relative weight of intention and outcome in moral judgment remains controversial.The current study examines the foreign language effect in moral judgment and specifically answers two questions:(1)whether and to what extent a foreign language affects the relative weight of intention and outcome in moral judgment,and(2)what is the possible mechanism underlying the influence of foreign language on the relative weight of intention and outcome in moral judgement.The study tested Chinese and English bilinguals with a self-designed moral decision task,in which 44 subjects rated the moral wrongness of 40 sets of moral judgment scenarios.Through the manipulation of different degrees of intentions(good/bad)and outcomes(low harm/high harm),we divided scenarios into eight different types.We compared differences in moral information processing across participants' native and foreign languages by measuring their moral wrongness ratings and reaction times under different conditions.Participants' English language proficiency was assessed by self-rating and LexTale test.All the test materials were presented with E-prime 3.0,and the experimental data were analyzed by repeated measures ANOVAs with SPSS 25.Results showed that Chinese-English bilinguals had higher acceptance of serious violations of moral norms(bad intention/high harm scenarios)in the foreign than native language context and their corresponding reaction times were significantly faster.This indicates a more outcome-oriented approach in the foreign language condition,but a more intention-oriented approach in the native language condition.No significant difference was detected in other conditions.The possible reasons for these results are:(1)he foreign language attenuates the role of emotion and intuitive processing,so the intensity of emotion activation is higher in the native language context.Hence,participants have intuitive response in the native language and may respond faster when making decisions.(2)the foreign language depletes cognitive resources and increases psychological distance,so participants make considerations more carefully and objectively,as well as have longer reaction time.This study provides new empirical evidence for the foreign language effect in moral judgement,and has implications for in-depth exploration of moral decision-making mechanism in a bilingual context.