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Change your language - change your mind? The relationship between language and task switching abilities and decision making.

Langensee, Larissa LU (2017) PSYP01 20161
Department of Psychology
Abstract (Swedish)
Previous research findings suggest that our decisions are affected by the language they are made in. A recent study however indicates that this phenomenon might be related to an unexpected switch of language prior to a decision rather than to the use of a foreign language as such. To investigate this phenomenon further, the decision preferences of 200 participants, fluent in Swedish and English, were assessed. Half of the participants was subjected to a sudden switch of language right before the decision task, the other half was not. The present study included cognitive measures to capture the participants’ language and task switching abilities - a novel feature compared to previous research where switching performance was not factored in.... (More)
Previous research findings suggest that our decisions are affected by the language they are made in. A recent study however indicates that this phenomenon might be related to an unexpected switch of language prior to a decision rather than to the use of a foreign language as such. To investigate this phenomenon further, the decision preferences of 200 participants, fluent in Swedish and English, were assessed. Half of the participants was subjected to a sudden switch of language right before the decision task, the other half was not. The present study included cognitive measures to capture the participants’ language and task switching abilities - a novel feature compared to previous research where switching performance was not factored in. It was hypothesized that a) following a language switch, participants that performed better at language and task switching would be more susceptible to framing, that is be more influenced by the way the task is formulated, than participants that performed weaker, that b) participants that were not subjected to a switch would not differ in their decision patterns as a function of language and that c) women would show stronger reactions to negative framing than men. Contrary to what had been hypothesized, regression analysis suggested no impact of an unexpected language switch. However, differences in terms of the size of the framing effect were found between weaker and stronger switchers. Participants with weaker switching abilities appeared to be affected by framing to a significantly higher degree. The assumed higher reactivity of women to negative framing was corroborated. (Less)
Please use this url to cite or link to this publication:
author
Langensee, Larissa LU
supervisor
organization
course
PSYP01 20161
year
type
H2 - Master's Degree (Two Years)
subject
keywords
foreign language effect, framing effect, language switching, task switching, decision making
language
English
id
8898904
date added to LUP
2017-01-23 13:33:19
date last changed
2017-01-23 13:33:19
@misc{8898904,
  abstract     = {{Previous research findings suggest that our decisions are affected by the language they are made in. A recent study however indicates that this phenomenon might be related to an unexpected switch of language prior to a decision rather than to the use of a foreign language as such. To investigate this phenomenon further, the decision preferences of 200 participants, fluent in Swedish and English, were assessed. Half of the participants was subjected to a sudden switch of language right before the decision task, the other half was not. The present study included cognitive measures to capture the participants’ language and task switching abilities - a novel feature compared to previous research where switching performance was not factored in. It was hypothesized that a) following a language switch, participants that performed better at language and task switching would be more susceptible to framing, that is be more influenced by the way the task is formulated, than participants that performed weaker, that b) participants that were not subjected to a switch would not differ in their decision patterns as a function of language and that c) women would show stronger reactions to negative framing than men. Contrary to what had been hypothesized, regression analysis suggested no impact of an unexpected language switch. However, differences in terms of the size of the framing effect were found between weaker and stronger switchers. Participants with weaker switching abilities appeared to be affected by framing to a significantly higher degree. The assumed higher reactivity of women to negative framing was corroborated.}},
  author       = {{Langensee, Larissa}},
  language     = {{eng}},
  note         = {{Student Paper}},
  title        = {{Change your language - change your mind? The relationship between language and task switching abilities and decision making.}},
  year         = {{2017}},
}