The Role of Language in High-Stakes Decision-Making: Examining the Foreign Language Effect in International Policy Makers

Processing dilemmas in a foreign language has been shown to influence the type of moral decisions that we make. Participants are more likely to make utilitarian choices in a foreign language, and deontological ones in their native one. Building on previous research implications, we aim to see if the Foreign Language Effect extends to actual policy decision-makers in an international governmental body, i.e.: the Antarctic Treaty System (ATS). We use an experimental design, comparing answers to moral dilemmas between ATS policy-makers and laypeople, each group randomly assigned to their native language or foreign language. We apply a Generalised Linear Mixed Model (GLMM) to analyze participants’ moral choices in native versus English as a Foreign Language (EFL). Findings will have implications for the use of English as a Lingua Franca in policy decision-making in international contexts.

 

Team

Supervisor: Yliana V. Rodríguez
Lead Project Manager: Alice Coen
Lead Materials Managers: Antonina Zhiteneva & Alice Coen
Lead Data Analysts: Yasmeen Shamshoum & Teodora Mašković Đeri
Literature and Writing Manager: Jelena Kojashi
Lead Data Collection Manager: Antonina Zhiteneva
Communications Officer: Teodora Mašković Đeri