Bilinguals on the footbridge
The Role of Foreign-Language Proficiency in Moral Decision Making
Bibliographic Data
| ID | 7148047 |
|---|---|
| Authors | Federico Teitelbaum Dorfman (0009-0007-4305-4307, Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas), Boris Kogan (0000-0002-5844-6203, National University of Mar del Plata), Pablo Barttfeld (0000-0001-8530-6938, Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas), Adolfo M García (0000-0002-6936-0114, Universidad de Santiago de Chile, corresponding author) |
| Year | 2025 |
| Volume | 28 |
| Issue | 3 |
| Pages | 816-831 |
| Publication date | 2025-05-01 |
| Peer Reviewed | Yes |
| Open Access | Yes |
| Type | ARTICLE |
| Venue | Bilingualism Language and Cognition (JOURNAL) |
| Journal identifiers | ISSN: 1366-7289 • E-ISSN: 1469-1841 |
| Publisher | Cambridge University Press (CUP) (PUBLISHER) |
| DOI | 10.1017/s1366728924000312 |
| PMID | 39561112 |
| OpenAlex | W4395463098 |
| Language | EN |
| Citations received | 3 |
| References cited | 159 |
Socio-cognitive research on bilinguals points to a moral foreign-language effect (MFLE), with more utilitarian choices (e.g., sacrificing someone to save more people) for moral dilemmas presented in the second language (L2) relative to the first language. Yet, inconsistent results highlight the influence of subject-level variables, including a critical underexplored factor: L2 proficiency (L2p). Here we provide a systematic review of 57 bilingualism studies on moral dilemmas, showing that L2p rarely modulates responses to impersonal dilemmas, but it does impact personal dilemmas (with MFLEs proving consistent at intermediate L2p levels but unsystematic at high L2p levels). We propose an empirico-theoretical framework to conceptualize such patterns, highlighting the impact of L2p on four affective mediating factors: mental imagery, inhibitory control, prosocial behavior and numerical processing. Finally, we outline core challenges for the field. These insights open new avenues at the crossing of bilingualism and social cognition research
Foreign language · Language proficiency · Linguistics · Neuroscience of multilingualism · Pedagogy · Cultural Differences and Values · Language, Metaphor, and Cognition · Psychology · Psychology of Moral and Emotional Judgment
Killing for the greater good
Emotional foundations of cognitive control
When a seven is not a seven
The automatic access of emotion
When is a First Language More Emotional? Psychophysiological Evidence from Bilingual Speakers
Killing, Letting Die, and the Trolley Problem
From “sense of number” to “sense of magnitude”
Multilink
Neural aspects of second language representation and language control
Emotion and lying in a non-native language
Language Proficiency in Native and Nonnative Speakers
Emotionality Differences Between a Native and Foreign Language
The Foreign Language Effect on Moral Judgment
Do People Have Insight Into Their Abilities? A Metasynthesis
Measuring bilingualism
The Trolley Problem
Bilingualism as a gradient measure modulates functional connectivity of language and control networks
Over-reliance on English hinders cognitive science
Beyond sacrificial harm
Your Morals Depend on Language
Thinking More or Feeling Less? Explaining the Foreign-Language Effect on Moral Judgment
Characterizing the social diversity of bilingualism using language entropy
Bilingual language experience as a multidimensional spectrum
“Piensa” twice
Bilingualism and the Development of Executive Function
Cognitive and Linguistic Processing in the Bilingual Mind
Mental Imagery
How does the bilingual experience sculpt the brain?
Cultural differences in emotion
Prosocial behavior and altruism
Self-ratings of spoken language dominance
The construct of language proficiency in the study of bilingualism from a cognitive perspective
Cognitive load selectively interferes with utilitarian moral judgment
The Foreign-Language Effect
The PRISMA 2020 statement
The Framing of Decisions and the Psychology of Choice
An fMRI Investigation of Emotional Engagement in Moral Judgment
The Language Experience and Proficiency Questionnaire (Leap-Q)
The impact of legal expertise on moral decision-making biases
Foreign to whom? Constraining the moral foreign language effect on bilinguals’ language experience
The interplay between emotion and modality in the Foreign-Language effect on moral decision making
How are words felt in a second language
Rethinking multilingual experience through a Systems Framework of Bilingualism
Analysis of rating scales
Decision-making depends on language
Love me in L1, but hate me in L2
The foreign language effect on altruistic decision making
The foreign language effect on decision-making
Factors influencing bilinguals’ speed and accuracy of number judgments across languages
Trolleys, triage and Covid-19
Using the CNI Model to Investigate Individual Differences in Moral Dilemma Judgments
Temporal Stability of Moral Dilemma Judgments
Deontology and Utilitarianism in Real Life
Expertise, ecosystem, and emergentism
Not all bilinguals are the same
It's (not) all Greek to me
Many heads are more utilitarian than one
Foreign language effect in decision-making
A systematic review of proficiency assessment methods in bilingualism research
L2 proficiency predicts inhibitory ability in L1-dominant speakers
A bilingual advantage in memory capacity
Switching codes and shifting morals
Measuring the development of inhibitory control
Predicting L2 reading proficiency with modalities of vocabulary knowledge
How Self-Control Predicts Moral Decision Making
On the relationship between valence and arousal in samples across the globe
Framing Effect in the Trolley Problem and Footbridge Dilemma
Dual-Dimension Naming Speed and Language-Dominance Ratings by Bilingual Hispanic Adults
Multilingualism, empathy and multicompetence
The auditory foreign-language effect of moral decision making in highly proficient bilinguals
Moral judgement and foreign language effect
Foreign language effects on moral dilemma judgments
Consequences, Norms, or Willingness to Interfere
When skeptical, stick with the norm
On Modality Effects in Bilingual Emotional Language Processing
Deontological and utilitarian inclinations in moral decision making
Consequences, norms, and generalized inaction in moral dilemmas
Foreign Language Effect and Psychological Distance
Language proficiency, sociolinguistic factors and inhibitory control among bilinguals
Situational factors shape moral judgements in the trolley dilemma in Eastern, Southern and Western countries in a culturally diverse sample
Moral dilemmas and trust in leaders during a global health crisis
Interaction Mindsets, Interactional Behaviors, and L2 Development
Proficiency Reporting Practices in Research on Second Language Acquisition
| Unique citing works | 3 |
|---|---|
| Citations per year | 3 |
| Citation span | 2025 - 2026 (2) |
| Citation velocity | current |
| Highly cited | No |
| Citation types | Neutral: 3 |