Moral judgement and foreign language effect: when the foreign language becomes the second language

While making a decision facing a moral conflict, does your answer vary depending on whether you use your first language or later learned second language? A previous study conducted by Costa, Albert, Alice Foucart, Sayuri Hayakawa, Melina Aparici, Jose Apesteguia, Joy Heafner, Boaz Keysar, and Mariano Sigman [2014. “ Your Morals Depend on Language. ” PloS One 9 (4): e94842. doi:10.1371/journal.pone.0094842] has shown that judging moral dilemmas in a foreign language induces utilitarian consistent responses, due to the increased cognitive and emotional distance of that language. In the current study, it is assumed that foreign-language effect might be eliminated when a foreign language becomes a second language. That is, a higher proficiency in L2 and a higher degree of acculturation into L2 culture may reduce utilitarianism in the L2 condition. To test these assumptions a study was conducted with 60 Croatian/German successive bilinguals. The findings show that there was no effect of language native-ness. Participants responded in the same way in both language conditions. The lack of a decision-making difference between the two languages might be related to the high L2 proficiency, frequent use of both languages and high degree of immersion in both cultures. However, it is also possible that other influential factors in moral judgment, such as general embracement of moral rules, thinking style and working memory influence moral decision-making