(Not so) Lost in Translation: How Foreign Language Use Affects Decision-Making

Abstract

Using a foreign language in decision-making under uncertainty has been found to influence the choices people make. This foreign language effect has been studied for a very restricted selection of cognitive phenomena including framing effects. Therefore, my study aimed to extend the range of cognitive phenomena to the availability and the anchoring heuristic, but also replicate previous studies concerning framing for a new sample as a baseline for comparisons. The foreign language effect was assessed using a questionnaire which was randomly administered to Norwegian students (N=204) in either Norwegian or English. Framing was assessed using the Asian disease task, the availability heuristic was assessed using a probability estimation task, and anchoring was assessed using a frequency estimation task. The participants’ responses in the two language conditions did not differ significantly, which indicates that the FLE did not emerge in the current study. Possible explanations are discussed.