Wednesday 9 May 2012


Hello everyone!

I read a research published by the University of Chicago* which claimed that thinking in a foreign language helps you in taking better decisions.

According to the research, that involved over 300 people from the US and South Korea, thinking in a foreign language reduces deep-seated, misleading biases, hence, when faced with a decision we are 'freer'.

We perceive benefits more clearly and we analyse risks in a rational way, rather than an emotional way. The researchers believe a second language provides a useful cognitive distance from automatic processes, promoting analytical thought and reducing unthinking, emotional reaction.

The conclusion: to judge a risk more clearly, it may help to consider it in a foreign language. It seems paradoxical, as the difficulty of using a foreign language would seem to make decisions less systematic. However, the study has discovered that the cognitive demands of thinking in a non-native, non-automatic language would leave people with little time to use the unconscious and emotions, ultimately increasing reliance on the rational part of our brain.

What do you think?

Have you ever used this approach in decision making?


* Keysar, B., Hayakawa, S.and An, S. (2012) “The Foreign-Language Effect: Thinking in a Foreign Tongue Reduces Decision Biases.”

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