Two patterns emerged when diverse moral dilemmas were evaluated by bilingual speakers. A detachment effect of reduced ethical choices was obtained when two simple choices were counterposed. In more complex vignettes, evaluating in a foreign language showed an uncertainty effect. This likely reflects fewer emotional resonances available to guide integration of multiple elements.
Turkish-English bilingual speakers responded to diverse emotional tasks while skin conductance was monitored. Selfish-ethical dilemmas demonstrated the most consistent pattern of results, with more selfish choices made in the foreign language. This "detatchment effect" suggests that feelings of guilt or shame for selfish behavior were reduced in a foreign language. A different pattern emerged for evaluations of trolley dilemmas. These were more homogenous in a native language (closer to either 0% or 100), but in a foreign language, were closer to 50%. The move towards 50% occurs when people lack certainty about their choice, due to the difficulty of considering complexities such as whether the victim would die anyways, or responding to the added emotionality when the victim is one's child or oneself. I argue that this "foreign language uncertainty effect" occurs when fewer emotional resonances are available to facilitate integrating multiple factors. In a third task, accuracy on tricky math problems, did not vary by language condition. SCRs were either highly similar between languages, or slightly elevated in the foreign language, reflecting increased effort. The different patterns observed indicate that there is no single "foreign language effect." Simple tasks with clear emotional, but normative choices, are the ones most likely to show a foreign language detachment effect. Tasks where multiple factors must be juggled show more consistent responding in a native language, with an uncertainty effect revealed in the foreign language.
