The Psychology Behind Thinking In A Foreign Language

A recent study conducted by the University of Chicago, has found that thinking in a foreign language actually helps you to think more clearly in risky situations. It seems that decision making becomes more determined and deliberate when you think in a foreign language, than in your own native language.

Psychological experiments were made on 300 people in the USA and in Korea as part of the study.Some of the experiments included giving people scenarios such as financial betting or hypothetical choices in both the native language and then in the foreign language.

In each of these experiments, the people used more analytical thought and deliberation when thinking of the scenario in the foreign language than when thinking in their own native language.

The researchers believe that this analytical approach could be useful in day-to-day life such as when making financial decisions. One researcher said that 'Over a long time horizon, this might very well be beneficial.'

Read more about the study and why thinking in a foreign language could make you think more clearly>>