Correlations between all variables in the study.

Previous work has demonstrated that people are more willing to sacrifice one person to save five in a foreign language (FL) than in their native tongue. This may be due to the FL either reducing concerns about sacrificial harm (deontological inclinations) or increasing concerns about overall outcomes (utilitarian inclinations). Moreover, proficiency in a foreign language (FL) may moderate results. To test these possibilities, we investigated the moral foreign language effect (MFLE) in a novel sample of Russian L1/English FL speakers. We employed process dissociation (PD)—a technique that independently assesses concerns about rejecting harm and maximizing outcomes in sacrificial dilemmas, and we assessed measures of objective and subjective foreign language proficiency and of dilemma comprehension. Results replicated the pattern of increased acceptance of sacrificial harm in FL demonstrated in earlier studies, but a PD analysis showed no evidence of increased concerns for utilitarian outcomes in a FL; instead, this pattern was driven by reduced concerns regarding sacrificial harm. However, people who reported better dilemma comprehension in the FL demonstrated both stronger deontological and utilitarian responding, and people with higher objective proficiency displayed stronger utilitarian responding in the FL than those with lower proficiency. These findings show that utilitarian inclinations are affected by reading dilemmas in a foreign language mainly in low-proficiency speakers, and that while emotional concerns for sacrifice are reduced in FL, better comprehension can increase such concerns as well as concern for outcomes.

过往研究证实，相较于母语语境，人们在使用外语（foreign language, FL）时，更愿意牺牲1人以挽救5人的生命。该现象的成因可能在于，外语语境要么削弱了个体在义务论倾向（deontological inclinations）下对牺牲式伤害的道德顾虑，要么强化了个体在功利主义倾向（utilitarian inclinations）下对整体结果的功利性考量。此外，外语熟练程度可能会对该效应的实验结果起到调节作用。为验证上述两种可能性，我们针对以俄语为第一语言（Russian L1）、以英语为外语的全新样本群体，开展了道德外语效应（moral foreign language effect, MFLE）的相关研究。本研究采用加工分离范式（process dissociation, PD）——一种可独立评估牺牲式道德困境中拒斥伤害的顾虑与最大化结果的考量的实验技术——同时测量了参与者的客观与主观外语熟练程度，以及对道德困境的理解能力。研究结果复现了早期研究中观察到的外语情境下牺牲式伤害接受度上升的经典模式，但加工分离范式的分析并未发现外语情境下功利主义结果考量增强的证据；相反，该模式的产生源于个体对牺牲式伤害的顾虑有所降低。不过，那些在实验中报告对外语情境下的道德困境理解更透彻的参与者，同时表现出更强的义务论与功利主义反应；而客观外语熟练程度更高的参与者，相较于熟练程度较低者，在外语情境中展现出更强的功利主义反应。本研究结果表明，外语阅读道德困境对功利主义倾向的影响主要集中在外语熟练程度较低的群体中；尽管外语语境会降低个体对牺牲行为的情感顾虑，但更出色的困境理解能力不仅会增强这类情感顾虑，还会提升个体对整体结果的考量。