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Language isn’t just a tool for communication—it’s a lens through which we view the world and ourselves. But could it actually shape how we act? Have you ever felt like a different person when you switch languages?
Research shows that bilingual and multilingual individuals often experience shifts in their personalities depending on the language they’re speaking and the culture they’re immersed in. Curious? Keep reading to discover how language can reveal different sides of your identity.
For more than half the world, daily life involves speaking two or more languages. This linguistic diversity, shaped by education, migration, and family influences, highlights the interconnectedness of our globalized society.
Beyond the challenges of mastering grammar rules and pronunciation, an intriguing question stands out: do bilinguals experience a shift in personality when switching languages? As the Czech proverb goes, "Learn a new language and get a new soul."
In a survey of over 1,000 multilingual individuals, a significant majority, 65%, said they felt "like a different person" depending on the language they were using.
When asked to elaborate, these multilingual individuals mentioned not only differences in how natural they felt speaking each language, but also variations in their attitudes, perspectives, emotional expression, and overall personality.
While many bilinguals say they feel different when speaking each of their languages, surprisingly few researchers have delved into this phenomenon.
Experts acknowledge the inherent complexity in researching this question. The sheer diversity of languages combined with the five fundamental personality traits they can impact–openness, conscientiousness, extroversion, agreeableness, and neuroticism–create a big obstacle.
Researchers would need to compare speakers of vastly different languages, such as German and Chinese, across all five core personality traits, and then analyze those results against speakers of other languages as well.
Even though solid evidence is scarce, many people strongly believe they have different personalities when speaking different languages. And existing research does suggest this subjective experience may have some truth to it.
This effect seems strongest among bilinguals who are also bicultural—meaning they're not just fluent in both languages, but also deeply connected to both cultures.
It's their perception and experience of these languages within their cultural frameworks that truly shape their personalities.
According to recent studies, language can subtly shape our reality. Bilingual individuals may perceive the world differently and behave accordingly, depending on which language they're using. This effect appears more pronounced when discussing emotionally charged topics.
Our native language often carries a deeper emotional weight. Bilingual individuals report experiencing more intense emotions when using their mother tongue, especially when revisiting memories associated with that language.
Studies show that people recall childhood memories with more detail when speaking their native language, highlighting the key role it plays in how we encode and retrieve these early experiences.
In contrast, a second language provides a degree of emotional distance, helping speakers feel less anxiety or shame in challenging situations, such as making bold decisions or tackling demanding work tasks.
Psycholinguist François Grosjean captured this phenomenon perfectly in his research. One bilingual participant described this experience: "Around Anglo-Americans, I feel tongue-tied and awkward. But when I'm with Latinos/Spanish-speakers, I'm a completely different person. I'm witty, friendly, and very outgoing."
Early in her career, Berkeley professor emerita Susan Ervin-Tripp conducted a groundbreaking study. She asked Japanese-American women to complete sentences in both Japanese and English, revealing striking differences in their responses.
For example, when presented with the prompt "When my wishes conflict with my family," one participant responded in Japanese with "... it is a time of great unhappiness," but in English she declared, "... I do what I want."
In a study conducted 40 years later, professor David Luna of Baruch College made a significant discovery. Hispanic-American women who are bilingual were asked to interpret advertisements featuring women. They first interpreted the ads in Spanish, and then, six months later, they interpreted the same ads in English.
The results were surprising. When viewing the ads in Spanish, the women tended to see the women portrayed as more independent and outgoing. However, when they analyzed the same ads in English, their interpretations shifted. They began to see the women in the ads as more traditional, family-oriented, and dependent on others.
The language bilinguals choose to communicate in impacts not only emotional intensity but also how they perceive themselves and others. Switching languages can shape discourse and reveal cultural and social traits unique to the language communities they belong to.
In a study of Chinese-English bilinguals living in the United States, participants reported feeling more comfortable expressing their emotions in English, their second language. They attributed this to fewer social restrictions in English.
However, they also indicated that they experienced stronger emotional reactions when using Mandarin, their native language.
The emotional distance a second language provides isn't always negative. Speaking in a less emotionally connected language can reduce embarrassment, anxiety, or personal involvement, particularly for those from collective cultures where sharing feelings is less common.
In fact, using a different language to express emotions may help individuals open up more than they would in their native tongue.
Antonella Gismundi, an Italian data analyst with a background in linguistics and psychology, also speaks English and Chinese. In an essay for Psyche, she posed a thought-provoking question: "If you speak more than one language, ask yourself: in which language do you find it easier to say 'I love you'?"
Other researchers have investigated how the language people use can impact how they’re perceived by others. In one study, bilingual individuals from Hong Kong who spoke Cantonese and English interacted with two interviewers, each using a different language. Independent observers then assessed the interactions.
The study found that when speaking English with ethnically Chinese interviewers, the participants were viewed as more outgoing, assertive, and open compared to when they spoke Cantonese.
In his book 'Life with Two Languages,' Grosjean suggests that what appears to be a change in personality when speaking different languages may actually be a shift in attitudes and behaviors that are influenced by the specific situation or context, rather than being directly caused by the language itself.
For example, in a Taiwanese cultural setting, values like loyalty and hard work may become more prominent, while in the US, assertiveness and initiative might take precedence.
For many multilingual people, the feeling of being a different person when speaking different languages seems to be linked to a combination of language and cultural cues. This interplay can shape how they see themselves, leading to shifts in their personality that align with the social and linguistic environment they are in.
Sources: (The Conversation) (Psychology Today) (Psyche)
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Language isn’t just a tool for communication—it’s a lens through which we view the world and ourselves. But could it actually shape how we act? Have you ever felt like a different person when you switch languages?
Research shows that bilingual and multilingual individuals often experience shifts in their personalities depending on the language they’re speaking and the culture they’re immersed in. Curious? Keep reading to discover how language can reveal different sides of your identity.