Using a Foreign Language Changes Medical Judgments of Preventative Care.

Sayuri Hayakawa,Viorica Marian,Yue Pan

doi:10.3390/brainsci11101309

Sayuri Hayakawa, Viorica Marian + Show 1 more

Open Access

https://doi.org/10.3390/brainsci11101309

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Abstract

Every day, multilinguals around the world make important healthcare decisions while using a foreign language. The present study examined how the use of a native vs. non-native language shapes evaluations and decisions about preventative care. Bilinguals were randomly assigned to evaluate a series of medical scenarios in either their native or non-native language. Each scenario described potential adverse effects of a medical condition and a preventative treatment, as well as the population risk of disease- or treatment-related complications. Participants judged the perceived negativity and likelihood of experiencing adverse effects and indicated how willing they would be to accept the preventative treatment. We found that bilinguals using a foreign language perceived disease symptoms and treatment side effects to be less negative than those using their native tongue. Foreign language users were also more likely to account for the objective risks associated with medical conditions and treatments when making decisions about preventative care. We conclude that the use of a native vs. foreign language changes how people evaluate the consequences of accepting and declining preventative treatment, with potential implications for millions of providers and patients who routinely make medical choices in their non-native tongue.

Highlights

30% of all physicians in the United States (U.S.) are immigrants, working alongside millions of foreign-born nurses, technicians, and aids [1]
Using a foreign language did not influence the overall level of perceived risk (H2), but instead increased sensitivity to known population risks
Though we expected that using a foreign language would be especially likely to increase sensitivity to known risks when they were directly relevant to the judgment, the threeway interaction between Language, Population Risk, and Relevance was not significant (p = 0.252)

Summary

Introduction

30% of all physicians in the United States (U.S.) are immigrants, working alongside millions of foreign-born nurses, technicians, and aids [1]. Combined with the millions of multilinguals around the world who live their lives in a language other than their native tongue, it becomes clear that important decisions, such as those about our physical health, are routinely made while using a foreign language. One question that has received relatively less attention, is how evaluating health-related information in a foreign language impacts the clinical decision-making process. Increasing evidence suggests that the use of a foreign language can systematically alter bilinguals’ judgments and preferences in domains ranging from moral judgment [11,12,13,14,15,16,17] and financial decision-making [18,19,20] to environmental conservation [21,22] and consumer choice [23,24,25]. We explore whether the influence of language extends to medical contexts by examining how people make decisions regarding preventative healthcare when using a native vs. non-native tongue

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