科學家解讀：為什么用外語撒謊更容易？（雙語）

Most people don't find it more difficult to lie in a foreign language than in their native tongue. However, things are different when telling the truth: This is clearly more difficult for many people in a foreign language than in their native one.

大多數(shù)人沒覺得用外語撒謊比用母語撒謊更難，但會發(fā)現(xiàn)用外語講真話比用母語講真話更難。

This unexpected conclusion is the result of a study conducted by two psychologists from the University of Würzburg: Kristina Suchotzki, a postdoctoral research fellow at the Department of Psychology I, and Matthias Gamer, Professor of Experimental Clinical Psychology.

這一令人驚訝的結論由維爾茨堡大學的兩位心理學家Kristina Suchotzki(心理學系博士后研究員)和Matthias Gamer(臨床實驗心理學教授)研究得出。

The two scientists now present their insights in Journal of Experimental Psychology.

這兩位科學家在《實驗心理學期刊》上發(fā)表了他們的洞見。

Their findings could be important for a lot of processes in which the trustworthiness of certain people must be evaluated — for example in asylum procedures.

他們的研究成果對信譽評估過程(如庇護流程)很重要。

In such situations, reports by non-native speakers tend to be perceived as less believable even though they may be truthful.

在這種情況下，非母語人士的報告往往被認為不太可信，盡管報告可能是屬實的。

Two contradicting theories

彼此矛盾的兩種理論

There are two research theories to predict differences between deception and truth telling in a native compared to a second language.

目前，有兩個理論可以預測用母語和外語撒謊與說真話的不同。

Research from cognitive load theory suggests that lying is more difficult in a foreign language.

基于認知負荷假說的研究表明，用外語撒謊更難。

"Compared to truth telling, lying is a cognitively more demanding task," Kristina Suchotzki explains. Adding a foreign language imposes an additional cognitive challenge which makes lying even more difficult.

“與說真話相比，撒謊需要更多的認知任務，”Kristina Suchotzki解釋道。額外的認知挑戰(zhàn)會增加用外語撒謊的困難度。

Lying is easier in a foreign language: This should be true according to the emotional distance hypothesis. This assumption is based on the fact that lying is associated with more emotions than staying with the truth. Liars have higher stress levels and are more tense.

而根據(jù)情感距離假說，用外語撒謊比用母語撒謊更容易，因為撒謊與說真話相比，會牽扯更多情緒。說謊者通常壓力更大更緊張。

Research from linguistics, psychology and psychophysiology shows that compared to speaking in a native language, communicating in a second language is less emotionally arousing.

語言學、心理學和心理生理學的研究表明，用外語交流的情緒化程度低于用母語溝通。

"Based on the emotional distance hypothesis, you would hence expect lying in a foreign language to be less arousing emotionally," Suchotzki says. Accordingly, this reduced emotional arousal would facilitate lying.

“根據(jù)情感距離假設，用外語撒謊時情緒不會那么激動，” Suchotzki說。 因此，減弱的情緒化會有利于說謊。

Experiments and results

實驗與結論

To settle this question, the Würzburg psychologists conducted a number of experiments in which up to 50 test persons had to complete specific tasks.

為解決這個問題，維爾茨堡大學的心理學家進行了多項實驗。實驗要求50多名被試者完成特定任務。

They were asked to answer a number of questions — sometimes truthfully and sometimes deceptively both in their native language and in a foreign language. Some questions were neutral such as "Berlin is/is not in Germany"; other questions were clearly emotional like "Have you ever taken illegal drugs?" or "Would you work as a nude model?".

他們被要求用母語和外語撒謊或真實回答一些判斷題。一部分是中性問題，例如：“柏林在/不在德國”;還有一部分是情緒性問題，如“你服用過違禁藥物嗎?” 或“你會做裸體模特嗎?”。

While the test participants answered the questions, the scientists measured their response time, skin conductance and heart rate.

當被試者回答問題時，科學家會測量他們的用時、皮膚導電率和心率。

In a nutshell, the results are as follows:

簡單來說，實驗結果如下：

Usually, it takes longer to answer emotional questions than neutral ones.

通常，回答情緒性問題會比回答中性問題更費時。

Answers in the foreign language also take longer than their native language counterparts.

用外語回答比用母語回答更費時。

Generally, it takes longer to tell a lie than to tell the truth.

普遍而言，撒謊比說真話更費時。

However, the time difference between deceptive and truthful answers are less pronounced in a second language than in the native language.

然而，用外語撒謊和說真話之間的時間差不如母語中那么明顯。

The slight difference does not, however, result from giving a faster deceptive response. Rather in a foreign language, telling the truth takes longer than in one's native tongue.

撒謊耗時短并不是導致這種微弱時間差原因，而用外語說真話比母語耗時。

Whether neutral or emotional question: The time differences between telling the truth and lying are generally smaller in a foreign language.

無論是中性問題還是情緒性問題，用外語撒謊與說真話的時間差不明顯。

The scientists believe that these findings reflect the "antagonistic effects of emotional distance and cognitive load".

科學家認為，這些結論反映了“認知負荷和情感距離的抗頡作用”。

"Based on the cognitive load hypothesis, one would have expected increased effort for truth telling and lying in a foreign language, with the increased effort being more pronounced for lying," Kristina Suchotzki says.

“根據(jù)認知負荷理論，用外語說真話和撒謊都會增加認知負荷。用外語撒謊所增加的認知負荷更多一些，” Kristina Suchotzki 說。

The data suggest that the increased cognitive effort is responsible for the prolongation of the truth response in the foreign language.

數(shù)據(jù)表明，認知負荷的增加是因為用外語說真話耗時長。

The reason why this prolongation does not exist or is less pronounced in lying can be explained with the emotional distance hypothesis: The greater emotional distance in a foreign language thus "cancels out" the higher cognitive load when lying.

在用外語撒謊時，這種延時不存在或不太明顯的原因，可以用情感距離理論來理解：撒謊時，外語帶來的情感距離大到足以“抵消”認知負荷。

Journal Reference:

Kristina Suchotzkife. (2018, Nov 2). The Language of Lies Behavioral and Autonomic Costs of Lying in a Native Compared to Foreign Language. Journal of Experimental Psychology, Journal of Experimental Psychology.