“a distance is created between emotional and moral topics when speaking in a second language”
“People are more likely to act less emotionally and more rationally when speaking their second language, according to Geipel. Nelson Mandela seemed to have understood this dynamic decades ago when he said, “If you talk to a man in a language he understands, that goes to his head. If you talk to him in his language, that goes to his heart.””
“decisions made by people speaking their non-native languages appear to be less concerned with morality and more concerned with rationality and utilitarianism”
“the cognitive load required to understand a scenario in a second language creates an emotional distance, and we process the dilemma consciously rather than subconsciously”
“Speaking in non-native languages can also free people from self-imposed moral limits.”
“In many ways, switching to a second language can be a very positive change. When judgments of immorality are based on some people subconsciously feeling weird or unsettled, then skewed policy tends to follow.”