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.

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.

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

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.

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

The Würzburg psychologists conducted a number of experiments in which up to 50 test persons had to complete specific tasks.

They were asked to answer a number of questions — sometimes truthfully and sometimes deceptively both in their native language and in a foreign language. While the test participants answered the questions, the scientists measured their response time, skin conductance and heart rate.

In a nutshell, the results are as follows: Usually, it takes longer to answer emotional questions than neutral ones.

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

Generally, it takes longer to tell a lie than to tell the truth. However, the time difference between deceptive and truthful answers are less pronounced in a second language than in the native language.

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.

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

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

Words to Learn 相关词汇

【庇护】bìhù asylum protection from arrest and extradition given especially to political refugees by a nation or by an embassy or other agency enjoying freedom from what is required by law for most people

【简单来说】jiǎndān láishuō in a nutshell in summary; concisely

大多数人没觉得用外语撒谎比用母语撒谎更难，但会发现用外语讲真话比用母语讲真话更难。

这一令人惊讶的结论由维尔茨堡大学的两位心理学家Kristina Suchotzki（心理学系博士后研究员）和Matthias Gamer（临床实验心理学教授）研究得出。

这两位科学家在《实验心理学期刊》上发表了他们的洞见。

他们的研究成果对信誉评估过程（如庇护流程）很重要。

在这种情况下，非母语人士的报告往往被认为不太可信，尽管报告可能是属实的。

维尔茨堡大学的心理学家进行了多项实验。实验要求50多名被试者完成特定任务。

他们被要求用母语和外语撒谎或真实回答一些判断题。当被试者回答问题时，科学家会测量他们的用时、皮肤导电率和心率。

简单来说，实验结果如下：

通常，回答情绪性问题会比回答中性问题更费时。

用外语回答比用母语回答更费时。

普遍而言，撒谎比说真话更费时。

然而，用外语撒谎和说真话之间的时间差不如母语中那么明显。

撒谎耗时短并不是导致这种微弱时间差原因，而用外语说真话比母语耗时。

无论是中性问题还是情绪性问题，用外语撒谎与说真话的时间差不明显。

科学家认为，这些结论反映了“认知负荷和情感距离的抗颉作用”。

“根据认知负荷理论，用外语说真话和撒谎都会增加认知负荷。用外语撒谎所增加的认知负荷更多一些，” Kristina Suchotzki 说。

数据表明，认知负荷的增加是因为用外语说真话耗时长。

在用外语撒谎时，这种延时不存在或不太明显的原因，可以用情感距离理论来理解：撒谎时，外语带来的情感距离大到足以“抵消”认知负荷。