Improve Your Business Decision-Making by Thinking in a Foreign Language

Language Services Direct Team

Throughout your career you are constantly making decisions. At one end of the scale there are the everyday choices – do you fancy taking croissants or pretzels in for that breakfast meeting? Your decision here will probably come down to whether you feel that your colleagues are in the mood for something sweet or savoury. At the other end are the life-changing decisions – do you accept that new position abroad, or stay where you are? With that sort of choice, you need to take all kinds of circumstances into account and carefully deliberate the pros and cons. 

In this article we will be exploring the middle ground of decision-making in business, and the surprising evidence of how thinking in a foreign language can affect how you make certain choices. 

Reaping the Benefits of Speaking a Second Language 

It is well documented that employees who can communicate in a second or third language are likely to be more confident at work, have higher productivity and be more engaged in the business. (We go into much more detail about those benefits in this article.) But recent research has found further benefits – that speaking a non-native language can help people to become more rational, open-minded and better able to deal with uncertainty. These traits then help with careful and considered decision-making. So many studies have proved this positive outcome that researchers and scientists have come up with a name for it – the ‘foreign language effect’. 

Slowing Down, Cooling Off 

Studies have demonstrated that emotions have a stronger impact on your decision-making process when you think in your native tongue, rather than in your second language. The research shows that switching to thinking in your second (or third) language when faced with a business decision can help you to make a better choice. When thinking in a second language, you are more careful and deliberate for longer. You make sure that you really understand everything correctly.  

The next time you need to make a cool-headed business decision, try switching your thinking to your second language to reduce your emotional reaction to the issue. The less emotion you experience in a business environment, the more control you can exert over your decision-making. Thinking in your second language activates deliberative cognitive processes – in other words, it slows down and expands your thinking – which improves your reasoning and encourages you to consider the risks more rationally. You become more detached and objective – two traits that are super helpful in careful decision-making! 

Improving Financial Decision-Making 

Another benefit of the foreign language effect is that it reduces loss aversion (simply put, the fear of losing something). Experiments show that people are generally reluctant to risk losing a small amount of money for the chance of winning a larger amount, even if the odds are in their favour… which is not a good psychological state for business investors! However, actively thinking in your non-native language reduces this loss aversion and means that you can make a more balanced financial decision – a decision that is in the best interests of the business.  

The foreign language effect also reduces your tendency to be swayed by the way certain information is portrayed, as opposed to the information itself. Thinking in your second language encourages you to focus on the facts themselves, rather than the descriptions the facts are couched in – another sure-fire way to ensure that you are making reasoned and reasonable decisions! 

Becoming Comfortable with Uncertainty 

The foreign language effect can affect your behaviour in your workplace in another positive way. Researchers have found that bilingual speakers may be more able to respond to ambiguous or uncertain situations without experiencing undue anxiety or stress. When thinking about new ideas in your second language, you are more likely to try creative problem-solving and to embrace novel concepts. Thinking in your second language makes you more open-minded to the facts, and less influenced by your initial gut reaction in your native language. You become more flexible and adaptable – ideal traits for improving your performance at work and contributing to a more harmonious business environment.  

If you would like to become more proficient at thinking in a second language and reap all the benefits of the foreign language effect in your business decision-making, contact us today. At Simon and Simon, we provide highly experienced native tutors who can teach online or in-person – or a blend of both. We look forward to finding out how we can help you.