Hayakawa Sayuri, Pan Yue, Marian Viorica
Department of Communication Sciences and Disorders, Northwestern University, Evanston, IL 60208, USA.
Samuel Curtis Johnson Graduate School of Management, Cornell University, Ithaca, NY 14850, USA.
Brain Sci. 2021 Oct 1;11(10):1309. doi: 10.3390/brainsci11101309.
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.
世界各地的多语言使用者每天在使用外语时都会做出重要的医疗保健决策。本研究考察了使用母语与非母语如何影响对预防性医疗的评估和决策。双语者被随机分配用母语或非母语评估一系列医疗场景。每个场景都描述了一种医疗状况和预防性治疗的潜在不良影响，以及疾病或治疗相关并发症的人群风险。参与者判断感知到的负面影响和经历不良反应的可能性，并表明他们接受预防性治疗的意愿程度。我们发现，使用外语的双语者认为疾病症状和治疗副作用比使用母语的人负面影响更小。使用外语的人在做出预防性医疗决策时也更有可能考虑与医疗状况和治疗相关的客观风险。我们得出结论，使用母语与外语会改变人们对接受和拒绝预防性治疗后果的评估方式，这对数以百万计经常用非母语做出医疗选择的医疗服务提供者和患者可能产生影响。
