It turns out we’re better at bending the truth when we switch to a foreign language. Researchers say that when we’re speaking something other than our native tongue, we feel a bit more detached from our words, which seems to make lying easier. Our first language is wrapped up in emotions and honesty, so it’s harder to hide behind our words when speaking them. But with a foreign language, that emotional filter drops, giving us more freedom to finesse the truth.
But that’s not always true with a second or third language. Foreign languages actually encourage more logical thinking, which makes it easier to weave a believable story, according to researchers.
In a recent study by Kristina Suchotzki and Matthias Gamer from the University of Würzburg, 135 German speakers fluent in English were asked to lie and tell the truth in both languages. Published in the Journal of Experimental Psychology, the research showed that participants found it noticeably easier to lie in English than in their native German. Although lying took similar mental effort in both languages, speaking English seemed to lower the psychological “cost” of deception, making the task feel less demanding in a foreign language.
To test this theory, the researchers asked participants a series of questions, prompting them to give both truthful and false responses. The questions covered everything from straightforward facts to more personal topics, like, “Do you have an aquarium at home?” and “Do you watch pornography?”
Dr. Suchotzki suggests that these findings might also shed light on why non-native speakers sometimes come across as evasive. When people seem to be struggling to find their words, it can signal dishonesty. But as this study suggests, the effort involved in both lying and truth-telling in a foreign language is often similar, making it tricky to judge someone’s honesty based only on how they speak.
Dr. Suchotzki explained, “If the difference between truth-telling and lying gets smaller, then lying gets easier, relatively speaking.” This study aligns with previous research on truthfulness across languages.
For instance, Dr. Manon Jones from Bangor University and Ceri Ellie from the University of Manchester have studied the impact of language on honesty, specifically in Welsh and English speakers. They noted in The Conversation that “truth” can feel elusive when viewed through different cultural and linguistic lenses. In fact, bilinguals may sometimes accept a fact in one language while rejecting it in the other, highlighting how our sense of truth can shift depending on the language we’re using.
The researchers discovered that shifting between languages is linked to changes not only in perception and thought but also in emotion. Emotional connections often run deeper in a person’s native language, so hearing “I love you” in one language might carry far more weight than in another.
Language doesn’t just shape how we see the world visually; it influences how we interpret and understand our surroundings.
As Dr. Jones and Ellie explain, it was once assumed that bilinguals understand meaning consistently across all languages they speak. However, they’ve found that bilinguals interpret information differently based on the language it’s presented in—especially if that information evokes pride or discomfort related to their native culture.
