做決定時很衝動 用外語思考讓你更理智

Got a difficult decision to make? Why not mull it over auf deutsch?

面臨艱難的抉擇？爲什麼不試試用德語來思考？

A new study suggested that people are prone to make more sound, less risky decisions if they are thinking in a language other than their native tongue.

一項新的研究結果顯示，當人們用母語之外的語言思考的時候，往往更能做出理智而非輕率的決定。

The series of experiments, conducted by Boaz Keysar of the University of Chicago, led the scientists to believe that ‘using a foreign language reduces decision-making bias,’ Dr Keysar’s team wrote.

美國芝加哥大學的寶姿·凱莎教授帶領其學生進行了相關研究，他們的研究成果向科學界證實——如凱莎教授的研究團隊在發表的文章中所述——“使用外語能夠減少決策過程中的母語偏見。”

Their findings, published in an April 18 Psychological Science study, say that human reasoning is shaped by both systematic, rational ideas, and another that’s emotionally-charged and rapid.

他們的研究報告刊登在4月18日的《心理科學研究》中，報告指出，人的邏輯思維分成兩個部分，其一是系統的、理性的思維，另一種是情感充裕、迅速的思維。

The team gathered 54 UC students who knew Spanish as a second language to place bets on a coin toss.

研究團隊對芝加哥大學內54名以西班牙語爲第二語言的學生進行了調查，參加實驗的學生被要求參加猜硬幣正反面的遊戲。

Each student was given $15 in dollar bills, and could bet $1 at a time on either heads or tails. If they bet and won, they could win $1.50, and lost nothing if they did not bet.

每名參與調查的學生都有15美元可下注，每次用1美元猜拋出的硬幣是正面還是反面。如果他們猜對了，就可以贏得1.5美元。如果他們不下注，就不會損失任何錢。

When they were given the experiment in English, the students acted narrow-mindedly, and took the bet only about half of the time.

當這些學生們在實驗過程中說英語的時候，他們思路狹窄，在遊戲中有一半的時間內並沒有下注。

But when the same students heard instructions in Spanish, they bet 74 per cent of the time.

但是當研究者們用西班牙語講述遊戲規則的時候，這些參與調查的學生在遊戲74%的時間裏都願意下注。

The conclusion, then, these scientists believe, is that thinking in a foreign language distances people from snap emotional decisions, allowing decisions to be more logical.

研究者們相信，這項實驗證明，使用外語思考能夠避免人們在做決定時感情用事，過於輕率，從而使人們做出更符合邏輯的決定。

The hope, they wrote, is that people can think in foreign languages to make more prudent financial and economic decisions.

研究人們表示，他們希望人們在進行金融和經濟方面的決策時，通過運用外語思考來做出更理智的決定。