Chapter 9. Fear conditioning and bilingualism

Abstract

There is evidence that the emotional reactivity in a foreign language is reduced as compared to native languages. This differential emotional reactivity has effects in various cognitive domains, as revealed by the so-called foreign language effect on decision-making. This opens doors to the potential use of foreign languages in scenarios where a modulation of the role of emotional involvement would be desirable, like conflict resolution, healthy choices, or psychotherapy. The current chapter focuses on whether fear acquisition and extinction can be modulated by the language context in which people are set. With the lead of Prof Albert Costa, we explored whether this emotional distance could modulate fear conditioning and fear extinction, essential mechanisms for the understanding and treatment of different mental disorders. Our findings provided evidence that certain verbal conditioning processes may be affected by language context, opening the avenue to the potential use of a foreign language in clinical contexts.