You may have heard the Czech proverb that says:

“Learn a new language and get a new soul.”

According to the American Psychological Association, personality refers to the characteristic patterns in how you think, feel and behave. Many bilinguals and polyglots, people who speak multiple languages fluently, have reported feeling different in each of their languages- as if they were experiencing different personalities. However, could it really be that switching languages can cause a change in personality? 

Interestingly, there has in fact been some research that shows that bilingual people do sometimes think and feel differently in their different languages. For example, a famous study conducted by Susan Ervin Tripp (1964) found that Japanese-American women proposed different responses when asked to complete sentences, such as “When my wishes conflict with my family,” depending on which language they were speaking. (The answer in Japanese: “It is a time of great unhappiness.” In English: “…I do what I want.”)  

There have also been other studies showing how people express themselves differently when speaking different languages. For example, Luna et al (2008) found that bilingual women felt more assertive and extroverted when they spoke Spanish rather than English, whilst Ramírez-Esparza (2004) found that Mexican-Americans felt more extroverted, agreeable and conscientious when speaking in English. 

So, why does this happen? Is there actually a direct causal effect between language and personality? According to psycholinguist François Grosjean, what is taken as a “personality shift” due to a change of language has little to do with language itself – but instead 3 other major factors: 

1. Culture: Language and culture are closely intertwined, so people adapt to the perceived norms and expectations embedded in that culture. This influences the way they speak and what they say in a language. This is no different to how people adapt to situations within the same culture, such as choosing what clothes to wear to a particular occasion. (It would be considered highly inappropriate to show up to a wedding in your pyjamas, for example). The immersion of new culture, experiences, and ideas when learning a new language will inevitably impact your behaviour while speaking the language, therefore influencing your own self-image. 

2. Context: The domains of contexts in which people have acquired languages and the contexts in which they use them will trigger different impressions, attitudes and behaviours. People typically modify their traits depending on who they are with, for example, being in the presence of a friend compared to a headteacher. The same is true for multilingual people – it is the environment, the culture, and the interlocutors that cause changes in their behaviour when speaking a different language, rather than the actual language itself. 

3. Fluency: A person’s confidence, skill and level of ability in a language also comes into play. For example, it would make sense for someone who has not mastered the basics of another language to feel more reserved when speaking it, rather than the life of the party.   

So, whilst one may feel that they can express themselves in different ways in each of the languages they are fluent in, it can likely be attributed to the above three factors. Rather than changing their actual personalities, it is the behavioural, cognitive, and emotional responses that change according to the cultural context that one associates with a language. 

As a side note, what is interesting is that parts of the brain do change when acquiring a new language. For example, the Japanese language contains a single phoneme to represent both the “r” and “l” sounds. Brain imaging studies show that only a single region of a Japanese speaker’s brain is activated when hearing words like “river” and “liver,” whereas in English speakers, two different areas of activation show up, to distinguish between each unique sound. For Japanese EFL speakers, learning to hear and produce differences between these phonemes requires a rewiring of certain elements in the brain’s circuitry. 

In conclusion, we know that people often feel different when speaking different languages, and this is connected to the culture exposed to, context of speech, and level of fluency. Whether one is monolingual or bilingual, we adapt to the situation or interlocutor and change our language accordingly, without changing our personality. Therefore, it could be argued that the language which you use does not make you a different person, but rather highlights a different facet of your personality. Have you noticed any differences in the way you think or express yourself when using a different language?