ERIC Number: EJ1178393
Record Type: Journal
Publication Date: 2018-Apr
Pages: 27
Abstractor: As Provided
ISBN: N/A
ISSN: ISSN-0364-0213
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How Cross-Linguistic Differences in the Grammaticalization of Future Time Reference Influence Intertemporal Choices
Thoma, Dieter; Tytus, Agnieszka E.
Cognitive Science, v42 n3 p974-1000 Apr 2018
According to Chen's (2013) Linguistic Savings Hypothesis (LSH), our native language affects our economic behavior. We present three studies investigating how cross-linguistic differences in the grammaticalization of future-time reference (FTR) affect intertemporal choices. In a series of decision scenarios about finance and health issues, we let speakers of altogether five languages that represent FTR with increasing strength, that is, Chinese, German, Danish, Spanish, and English, choose between hypothetical sooner-smaller and later-larger reward options. While the LSH predicts a present-bias that increases with FTR-strength, our decision makers preferred later-larger options and this future-bias increased with FTR-strength. In multiple regressions, the FTR-strength effect persisted when controlled for socioeconomic and cultural differences. We discuss why our findings deviate from the LSH and ask in how far the FTR-strength effect represents a habitual constitution of linguistic relativity or an instance of online decision framing.
Descriptors: Grammar, Time, Language Usage, German, Chinese, Indo European Languages, Spanish, English, Cultural Differences, Multiple Regression Analysis, Socioeconomic Influences, Native Language, Vignettes, Decision Making
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Publication Type: Journal Articles; Reports - Research
Education Level: N/A
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Language: English
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