Do bilinguals have two personalities? A special case of cultural frame switching

Abstract

Four studies examined and empirically documented Cultural Frame Switching (CFS; Hong, Chiu, & Kung, 1997) in the domain of personality. Specifically, we asked whether Spanish-English bilinguals show different personalities when using different languages? If so, are the two personalities consistent with cross-cultural differences in personality? To generate predictions about the specific cultural differences to expect, Study 1 documented personality differences between US and Mexican monolinguals. Studies 2-4 tested CFS in three samples of Spanish-English bilinguals, located in the US and Mexico. Findings replicated across all three studies, suggesting that language activates CFS for Extraver..