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Personality Traits in Bilinguals

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Abstract

This chapter reviews the research on the personality characteristics associated with speaking two languages. It has been found that bilinguals frequently report feeling like a different person when speaking the first language (L1) compared to the second language (L2). Previous studies have found differences in the Big Five Inventory (BFI) dimensions (extraversion, conscientiousness, and agreeableness) of Spanish–English bilinguals. The chapter further presents a new study in which Spanish–English bilinguals answered the BFI in both languages. Results showed the language effect on all personality dimensions.

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... Third, while we controlled for language proficiency's influence on the relationship between cognitive aptitude and personality structure (Pacifico et al. 2023), future research could explore its potential mediating roles, as suggested by others (Bowler et al. 2009;Chen and Bond 2010;Chen et al. 2022;Rosselli et al. 2017;Veltkamp et al. 2013;Vygotsky 1934Vygotsky , 1978Weinert 2022). It is important to note, however, that while general cognitive ability includes a language component, our assessment tool did not allow for separating this component from the overall g factor, posing a limitation in our study's ability to isolate the specific effects of language proficiency on personality structure. ...
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