The Language Effect: Investigating the Impact of Language Switching on Personality in Korean-English Bilinguals

Abstract

Yunah Lee*

In an increasingly multilingual world, understanding how language influences the way individuals express their personalities is more important than ever. According to the Sapir-Whorf theories, language shapes how we perceive the world and ourselves. Previous studies suggest that personality assessments may yield different results depending on the language in which they are administered. This raises the question: Through a repeated measures design, to what extent does taking a self-reported personal- ity test in different languages affect the results among Korean-English bilingual individuals? This study investigates the extent to which self-reported personality qualities among Korean-English bilinguals are influenced by the language of a personality test. Using a within-subjects design, participants (N = 50) completed the Big Five Inventory (BFI-44) twice, in English and Korean. To provide a cognitive break between the two administrations, a brief demographic survey was administered. To compare per- sonality trait scores between the two language conditions, a repeated-measures ANOVA was performed. A number of personality domains showed statistically significant differences, according to the results. According to these results, personality expression may change depending on the language used for evaluation, which may be a reflection of the behavioral standards and underlying cultural values of each language. These findings have significant implications for psychological evaluation, particularly in situa- tions involving multiple languages or cultures. Future research could examine how identity, cultural immersion, or even linguistic dominance shape these results.

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