Cultural Accommodation and Language Priming

Authors: Dirk Akkermans AnneWil Harzing Arjen van Witteloostuijn

Publish Date: 2010/09/16

Volume: 50, Issue: 5, Pages: 559-583

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Abstract

This paper explores three arguments First cultural accommodation by living in another culture for a while may have a longlasting but partially dormant influence on behavior Second foreign language is a prime activating behavior associated with this language Third a foreign language is expected to be a particularly forceful prime for those who have lived in a country where this language is spoken We explore this logic in a prisoner’s dilemma quasiexperiment that focuses on competitive versus cooperative behaviorTesting our predictions with 358 Dutch students we found that previous exposure to an Anglophone culture with higher values for masculinity performance orientation and assertiveness negatively influences cooperative behavior in a prisoner’s dilemma game when the game is played in English

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