Research suggests that people are less likely to lie if they’re speaking in their mother tongue.
People fib more when talking in a second language because they are ‘less emotional’, scientists said.
Our first language is often more closely tied to our emotions, which makes us more vulnerable and therefore honest when we’re speaking it.
However, a second language is often associated with more rational thinking which means people feel more distant from it and so find it easier to lie.
Scientists at Bangor University and the University of Manchester found people who speak more than one language interpret facts differently depending on which one they are speaking.
They asked Welsh people who spoke fluent Welsh and English to rate sentences as true or false.
These sentences either had positive or negative connotations.
Participants showed a bias towards categorising positive statements – even if they were false – as being true in both languages.
However, when they were negative, participants responded differently depending on whether they were reading in Welsh or English – despite the fact the information was exactly the same.
Scientists believe people’s native language is more closely tied to our emotions which means we find it easier to be honest.
Functioning in the second language appeared to protect them against unpalatable truths, and deal with them more strategically, researchers concluded.