Dewaele, Jean-Marc and Li, Wei (2013) Is multilingualism linked to a higher tolerance of ambiguity? Bilingualism: Language and Cognition 16 (2), pp. 231-240. ISSN 1366-7289.
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Abstract
The present study investigates the link between multilingualism and the personality trait Tolerance of Ambiguity (TA) among 2158 mono-, bi- and multilinguals. Monolinguals and bilinguals scored significantly lower on TA compared to multilinguals. A high level of global proficiency of various languages was linked to higher TA scores. A stay abroad of more than three months was also linked to higher TA although the effect levelled off after one year. Growing up in a multilingual family had no effect on TA. These findings show that a high level of multilingualism makes individuals more at ease in dealing with ambiguity, but we acknowledge that a higher level of TA can also strengthen an individual’s inclination to become multilingual.
Metadata
| Item Type: | Article |
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| Keyword(s) / Subject(s): | multilingualism, personality, Tolerance of Ambiguity, multicompetence, individual variation |
| School: | Birkbeck Faculties and Schools > Faculty of Humanities and Social Sciences > School of Creative Arts, Culture and Communication |
| Depositing User: | Jean-Marc Dewaele |
| Date Deposited: | 12 Mar 2013 08:48 |
| Last Modified: | 09 Aug 2023 12:32 |
| URI: | https://eprints.bbk.ac.uk/id/eprint/6224 |
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