The relationship between language and emotion recognition in bilinguals is not robust to cultural and linguistic differences

Aims: This study set out to test the hypothesis that proficiency in a second language can lead to emotional advantage, via increased Emotional Intelligence and improved Facial Emotion Recognition (FER). Design: Unlike previous studies, this project adopted a within-subject design, rather than comparing bi- and monolinguals. We investigated the participants’ performance on FER tasks, as a function of their second-language English proficiency and trait emotional intelligence. Data and analysis: Using an online experimental task, we tested FER in static posed photographs in 256 adult participants with a wide range of native languages. To examine the role of task type, multiple-choice and free-labelling protocols were used. We collected self-reported measures of L2 English proficiency and administered a direct proficiency measure, as well as a measure of trait emotional intelligence. Multiple regression analysis was used to examine the relationship between the variables. Findings: The analysis revealed only a relationship between the direct proficiency measure and the multiple-choice FER task, but no effect of trait emotional intelligence or self-reported L2 English proficiency. Originality: This study contradicts previous findings based on across-subject comparisons in linguistically and culturally homogeneous populations. Implications: The results suggests that the relationship between bilingualism and FER is sensitive to methodological, cultural, and linguistic differences. Future investigations of the relationship between language and emotion in bilinguals should take that into consideration.