Investigating Linguistic Abilities and its Relationship with Empathy, Emotional Intelligence and Cognitive Flexibility

Abstract

Purpose. Languages play an important role in shaping our brain and personality. Numerous studies in the past have found that bilingual and trilingual individuals outperform monolinguals on certain cognitive assessments. In some studies, monolinguals have outperformed the other two groups on emotional tests. Most of the studies have reported mixed findings on this topic, making it difficult to draw conclusions. Procedure. For the first time, the present study attempts to examine linguistic ability, empathy, emotional intelligence and cognitive flexibility in an Indian sample of 90 participants (Mage = 26.86 years, SD = 7.45) (28 monolingual, 30 bilingual and 32 trilingual). Each of the participants completed the Interpersonal Reactivity Index Questionnaire, Trait Emotional Intelligence Questionnaire – Short Form and Colour Stroop Test on PEBL (Psychology Experiment Building Language) software. Results. One – Way ANOVA revealed statistically significant results for Empathy [F(2,87) = 218.84, p < 0.001], Emotional Intelligence [F(2,87) = 232.19, p < 0.001] and Cognitive Flexibility [F(2,87) = 27.05, p < 0.001]. Mean empathy score was 38.67 for monolingual group, 65.86 for bilingual group and 81.25 for trilingual group. Mean emotional intelligence score was 76.32 for monolinguals, 151.93 for bilinguals and 195.15 for trilingual group. Mean conflict score was 253.24 for monolinguals, 108.29 for bilinguals and 20.64 for trilingual group. Pairwise comparisons and Tukey’s HSD displayed differences across groups, with the trilingual group outperforming the other two groups on all three variables. Results from this study showed large effect sizes (η2): 0.84 for EI, 0.83 for empathy and 0.38 for cognitive flexibility. Conclusions. Findings from this study highlight the important role played by languages and the associated benefits they offer. Participants speaking more languages dominated this study as they had better empathy, emotional intelligence and cognitive flexibility when compared to their monolingual counterparts.