Bilingualism and intelligence, personality and creativity: how do they relate?
Although throughout history many cultures have spread the myth that bilingualism has negative effects on a psychological level , the scientific investigations of the last decades point clearly to the fact that the mastery of more than one language has positive consequences.
In this article we will describe the relationship of multilingualism with intelligence, personality and creativity . As we shall see, speaking more than one language produces changes at the mental level mainly through the improvement of cognitive flexibility and abstract reasoning.
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Defining bilingualism and multilingualism
It is said that a person is multilingual when they can communicate naturally in more than one language, especially if they have acquired competences at a young age. When someone speaks two languages we speak of bilingualism , who know three languages are trilingual, etcetera.
There is debate about the degree of mastery required to be able to consider that someone is multilingual. Many experts define the definition to the ability to speak a second language reasonably fluently, while others consider that a great knowledge of at least two languages is required.
They have existed for a long time prejudices regarding the psychological effects of bilingualism in traditionally monolingual cultures; Bilingual people were attributed lower intelligence, less command of languages and moral and characterological alterations.
The first investigations about multilingualism confirmed this type of perspective, although they had serious methodological problems that invalidated their results. Stricter studies conducted subsequently not only refuted these hypotheses but also showed that bilingualism can have beneficial effects for cognition .
However, it must be borne in mind that many of these benefits are more a consequence of multiculturalism, a natural result of learning several languages. Knowing more than one language facilitates familiarization with different perspectives and improves abstract thinking, since multilingualism demands complex conceptual reasoning .
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Types of bilingualism
Cummins made a proposal known as the "threshold hypothesis". According to this author, bilingualism can have positive or negative effects depending on the degree of competence in the languages and of different psychosocial variables, such as the prestige of both languages.
In this way, Cummins proposed that Bilingual people who do not reach a minimum threshold in both languages they can suffer negative effects; in these cases we would speak of subtractive bilingualism. Subsequent research has suggested that bilingual people with low command of languages may have a slight disadvantage in arithmetic.
On the other hand, when the upper threshold of linguistic competence is exceeded, Additive bilingualism, which positively influences cognition , as we will see below. These effects are more intense the greater the mastery of the languages.
Multilingualism, cognition and intelligence
The investigation reveals that the cognitive structure of bilingual people is different from that of monolinguals. Specifically, the IQ is explained by a greater number of factors; This means that cognitive skills are more diversified in those who learn more than one language during their development.
In addition, multilingualism has been linked to greater cognitive flexibility. This means that bilingual people tend to have more capacity to find alternative solutions to problems and choose the best option from among those available.
On the other hand, as we have already mentioned, multilingualism favors the development of abstract reasoning and the management of concepts. This has been attributed to a greater awareness of the fact that the words do not designate absolute realities but they have an important arbitrary component.
As a result, multilingual people would have a greater ability to focus on structures rather than the elements that make them up, as well as to reorganize them. This includes a verbal dimension but also involves perception.
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Influence on personality
Many multilingual people report that their personality changes depending on the language they use; These changes have been confirmed by some studies.However, in general they are attributed to the adoption of a different contextual framework depending on the culture to which each language is associated, which would be independent of the language used.
But nevertheless the hypotheses of linguistic relativity they affirm that language influences the way of thinking and feeling. Thus, learning more than one language could facilitate the development of different facets of the personality. It is also believed that by speaking in the second language, many bilinguals leave social conventions aside.
On the other hand, the social context can influence the personality and psychological well-being through the attitude toward bilingualism. For example, Latin American children may be looked down upon in the United States because they speak a different language; This type of situations also interfere with the normal learning of the language.
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Relationship with creativity
The beneficial effects of bilingualism on creativity they are associated with cognitive flexibility . The ability to adopt different perspectives and reorganize the mental contents produces clear improvements in creativity, especially in people who have a high command of more than one language
J. P. Guilford described two types of reasoning: the convergent and the divergent. While convergent thinking is sequential (it advances "in a straight line"), divergent reasoning explores multiple alternatives more spontaneously and is based on the relationships between the set and the elements that compose it.
The concept of divergent reasoning is very close to creativity . The measures of cognitive fluidity, flexibility and originality, which Guilford defined as the central skills of divergent reasoning and the creative process, have consistently been shown to be higher on average in multilingual than in monolingual people.
