Is your future near, or far away?
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Does the language we speak determine how healthy and rich we will be? New research by Keith Chen of Yale Business School suggests so. The structure of languages affects our judgments and decisions about the future and this might have dramatic long-term consequences.
There has been a lot of research into how we deal with the future. For example, the famous marshmallow studies of Walter Mischel and colleagues showed that being able to resist temptation is predictive of future success. Four-year-old kids were given a marshmallow and were told that if they do not eat that marshmallow and wait for the experimenter to come back, they will get two marshmallows instead of one. Follow-up studies showed that the kids who were able to wait for the bigger future reward became more successful young adults.
Resisting our impulses for immediate pleasure is often the only way to attain the outcomes that are important to us. We want to keep a slim figure but we also want that last slice of pizza. We want a comfortable retirement, but we also want to drive that dazzling car, go on that dream vacation, or get those gorgeous shoes. Some people are better at delaying gratification than others. Those people have a better chance of accumulating wealth and keeping a healthy life style. They are less likely to be impulse buyers or smokers, or to engage in unsafe sex.
Chen’s recent findings suggest that an unlikely factor, language, strongly affects our future-oriented behavior. Some languages strongly distinguish the present and the future. Other languages only weakly distinguish the present and the future. Chen’s recent research suggests that people who speak languages that weakly distinguish the present and the future are better prepared for the future. They accumulate more wealth and they are better able to maintain their health. The way these people conceptualize the future is similar to the way they conceptualize the present. As a result, the future does not feel very distant and it is easier for them to act in accordance with their future interests.
Different languages have different ways of talking about the future. Some languages, such as English, Korean, and Russian, require their speakers to refer to the future explicitly. Every time English-speakers talk about the future, they have to use future markers such as “will” or “going to.” In other languages, such as Mandarin, Japanese, and German, future markers are not obligatory. The future is often talked about similar to the way present is talked about and the meaning is understood from the context. A Mandarin speaker who is going to go to a seminar might say “Wo qu ting jiangzuo,” which translates to “I go listen seminar.” Languages such as English constantly remind their speakers that future events are distant. For speakers of languages such as Mandarin future feels closer. As a consequence, resisting immediate impulses and investing for the future is easier for Mandarin speakers.
Chen analyzed individual-level data from 76 developed and developing countries. This data includes people’s economic decisions, such as whether they saved any money last year, the languages they speak at home, demographics, and cultural factors such as “saving is an important cultural value for me.” He also analyzed individual-level data on people’s retirement assets, smoking and exercising habits, and general health in older age. Lastly, he analyzed national-level data that includes national savings rates, country GDP and GDP growth rates, country demographics, and proportions of people speaking different languages.
People’s savings rates are affected by various factors such as their income, education level, age, religious affiliation, their countries’ legal systems, and their cultural values. After those factors were accounted for, the effect of language on people’s savings rates turned out to be big. Speaking a language that has obligatory future markers, such as English, makes people 30 percent less likely to save money for the future. This effect is as large as the effect of unemployment. Being unemployed decreases the likelihood of saving by about 30 percent as well.
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32 Comments
Add CommentI'm extremely curious as to how the author could possibly have separated culture and language. How many German speakers are there who are not stronlgy influenced by German cultural values, or primarily Mandarin speakers who are not strongly influenced by Chinese values?
Reply | Report Abuse | Link to thisAffects, not effects.
Reply | Report Abuse | Link to thisThank you.
Reply | Report Abuse | Link to thisIn the old days, there were copy editors who would have caught the error in your headline. This is further evidence of the "dumbing down" of readers is an effect of the cost cutting everyone things is helpful to business and government. On the contrary, it is the presence of back-up personnel that deliver a professional product. In the absence of such back-up, productivity can be said to rise--at the expense of the quality of output.
Reply | Report Abuse | Link to thisOr what if the underlying culture has influenced the development of the language over time?
Reply | Report Abuse | Link to thisI was thinking the same thing. Rather than simply correcting for these behaviors: economic, education, ability to delay gratification etc. Does he correct for the differences shown in the ability to delay gratification in the context of different cultures? I imagine it would be difficult to find a German or Mandarin Chinese speaker who is fully immersed in American culture or vice versa. It's interesting; however, I'm still skeptical.
Reply | Report Abuse | Link to thisI guess wealth by inheritance or celebrity must be after a long wait, because those are the main ways to get wealthy in an english speaking country. Planning is not.
Reply | Report Abuse | Link to thisCalm down. The world isn't going to fall apart because an "e" was in place of an "a".
Reply | Report Abuse | Link to thisOk, wealth is also attained by large scale capitalistic gambling and blind luck. But again, not service, contribution, or planning.
Reply | Report Abuse | Link to thishow about the correlation between social success and a stiff upper lip?
Reply | Report Abuse | Link to thisor the social benefit of a stiff upper lip masking general incompetence?
or how language helps one's career in connection with impeccable manners and a distinct upper-class accent coupled to a pompuous vocabulary even if totally inept?
or the possible advantages of speaking five different languages from two different cultural groups?
or why men don't understand what women didn't say whereas women always understand men who didn't say anything?
or why European aphorisms are so often mistaken for gender bias in the US whereas the first thing most USamerican women like in Europe is to be talked to as women (when it's done nicely)?
and what does it mean when I will enter a meeting in half an hour with four different nationalities and the USamericans present will be the only ones speaking only one language and knowing only one culture?
"Le langage est la source de tous les malentendus" (the little prince if I remember correctly).
The author's point is valid. Just look at how few Chinese smokers there are. <sarcasm>
Reply | Report Abuse | Link to thisThere might be a way to separate culture vs language -- same languages, different countries (different cultures!). On the other hand, I fully expect language and culture(whatever that is!) is not independent.
Reply | Report Abuse | Link to thisEnglish is widely spoken in many countries and I presume in different cultures or subcultures.
However, I have no doubt that language ( (sub)culture) strongly affects our perceptions.
rshoff! Try hard work, intelligent choices, a positive attitude and luck. Planning is an ongoing process and susceptible to many changes as life progresses. Luck often comes to those who work hard, make intelligent choices, have a positive attitude. Often luck is mistaken for being in the right place at the right time, which would not happen if you did not work hard, make intelligent choices and have a positive attitude.
Reply | Report Abuse | Link to thisThe world isn't also not going to fall apart because of the presence of absence of this article. The point is that an author who didn't check their English may not have checked their facts either.
Reply | Report Abuse | Link to thisOoops! Label me careless. The author is correct.
Reply | Report Abuse | Link to thisThe government controlling most of the Mandarin speakers isn’t delaying gratification. They have set about to steal technology from the rest of the world as fast as they can. It seems likely that Chen chose a conclusion then set about to defend it.
Reply | Report Abuse | Link to thisKeith,
I suggest investigation of the correlation of intelligence with wealth and health. My guess if that you will find a much higher correlation coefficient.
Um, the data is interesting, but I have to disagree with the hypothesis that the language is causal to the behavior. Correlation is not causation. Language develops around culture and behavior; not the other way around. Language is responsive and reactive. In his book Outliers, Malcolm Gladwell discussed the work ethic culture of Asia versus other cultures by issue of the agricultural revolution. Rice grows differently than other grains, with different timetables. This could have well influenced the development of time factors of future and present tense into the language. It could have also influenced the behavior of delayed gratification.
Reply | Report Abuse | Link to thisUm, the data is interesting, but I have to disagree with the hypothesis that the language is causal to the behavior. Correlation is not causation. Language develops around culture and behavior; not the other way around. Language is responsive and reactive. In his book Outliers, Malcolm Gladwell discussed the work ethic culture of Asia versus other cultures by issue of the agricultural revolution. Rice grows differently than other grains, with different timetables. This could have well influenced the development of time factors of future and present tense into the language. It could have also influenced the behavior of delayed gratification.
Reply | Report Abuse | Link to this"religious affiliation, their countries’ legal systems, and their cultural values ...After those factors were accounted for ..."
Reply | Report Abuse | Link to thisBeware studies which purport to "control" for just about everything under the sun. it's more likely that the "language effect" is correlated with whatever is left over from this statistical "controlling" procedure (or whatever artifacts it produces) and this accounts for the reported influence on psychology and behavior.
Also in the first study the same issue is in play. Whatever causes children to delay gratification while in the lab (probably a diverse set of external constraints which cannot be easily studied or controlled) likely remain long into the future, thus explaining the prediction of these kids' long-term success. This effect will be in place regardless of whether or not the ability to delay gratification in the lab is itself a good predictor of later outcomes.
These are not "unlikely" predictors, they are simply correlated with the various factors that are actually important to outcomes, thus producing the compelling yet spurious finding that we have been dutifully informed ofthrough the academic publication system.
I blog at neuroautomaton.com
...Or it's the reverse. It's possible that the languages with the explicit future markers once lacked them, but naturally developed them under certain conditions that also gave rise to the culture. It's probably important to look at the evolutionary lineage of the languages mentioned.
Reply | Report Abuse | Link to thisI think this kind of research is shallow.Western psyche completely depend on statistical survey fr study any subject.This system is faulty.We must learn behavior of people by their psyche.It is well known fact that psyche of any nation developed by that country`s whether.Most Indians are frugal very careful for saving because of most unpredictable whether,there are slightest differences between provinces to provinces because of changing whether,may be cultural differences.I think same is true in all countries.We must study that way how language affect of wealth and health
Reply | Report Abuse | Link to this"Similar analyses showed that speaking a language that does not have obligatory future markers, such as Mandarin, makes people accumulate more retirement assets, smoke less, exercise more, and generally be healthier in older age."
Reply | Report Abuse | Link to thisMandarin speakers...smoking less? Ahem. Less than what, a foundry smokestack? I'm all for linguistic determinism -- Benjamin Lee Whorf is my hero -- but this particular aspect which goes beyond cognition or perception of reality to actually influencing behavior seems something of a stretch.
Chen's research is absurd. It seems to me that English speaking people have been the most successful in the modern world. Could Chen be mandarin?
Reply | Report Abuse | Link to thisI am gratified that the article did not use the ubiquitous misnomer "Impacts" to mean "affects".
Reply | Report Abuse | Link to thisConnection between language and health & wealth is very interesting. I believe that there is a strong linkage between language and wealth.
Reply | Report Abuse | Link to thisS. N. Tiwary
DIRECTOR
Connection between language and health & wealth is very interesting. I believe that there is a strong linkage between language and wealth.
Reply | Report Abuse | Link to thisS. N. Tiwary
DIRECTOR
American Muse I disagree; but please clarify "most successful" and "modern world." Successful at what? Yes, the English speakers were pretty successful at about 200 years of Imperialism. But the Greeks, Chinese, Romans, Indus River Valley civilizations, Egyptians, West Africa empires, Mesoamerican empires and several Muslim empires were successful before, and for a longer period than the Anglo-Saxon English speakers. As a matter of fact, after the fall of the Roman Empire, thanks to the Germanic tribes which invaded England, European civilizations were quite unsuccessful at most everything except church building until the Enlightenment. Chen is also not the first to connect industry and frugality to the culture's language, either. This has already been said about northern Europeans versus southern Europeans. The connection has also been made with Protestants versus Catholics. There is nothing new under the sun, this is not a revelation.
Reply | Report Abuse | Link to thisAny correlation to each country's Currency Controls, economic sanctions, marketing strategies, numbers of TVs (aka commercials) within each home, Internet controls or filters, etc etc etc?? With Business Intelligence placing ads on our cable tv channels, websites and social media based on our previous decisions...are people herded into spending more? Are these strategies and their mediums as easily accessed in other countries as in the US? Societal Values...(what is more respected toys, education, family) So many other possibilities. What happens if you are raised in a multilingual home? How does that affect? Just food for thought.
Reply | Report Abuse | Link to thisInteresting as a preliminary study that might hint at a possible pattern but not even close to conclusive. It is well known that use patterns of common concepts can influence an individuals mindset but even specific words are prone to drift of meaning over time.
Reply | Report Abuse | Link to this"...but even specific words are prone to drift of meaning over time." Very good point.
Reply | Report Abuse | Link to thisThis article's comments are far more interesting, educational and entertaining than the actual article.
Reply | Report Abuse | Link to thisWell that's the question, innit? Whether or not language effects culture?
Reply | Report Abuse | Link to this-dlj.