大多数人没觉得用外语撒谎比用母语撒谎更难，但会发现用外语讲真话比用母语讲真话更难。
这一令人惊讶的结论由维尔茨堡大学的两位心理学家研究得出。
他们的研究成果对信誉评估过程很重要。
目前，一种理论认为用外语撒谎更难。
因为与说真话相比，撒谎需要更多的认知任务，额外的认知挑战会增加用外语撒谎的困难度。
而另一种理论认为用外语撒谎比用母语撒谎更容易。
因为撒谎与说真话相比，会牵扯更多情绪，用外语撒谎时情绪不会那么激动。
因此，减弱的情绪会有利于说谎。
为了解决这个问题，心理学家们进行了多项实验。
他们要求50多名被试者完成特定任务，同时测量了相关数据。
结果表明，用外语撒谎时，认知挑战和情感距离会发生抗颉作用，因此大多数人不会觉得用外语撒谎比用母语撒谎更难。
Hover a word for its pinyin & meaning; click to pin it.
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| Chinese | Pinyin | English |
|---|---|---|
| 大多数 | dà duō shù | (great) majority |
| 人 | rén | person; people |
| 没 | méi | (negative prefix for verbs) have not; not |
| 觉得 | jué de | to think that ...; to feel that ... |
| 用 | yòng | to use; to make use of; to employ / (coverb) with; using |
| 外语 | wài yǔ | foreign language |
| 撒谎 | sā huǎng | to tell lies |
| 比 | bǐ | (followed by a noun and adjective) more {adj.} than {noun} / (in some compounds derived from Classical Chinese) |
| 母语 | mǔ yǔ | native language / mother tongue / (linguistics) parent language |
| 更 | gèng | more / even more / further / still / still more |
| 难 | nán | difficult (to...) / difficult |
| 但 | dàn | but; yet; however; still |
| 会 | huì | to be likely to; to be sure to |
| 发现 | fā xiàn | to notice; to become aware of / to discover; to find; to detect |
| 讲 | jiǎng | to speak / to explain / to negotiate |
| 真话 | zhēn huà | the truth; a true statement |
| 这 | zhè | this; these |
| 一 | yī | one / single / a (article) |
| 令 | lìng | to order / to command / to cause / to make sth happen |
| 惊讶 | jīng yà | amazing |
| 的 | de | possessive particle (of; 's) / modifying particle (used after an attribute to modify a noun or to form a nominal expression) |
| 结论 | jié lùn | conclusion / verdict |
| 由 | yóu | from / because of; due to / by; via; through / (before a noun and a verb) it is for ... to ... |
| 维尔茨堡大学 | Wéi ěr cí bǎo Dà xué | University of Würzburg, a university in Würzburg, Germany. |
| 两 | liǎng | two / both / some / a few |
| 位 | wèi | classifier for people (honorific) |
| 心理学家 | xīn lǐ xué jiā | psychologist |
| 研究 | yán jiū | to research / to look into |
| 得出 | dé chū | to obtain (a result); to arrive at (a conclusion) |
| 他们 | tā men | they; them |
| 成果 | chéng guǒ | result / achievement / gain / profit |
| 对 | duì | towards; at; for / concerning; regarding |
| 信誉 | xìn yù | prestige / distinction / reputation / trust |
| 评估 | píng gū | assessment / evaluation |
| 过程 | guò chéng | course of events; process |
| 很 | hěn | very; quite |
| 重要 | zhòng yào | important; significant; major |
| 目前 | mù qián | at the present time / currently |
| 种 | zhǒng | classifier for types, kinds, sorts |
| 理论 | lǐ lùn | theory |
| 认为 | rèn wéi | to believe; to think; to consider; to feel |
| 因为 | yīn wèi | because; owing to; on account of |
| 与 | yǔ | (formal) with; from (marking the other participant in an interaction, comparison, or contrast) |
| 说 | shuō | to speak; to talk; to say |
| 相比 | xiāng bǐ | to compare |
| 需要 | xū yào | to need; to want; to demand; to require |
| 多 | duō | many; much; more; a lot of |
| 认知 | rèn zhī | cognitive |
| 任务 | rèn wu | mission; assignment; task; duty; role |
| 额外 | é wài | extra / added / additional |
| 挑战 | tiǎo zhàn | to challenge; to take on a challenge; a challenge |
| 增加 | zēng jiā | to raise; to increase |
| 困难 | kùn nan | difficult / challenging |
| 度 | dù | measure / limit / extent / degree of intensity |
| 而 | ér | but (not) / yet (not) / (indicates contrast) |
| 另 | lìng | other / another / separate |
| 容易 | róng yì | easy; straightforward |
| 牵扯 | qiān chě | to involve; to implicate / to be interrelated |
| 情绪 | qíng xù | mood / state of mind / moodiness |
| 时 | shí | when |
| 不 | bù | no; not so |
| 那么 | nà me | like that; in that way; to that extent |
| 激动 | jī dòng | to move emotionally / to stir up (emotions) / to excite |
| 因此 | yīn cǐ | thus; consequently; as a result |
| 减弱 | jiǎn ruò | to weaken; to diminish |
| 有 | yǒu | to have; there is |
| 利于 | lì yú | to be beneficial to; to be conducive to |
| 说谎 | shuō huǎng | to lie / to tell an untruth |
| 为了 | wèi le | for; for the purpose of; in order to |
| 解决 | jiě jué | to solve; to resolve; to settle (a problem) |
| 个 | gè | classifier for people or objects in general |
| 问题 | wèn tí | question / problem / issue / topic |
| 们 | men | plural marker for pronouns, and nouns referring to individuals |
| 进行 | jìn xíng | (of people) to carry out; to conduct (an investigation or discussion etc) |
| 了 | le | (completed action marker) / (modal particle indicating change of state, situation now) |
| 项 | xiàng | classifier for principles, items, clauses, tasks, research projects etc |
| 实验 | shí yàn | experiment / test |
| 要求 | yāo qiú | to request / to require / to stake a claim / to ask / to demand |
| 名 | míng | classifier for people |
| 被试者 | bèi shì zhě | test subject; participant in an experiment |
| 完成 | wán chéng | to complete; to accomplish |
| 特定 | tè dìng | special; specific; designated; particular |
| 同时 | tóng shí | at the same time; simultaneously |
| 测量 | cè liáng | to measure / to gauge / to determine |
| 相关 | xiāng guān | related / relevant / pertinent |
| 数据 | shù jù | data |
| 结果 | jié guǒ | outcome; result; consequence |
| 表明 | biǎo míng | to make clear / to make known / to state clearly / to indicate |
| 和 | hé | and; together with |
| 情感 | qíng gǎn | feeling / emotion |
| 距离 | jù lí | distance |
| 发生 | fā shēng | to happen; to occur; to take place; to break out |
| 抗颉 | kàng xié | to counteract; to offset each other |
| 作用 | zuò yòng | action; function; activity / impact; result; effect |