Hostname: page-component-cd9895bd7-jn8rn Total loading time: 0 Render date: 2024-12-18T11:11:16.988Z Has data issue: false hasContentIssue false
  • English
  • Français

Differences in personality traits in children and adult bilinguals: A pilot study in a bilingual Friulian–Italian context

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  16 August 2019

Anastasia Fabbro ,
Cristiano Crescentini ,
Eric Pascoli ,
Simona Screm ,
Damiano Cantone  and
Franco Fabbro
Anastasia Fabbro*
Affiliation:
Department of Psychology, Sapienza University of Rome, Rome, Italy
Cristiano Crescentini
Affiliation:
Department of Languages and Literatures, Communication, Education and Society, University of Udine, Udine, Italy
Eric Pascoli
Affiliation:
Degree Course in Medicine And Surgery, University of Udine, Udine, Italy
Simona Screm
Affiliation:
Degree in Primary Teacher Education, University of Udine, Udine, Italy
Damiano Cantone
Affiliation:
Industrial Technical Institute “A. Malignani”, Udine, Italy
Franco Fabbro
Affiliation:
Department of Languages and Literatures, Communication, Education and Society, University of Udine, Udine, Italy PERCRO Perceptual Robotics Laboratory, Scuola Superiore Sant'Anna, Pisa, Italy
*
Address for correspondence: Anastasia Fabbro, Email: [email protected]
Get access Rights & Permissions [Opens in a new window]

Abstract

We investigated changes in self-representation depending on language in Friulian–Italian bilinguals. The Temperament and Character Inventory (TCI) and the Junior-TCI were administered respectively to 24 adults and 25 children, both in Friulian and in Italian, at a distance of two weeks from each other. Variations in TCI were detected: both adults and children scored higher in Self-Directedness (a character trait) when using Italian than Friulian. Similar findings were observed for Novelty-Seeking (a temperament trait) in children and Cooperativeness (another character trait) in adults. Results are discussed considering previous studies on bilingualism and within the frame of the Friulian sociolinguistic context.

Keywords

temperament and charactervariation in self-representationbilingualismminority language
Type
Research Article
Information
Bilingualism: Language and Cognition , Volume 23 , Issue 3 , May 2020 , pp. 631 - 638
Copyright
Copyright © Cambridge University Press 2019

Access options

Get access to the full version of this content by using one of the access options below. (Log in options will check for institutional or personal access. Content may require purchase if you do not have access.)

References

Athanasopoulos, P (2011) Cognitive restructuring in bilingualism. In Pavlenko, A (ed), Thinking and speaking in two languages. Bristol: Multilingual Matters, pp. 29–65.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Athanasopoulos, P, Bylund, E, Montero-Melis, G, Damjanovic, L, Schartner, A, Kibbe, A, Riches, N and Thierry, G (2015) Two languages, two minds: Flexible cognitive processing driven by language of operation. Psychological Science, 26, 518–526.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Battaglia, M and Bajo, S (2000) Temperament and Character Inventory. In Conti, L (ed), Repertorio delle scale di valutazione in psichiatria. Firenze: SEE, pp. 1375–1388.Google Scholar
Benincà, P and Vanelli, L (2016) Friulian. In Ledgeway, A and Maiden, M (ed), The Oxford Guide to the Romance Languages. Oxford University Press, pp.139–153.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Chen, SX and Bond, MH (2010) Two languages, two personalities? Examining language effects on the expression of personality in a bilingual context. Personality and Social Psychology Bulletin, 36, 1514–1528.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Cloninger, CR, Przybeck, TR, Svrakic, DM and Wetzel, RD (1994) The Temperament and Character Inventory (TCI): A guide to its development and use. St. Louis, Missouri: Center for Psychobiology of Personality, Washington University.Google Scholar
Consonni, M, Cafiero, R, Marin, D, Tettamanti, M, Iadanza, A, Fabbro, F and Perani, D (2013) Neural convergence for language comprehension and grammatical class production in highly proficient bilinguals is independent of age of acquisition. Cortex, 49, 1252–1258.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Cramer, P (2004) Storytelling, narrative, and the Thematic Apperception Test. New York: Guilford.Google Scholar
Deutscher, G (2010) Through the language glass: why the world looks different in other languages. London: Heinemann.Google Scholar
Dewaele, JM (2016) Why do so many bi- and multilinguals feel different when switching languages? International Journal of multilingualism, 13, 92–105.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Dor, D (2017) The role of the lie in the evolution of human language, Language Sciences, 63, 44–59.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Ervin, SM (1964) Language and TAT content in bilinguals. Journal of Abnormal and Social Psychology, 68, 500–507.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Fabbro, F and Frau, G (2001) Manifestation of aphasia in Friulian. Journal of Neurolinguistics, 14, 255–279.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Fabbro, F (2004) Neuropedagogia delle lingue. Roma: Astrolabio.Google Scholar
Fabbro, F and Crescentini, C (eds) (2015) Handbook of Friulian linguistics. Udine: Forum.Google Scholar
Fari, F (2000) Il cjâf dai Furlans: Neuropsicologjie dai sintiments. Udine: Kappa Vu.Google Scholar
Fossati, A, Cloninger, CR, Villa, D, Borroni, S, Grazioli, F, Giarolli, L, Battaglia, M and Maffei, C (2007) Reliability and validity of the Italian version of the Temperament and Character Inventory-Revised in an outpatient sample. Comprehensive Psychiatry, 48, 380–387.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Gough, HG (1956) California Psychology Inventory. Palo Alto, CA: Consulting Psychologists Press.Google Scholar
Greenwald, AG and Farnham, SD (2000) Using the implicit association test to measure self-esteem and self-concept. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 79, 1022–1038.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Heady, P (1999) The hard people: Rivalry, sympathy and social structure in an alpine valley. Amsterdam: Harwood Academic Publishers.Google Scholar
Hong, Y-Y, Morris, MW, Chiu, C-Y and Benet-Martinez, V (2000) Multicultural minds: A dynamic constructivist approach to culture and cognition. American Psychologist, 55, 709–720.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Hull, PV (1996) Bilingualism: Some personality and cultural issues. In Slobin, DI, Gerhardt, J, Kyratzis, A and Guo, J (eds), Social interaction, social context, and language: Essays in honor of Susan Ervin-Tripp. New Jersey: Lawrence Erlbaum Associates, pp. 419–434.Google Scholar
Kouwenhoven, H and Van Mulken, M (2012) The perception of self in L1 and L2 for Dutch-English compound bilinguals. In de Jong, N, Juffermans, K, Keijzer, M and Rasier, L (eds), Papers of the Anéla 2012 Applied Linguistics Conference. Delft: Uitgeverij Eburon, pp. 326–335.Google Scholar
Luby, JL, Svrakic, DM, McCallum, K, Przybeck, TR and Cloninger, CR (1999) The Junior Temperament and Character Inventory: Preliminary validation of a child self-report measure. Psychological Reports, 84, 1127–1138.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Luna, D, Ringberg, T and Peracchio, LA (2008) One individual, two identities: Frame switching among biculturals. Journal of Consumer Research, 35, 279–293.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Mucignat, R (2014) A Small Homeland in the Age of Transnationalism. In Mucignat, R (ed), The Friulian language: Identity, migration, culture. Newcastle upon Tyne: Cambridge Scholars Publishing, pp. ix–xxii.Google Scholar
Paradis, M (2004) A neurolinguistics theory of bilingualism. Amsterdam: John Benjamins.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Paradis, M (2008) Bilingualism and neuropsychiatric disorders. Journal of Neurolinguistics, 21, 199–230.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Paradis, M (2009) Declarative and procedural determinants of second languages. Amsterdam: John Benjamins.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Pavlenko, A and Blackledge, A (2004) Introduction: New theoretical approaches to the study of negotiation of identities in multilingual contexts. In Pavlenko, A and Blackledge, A (eds), Negotiation of identities in multilingual contexts. Clevedon: Multilingual Matters, pp.1–33.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Pavlenko, A (2006) Bilingual selves. In Pavlenko, A (ed), Bilingual minds: Emotional experience, expression, and representation. Clevedon: Multilingual Matters, pp. 1–33.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Picco, L (2001) Ricercje su la condizion sociolenghistiche dal furlan. Udine: Forum.Google Scholar
Ramírez-Esparza, N, Gosling, SD, Benet-Martínez, V, Potter, JP and Pennebaker, JW (2006) Do bilinguals have two personalities? A special case of cultural frame shifting. Journal of Research in Personality, 40, 99–120.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Rosselli, M, Velez-Uribe, I and Ardila, A (2017) Personality traits in bilinguals. In Ardila, A, Cieślicka, AB, Heredia, RR and Rosselli, M (eds), Psychology of Bilingualism: The Cognitive and Emotional World of Bilinguals. Springer's Bilingual Mind and Brain Book Series, pp. 259–267.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Ullman, MT (2004) Contributions of neural memory circuits to language: The declarative/procedural model. Cognition, 92, 231–270.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Urgesi, C, Aglioti, SM, Skrap, M and Fabbro, F (2010) The spiritual brain: selective cortical lesions modulate human self-transcendence. Neuron, 65, 309–319.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Urgesi, C, Romanò, M, Fornasari, L, Brambilla, P and Fabbro, F (2012) Investigating the development of temperament and character in school-aged children using a self-report measure. Comprehensive Psychiatry, 53, 875–883.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Veltkamp, GM, Recio, G, Jacobs, AM and Conrad, M (2013) Is personality modulated by language? International Journal of Bilingualism, 17, 496–504.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Vicario, F (2011) Lezioni di linguistica friulana. Udine: Forum.Google Scholar
Whorf, BL (1940) Science and linguistics. In Carroll, JB (ed), (1956), Language, thought and reality: Selected writings of Benjamin Lee Whorf. Cambridge, MA: MIT Press, pp. 207–219.Google Scholar
Zlatev, J and Blomberg, J (2015) Language may indeed influence thought. Frontiers in Psychology, 6, 1–10.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed