Perception of social norms in Polish-English bilingual speakers

This thesis explores how native (L1) and foreign (L2) languages influence everyday social norm compliance among bilinguals. It reveals that the Foreign Language Effect (FLE) is highly context-dependent: L1 strongly activates internalized expectations in ambiguous situations, while L2 increases compliance during norm violations by dampening emotional responses to rule-breaking. Unlike classic high-stakes moral dilemmas, the linguistic impact on everyday social norms is selective rather than uniform.