The auditory-verbal hallucinations of Welsh-English bilingual people.

Objectives: Psychological models of voice-hearing propose that auditory-verbal hallucinations occur when inner speech is attributed to a source external to the self. Approximately half of the world's population is multilingual, and the extent to which they use a second language for inner speech depends on their experience and competency in it. Bilingualism therefore provides a natural window into the processes operating in auditory-verbal hallucinations, but no systematic study of voice-hearing in bilinguals has hitherto been conducted.

Language and transient emotional states affect implicit cultural bias.

Bilinguals react to cultural information in a language-dependent fashion, but it is unknown whether this is influenced by the individual's emotional state. Here, we show that induced mood states increase cultural bias-measured using the Implicit Association Test (IAT)-but this effect occurs asymmetrically across languages. In the native language, bilinguals show a strong cultural bias, which is not influenced by mood.

Ethnic identity and paranoid thinking: Implicit out-group preference and language dominance predict paranoia in Emirati women.

Background And Objectives: Psychotic experiences including persecutory beliefs are elevated among immigrant and minority populations, especially when living in low ethnic density neighbourhoods (the ethnic density effect). Discrimination, victimization and experiencing a sense of 'not belonging' are hypothesized to play a role in this effect. Because a secure ethnic identity protects against poor self-esteem it may also protect against paranoia.