Multicultural experience enhances creativity: The when and how.
Abstract
Many practices aimed at cultivating multicultural competence in educational and organizational settings (e.g., exchange programs, diversity education in college, diversity management at work) assume that multicultural experience fosters creativity. In line with this assumption, the research reported in this article is the first to empirically demonstrate that exposure to multiple cultures in and of itself can enhance creativity. Overall, the authors found that extensiveness of multicultural experiences was positively related to both creative performance (insight learning, remote association, and idea generation) and creativity-supporting cognitive processes (retrieval of unconventional knowledge, recruitment of ideas from unfamiliar cultures for creative idea expansion). Furthermore, their studies showed that the serendipitous creative benefits resulting from multicultural experiences may depend on the extent to which individuals open themselves to foreign cultures, and that creativity is facilitated in contexts that deemphasize the need for firm answers or existential concerns. The authors discuss the implications of their findings for promoting creativity in increasingly global learning and work environments.
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Social perceptiveness is shaped by previous experiences such as multicultural encounters.
“Social perceptiveness is shaped by previous experiences such as multicultural encounters (Leung, Maddux, Galinsky, & Chiu, 2008;Tadmor, Hong, Chao, Wiruchnipawan, & Wang, 2012) that help individuals to better interpret and read social processes present in teams (Swenson & Casmir, 1998).”
From Leading diversity: Towards a theory of functional leadership in diverse teams. (2020) · cites this paper as Leung, Maddux, Galinsky, & Chiu, 2008
Behavioral flexibility can be acquired through multicultural experiences, which expose individuals to a variety of work-related situations and inform them about how people in different cultural contexts collaborate and communicate.
“Behavioral flexibility can be acquired through multicultural experiences, which expose individuals to a variety of work-related situations, informing them about how people in different (cultural) contexts collaborate and communicate with each other.”
From Leading diversity: Towards a theory of functional leadership in diverse teams. (2020) · cites this paper as Leung et al., 2008
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- Authors
- Leung, A. K.-Y., Maddux, W. W., Galinsky, A. D., & Chiu, C.-Y.
- Affiliations
- Singapore Management University (SG)
- INSEAD (FR)
- Northwestern University (US)
- University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign (US)
- Venue
- American Psychologist
- Published
- 2008-04
- Volume
- 63
- Issue
- 3
- Pages
- 169-181
- ISSN
- 0003-066X (ISSN-L)
- 1935-990X
- OpenAlex
- W2003751739
- Cited by
- 975
- References
- 8
- Citations by year
- 2026: 41 · 2025: 72 · 2024: 60 · 2023: 80 · 2022: 49 · 2021: 62 · 2020: 43 · 2019: 59 · 2018: 78 · 2017: 56 · 2016: 84 · 2015: 48 · 2014: 41 · 2013: 43 · 2012: 47
- FWCI
- 50.33
- Type
- journal article
- Language
- en
- Open access
- closed
- Locations
- American Psychologist (publishedVersion)
- PubMed (publishedVersion)
- Singapore Management University Institutional Knowledge (InK) (Singapore Management University) (submittedVersion)
- Funders
- Northwestern University
- INSEAD
- Hong Kong Special Administrative Region (7439/05H)
- Topics
- Social Sciences › Psychology › Experimental and Cognitive Psychology › Creativity in Education and Neuroscience
- Social Sciences › Communication › International Student and Expatriate Challenges
- Social Sciences › Sociology and Political Science › Social and Intergroup Psychology
- Keywords
- multicultural experience, creativity, cross-cultural exposure, multicultural competence, insight learning, remote associations, idea generation, diversity education, diversity management
- MeSH terms
- Cognition, Creativity, Humans, Social Environment, Cultural Diversity
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