Multicultural experience, idea receptiveness, and creativity

• Main Authors: LEUNG, Angela K. Y., CHIU, Chi-Yue
• Format: text
• Language: English
• Published: Institutional Knowledge at Singapore Management University 2010
• Subjects: multicultural experience; receptiveness to foreign ideas; creativity; need for cognitive closure; terror management theory; motivated cultural cognition; Multicultural Psychology; Personality and Social Contexts
• Online Access: https://ink.library.smu.edu.sg/soss_research/1005; https://ink.library.smu.edu.sg/context/soss_research/article/2261/viewcontent/MulticulturalExperienceIdeaReceptiveness_2010.pdf
• Institution: Singapore Management University

Inspired by recent advances in creative cognition research, the authors examined in the current research some creative benefits of multicultural experiences. Study 1 showed that European American undergraduates had better creative performance immediately after being exposed to American and Chinese cultures or to a hybrid culture formed by fusing American and Chinese cultures; this effect was also observed 5 to 7 days after the initial exposure. Studies 2 and 3 showed that exposure to multicultural experiences is positively related to the likelihood of engaging in some creativity-supporting processes—generation of unconventional ideas (Study 2) and receptiveness to ideas originated from foreign cultures (Study 3). Finally, in Studies 4 and 5, the authors found that need for cognitive closure (or the need for firm answers) and existential terror significantly attenuated the positive link between multicultural experiences and receptiveness to ideas originated from foreign cultures. The authors discussed these findings’ implications on multicultural learning and creativity.