The role of culture in creative cognition

• Main Authors: LEUNG, Angela K. Y., KOH, Brandon
• Format: text
• Language: English
• Published: Institutional Knowledge at Singapore Management University 2018
• Subjects: Alternation; Complementary model; Cultural distancing; Cultural integration; Cultural mindset; Cultural stereotypes; Culture-creativity nexus; Fixation; Multicultural Psychology; Psychology
• Online Access: https://ink.library.smu.edu.sg/soss_research/2671; https://ink.library.smu.edu.sg/context/soss_research/article/3928/viewcontent/Role_Culture_Creative_Cognition_2018_afv.pdf
• Institution: Singapore Management University

In this chapter, we propose the complementary model of culture and creativity (CMCC) to account for three pairs of contrasting forces that characterize the manners in which individuals manage their cultural experiences and that produce impacts on creative pursuits. We theorize three bidimensional psychological processes that explain the effects of culture on creativity: (a) stereotyping versus destabilizing cultural norms, (b) fixating on one cultural mindset versus alternating between cultural frames, and (c) distancing from versus integrating cultures. We contend that a broader and diversifying cultural experience offers an impetus to break down cultural confines, to oscillate between a variety of cultural perspectives, and to synthesize a multitude of ideas from different cultures, which can bring about discernible enduring benefits to creativity. We discuss the CMCC by putting it in the perspective of the state-of-the-art empirical findings on culture and creativity.