Multicultural Experience, Idea Receptiveness, and Creativity

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 c...

Full description

Saved in:
Bibliographic Details
Published in:Journal of cross-cultural psychology 2010-09, Vol.41 (5-6), p.723-741
Main Authors: Leung, Angela Ka-yee, Chiu, Chi-yue
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
Assimilation
Businesses
China
Cognition
Cognition & reasoning
Cognitive closure
Cognitive psychology
Creativity
Cross cultural studies
Foreign culture
Foreigners
Learning
Management
Motivation
Multicultural Education
Multiculturalism
Multiculturalism & pluralism
Social psychology
Terror
U.S.A
Undergraduate Students
Citations: Items that this one cites
Items that cite this one
Online Access:Get full text
Tags: Add Tag
No Tags, Be the first to tag this record!
Description
Summary: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.
ISSN:0022-0221
1552-5422
DOI:10.1177/0022022110361707