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Creativity is generally defined as the ability to produce novel, appropriate, and useful ideas (Amabile, 1983). Creativity is generally defined as the ability to produce novel, appropriate, and useful ideas (Amabile, 1983). It is about the creation of novel and useful products including ideas as well as concrete objects (Sawyer, 2006; Sternberg & O’Hara, 1999; see also Amabile, 1996) and also about the totality of creative accomplishments (Piffer, 2012) including acts, ideas, or products that change existing domains, or that transforms an existing domain into a new one (Csikszentmihalyi, 1996). Every individual has the potential to become creative as long as he or she effectively utilizes ordinary cognitive processes to produce extraordinary creative outcomes (Finke et al., 1992; Ward, Smith, & Vaid, 1997; Weisberg, 1993).
General Review of Psychology, 2014
We propose a theoretical model explaining when and why possessing 2 inconsistent social identities can foster superior creativity. The framework describes how during cultural adaptation individuals (a) alternate their identities across contexts, (b) integrate elements of their distinct (i.e., remote and uncorrelated) identities, and, having formed cognitive and emotional links with the new group, (c) broaden their self-definition. We explain how these processes of cultural adaptation map onto 3 fundamental creative processes: (a) an ability to quickly and effortlessly switch between cognitive strategies and semantic categories, (b) an apparent ease in integrating distant and conflicting ideas, and finally, (c) the widening of one’s creative idea base. Our model explains how the challenges involved in managing complex self-definitions enhance creativity, and increase potential for novel problem solutions. Understanding this dynamic brings a new perspective to debates on the value of diversity.
Applied Cognitive Psychology, 2012
Today's diverse community often includes culturally rich environments that contain cues pertaining to more than one cultures. These cultural cues can shape cognitive processes, such as creativity. This study aims to investigate the interactive effects of Openness to Experience, Extroversion and Multicultural Experience (including the real and desired experiences) on creative problem-solving ability using the quantitative method on a diverse sample of international students (N=102). The findings indicate that the interactive effect of extensive multicultural experience and Openness to Experience predict the creative solution. It means multicultural experience is beneficial for individuals to foster creative ability when they are highly open to experience, whereas among those who are not open, more extensive multicultural experience do not lead to enhancement of creating the correct solution. Furthermore, this interaction term was not pronounced among the extroverted individuals. Implications of these findings for promoting creativity in learning environments are discussed.
Journal of Applied Psychology, 2017
The present research investigates whether close intercultural relationships promote creativity, workplace innovation, and entrepreneurship—outcomes vital to individual and organizational success. We triangulate on these questions with multiple methods (longitudinal, experimental, and field studies), diverse population samples (MBA students, employees, and professional repatriates), and both laboratory and real-world measures. Using a longitudinal design over a ten-month MBA program, Study 1 found that intercultural dating predicted improved creative performance on both divergent and convergent thinking tasks. Using an experimental design, Study 2 established the causal connection between intercultural dating and creativity: Among participants who had previously had both intercultural and intra-cultural dating experiences, those who reflected on an intercultural dating experience displayed higher creativity compared to those who reflected on an intra-cultural dating experience. Importantly, cultural learning mediated this effect. Extending the first two studies, Study 3 revealed that the duration of past intercultural romantic relationships positively predicted the ability of current employees to generate creative names for marketing products, but the number of past intercultural romantic partners did not. In Study 4, we analyzed an original dataset of 2,226 professional repatriates from 96 countries who had previously worked in the U.S. under J-1 visas: Participants’ frequency of contact with American friends since returning to their home countries positively predicted their workplace innovation and likelihood of becoming entrepreneurs. Going out with a close friend or romantic partner from a foreign culture can help people “go out” of the box and into a creative frame of mind.
Communications of the Association for Information Systems
Journal of personality and social psychology, 2017
Thriving in increasingly complex and ambiguous environments requires creativity and the capability to reconcile conflicting demands. Recent evidence with Western samples has suggested that paradoxical frames, or mental templates that encourage individuals to recognize and embrace contradictions, could produce creative benefits. We extended the timely, but understudied, topic by studying the nuances of for whom and why creative advantages of paradoxical frames emerge. We suggest that people endorsing a middle ground approach are less likely to scrutinize conflict and reconcile with integrative solutions, thus receiving less creative benefits of paradoxical frames. Five studies that examined individual and cultural differences in middle ground endorsement support our theory. Study 1 found that paradoxical frames increased creativity, but failed to replicate that experienced conflict mediated the relationship in a Taiwanese sample. In both within- and between-culture analysis, we showe...
Creativity. Theories – Research - Applications
Based on recent findings that highlight the strong links between creativity and interculturality, we will attempt to establish a relationship between intercultural experiences and creativity within the context of international university exchanges in order to propose specific courses of action for improving these skills. The methodology used is based on a quasi-experimental design for a sample of 303 university students from a Spanish university. Data were obtained from a survey that measured creativity with two different instruments (RIBS-s and Divergent Thinking), English proficiency, and intercultural experiences abroad. Results show a strong relationship between creativity and intercultural experiences, suggesting that those students who lived abroad and in a higher number of foreign countries are more creative. Additionally, the most significant differences appear when we establish a comparison between those students who have not lived abroad and those who have done so in more ...
Journal of Experimental Social Psychology, 2015
Management and Organizational Review, 2017
Academy of Management Journal, 2015
Handbook of multicultural identity: Basic and applied psychological perspectives, 2014
Journal of Cross-Cultural Psychology
Social Psychological and Personality Science
Tourism Management, 2014
Group Processes & Intergroup Relations, 2013
ThinkingSkillsandCreativity13, 32–42, 2014
Journal of Civil Engineering and Architecture
Journal of Cross-cultural Psychology, 2010
Frontiers in Psychology, 2017
Cultural Diversity and Ethnic Minority Psychology, 2014
Creativity Research Journal, 2011
Personality and Social Psychology Bulletin