Multicultural experience enhances creativity - The when and how
Multicultural experience enhances creativity - The when and how
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DOI：
10.1037/0003-066x.63.3.169
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发表时间：
2008-04-01
影响因子：
16.4
通讯作者：
Chiu, Chi-Yue
中科院分区：
文献类型：
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作者：
Leung, Angela Ka-yee;Maddux, William W.;Chiu, Chi-Yue
许多旨在在教育和组织环境中培养多元文化能力的实践（例如，交换项目、大学的多元化教育、工作中的多元化管理）都假设多元文化的经历能培养创造力。与这一假设相一致，本文中报告的研究首次以经验证明，接触多种文化本身可以增强创造力。总体而言，作者发现多元文化经历的广泛性与创造性表现（洞察力学习、远程联想和想法产生）和支持创造性的认知过程（检索非常规知识、从不熟悉的文化中获取创意以扩展创意）呈正相关。此外，他们的研究表明，多元文化经历带来的偶然的创造性收益可能取决于个人对外国文化开放的程度，而创造力在不强调对确定答案或存在主义关注的环境中得到促进。作者讨论了他们的发现对在日益全球化的学习和工作环境中促进创造力的影响。
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.