In three studies, we examined how diversity ideologies can differentially affect creativity. Building on past research establishing that embracing foreign ideas contributes to creativity in problem solving, we predicted that diversity ideologies would have consequences for cultural creativity through their differential impact on how people would make use of foreign knowledge. We found that colorblindness (the ethos of disregarding cultural differences) was associated with lower cultural creativity through reduced inclusion of foreign ideas. Polyculturalism (the ethos of fostering intercultural interaction) was associated with higher cultural creativity through greater inclusion of foreign ideas. Finally, we found that classical multiculturalism (the ethos of preserving separate cultural traditions) had no effects on creative problem solving. Results held across different populations of participants (Americans, Israelis), different measures of creativity (flexibility, novelty), and different ways of probing ideologies (individual differences, experimental priming). These results indicate that diversity ideologies not only affect how people treat foreign people but also how they treat foreign ideas, with implications for their creativity.

No abstract

SummaryPast research indicates that foreign experience helps problem solving because the experience of adapting one's lifestyle imparts cognitive flexibility. We propose that an independent process involves studying cultural traditions and systems, which imparts foreign concepts that enable unconventional solutions. If so, advantages on unconventionality problems should be associated with experiences studying of another culture, such as typically occurs in study-abroad programs. The link should be especially strong for individuals with personalities high in openness and in contexts featuring choice. A survey of MBA students' past foreign stays found that greater study abroad was associated with more unconventional solutions and provided mixed support for the two moderating conditions. Study 2 experimentally varied the presence of choice before putting participants through a simulated foreign internship featuring study and situations demanding adaptation. Subsequent solutions to a product design problem were more conventionally Asian and (marginally) less conventionally American in the choice condition, and these effects were mediated by the amount of foreign knowledge acquisition. Implications for selecting employees and developing employees on the basis of foreign experiences are discussed.

No abstract