Living abroad linked with enhanced creativity


Across three studies the pair made the following findings: students who’d spent more time abroad were more likely to work out how to affix a candle to a wall without the wax spilling; those who spent more time abroad were more likely to succeed in an awkward negotiation task that required a creative solution; and students primed to think about a time they’d lived abroad were more likely to identify a missing word connected in meaning with three clue words, than were students primed to think about travelling abroad or the last time they went to a supermarket.


Two final studies sought to identify the mechanism by which living abroad might be linked with creativity. Maddux and Galinsky found preliminary evidence that it might be the act of adapting to a foreign culture that serves to boost creativity. Among 133 European business students who spent time living abroad, it was those who said they’d adapted more to the foreign culture who subsequently solved more hidden words. A final study showed that students primed to think about when they’d adapted to a foreign country subsequently drew more novel-looking aliens than did their peers who were asked to think about when they’d observed a foreign country or learnt a new sport.




5 thoughts on “Living abroad linked with enhanced creativity”

  1. How did the study control for the possibility that the two groups (lived abroad and just traveled abroad) may have already been through a selection process, i.e., the various countries’ immigration policies? Most countries would be more selective about whom they let in to live and work than whom they let in for tourism. Better educated (more creative?) people would probably be more likely to get a work permit.




  3. I’m British and currently living in Brazil.


    Countries aren’t likely to test for creativity when deciding who to allow into their country. It’s mostly about money, employability and risk to the people of that nation.


    The most obvious factor is, creative people generally love the idea of living abroad, and not so creative people tend to be afraid of the idea. It’s risky, sometimes dangerous and a huge change, which a lot of people are afraid of more than anything. And a person with little creativity might ask, what’s the point? I’m comfortable right here.


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