NEW RESEARCH: People With Multicultural Experiences Are More Creative

What is creativity?

Oxford dictionary defines creativity as: “The use of imagination or original ideas to create something; inventiveness”. And according to research, if you are able to see things from a different perspective, and to make connections between seemingly unrelated concepts and materialize them, then you can be considered a creative person.

But how do we acquire this ability? Reading books, listening to music, etc. are pretty good ideas. But they are all done within the confinement and comfort of the room. In fact, recent research by Adam Galinsky and his colleagues at Columbia Business School suggest that people with multicultural experiences are more creative and open minded. This might give us additional reason to go out, travel and meet new friends around the world.

Getting to know other cultures will open your mind to a whole host of new ideas. By spending time incorporated in multiculturalism, you will, undoubtedly, start seeing the world through different eyes. Old elements, scenarios and places will take on new forms under a different light.

Once you step into another society, a few things will happen to you. You will get to know other societies – their ideas, customs, language. Every country or group of people has a set of rules according to which they live their lives. These are the customs and ideas those people have. Moreover, it influences how they speak to each other or to a stranger.

You will see the world from a different perspective.
You will get first-hand experience of all that. Once you immerse yourself in various cultures you will see how others talk to you, and what they find to be polite or rude. Furthermore, you will be treated according to their customs. This will show you how they perceive the world, what they believe in, what they like or what are they scared of.

You will think differently when you encounter problems in life.
And thirdly, you will get a new perspective on what you already know – on your own culture. Perhaps you will figure out a new way to deal with stressful situations, or act during a job interview. Additionally, you will get new solutions to some other problems you might have. For example, if you are an artist, a multicultural experience can open your eyes to new ideas that you can use for your work. All in all, the experience will make you more creative.

What can we do to have more multicultural experiences in our life?

There are a number of ways to reach out to people from different cultures and broaden your horizons:

Travel abroad
The best way to dive into other cultures is to travel. Visiting different countries and even different continents is a marvelous experience, just make sure to go beyond the usual tourist attractions and experience the culture from the eyes of a local.

Meet people of other ethnicity locally
Even if you cannot afford to go halfway across the world, you can start by spending more time around people of different ethnicity in your city. All it takes is to go to a few ethnic stores, and start a conversation with someone new.

Find a foreign friend online
If you cannot travel, you can always learn with the help of the Internet. We all spend a lot of time looking at the little screens of our gadgets, but this allows us to connect to people from all over the globe and experience different cultures from the privacy of own home, or as we take the first sip of coffee at the local coffee shop on our lunch break. Simple, right?

Try out different cuisines
You can tell a lot about a culture by experiencing the food they eat on a daily basis. You need to go full ethnic and get the right ingredients, authentic sauces and use traditional cooking methods.

Read foreign literature and history
If you truly want to take in the spirit of another nation, you will want to read about their history and the thoughts of their most eloquent writers and poets. Find some good foreign books and start your journey.

Do Not Be Confined: Open Yourself And Start Learning

The beauty of the world lies in its vastness and diversity. Once we humble ourselves and open our eyes, we will be able to see it. And the truth is, the earlier you start, the better. So don’t hesitate, go out and travel. Then you will see and learn much more than you can ever imagine.

Credit: Life Hackers