Multicultural Experiences and Student Creativity: An Examination of Conditional Effects

• In Event: 72.054 - Multicultural/Multiethnic Education: Contemporary Topics in Postsecondary Education

Abstract

Many current educational practices are based on the assumption that multicultural experiences foster creativity and innovation. This study examined the effects of cross-cultural learning and cross-cultural interactions on creativity. We examined the conditional (or moderating) effects of type of interaction (i.e., from whom the information is learned), and how it affects the relationship between learning content (i.e., what information is learned) and creativity. The findings showed that participants who learned something about their own culture from someone of another culture were more creative than those who learned about their own culture on their own (e.g., reading a book). Our study adds to the growing body of literature that explores moderators and mediators of diversity experiences and student outcomes.

Authors

• Nida Denson, University of Western Sydney

• Tom Denson, University of New South Wales

• Nicholas A. Bowman, University of Iowa