Living abroad, but not traveling abroad, boosts creative problem-solving.

Evidence

But even when controlling for factors such as age, gender, nationality, grades, and the “big five” personality traits (e.g., McCrae & Costa, 1987), we found that the longer students had lived abroad the more likely they were to find a creative solution to this seemingly intractable problem. In fact, in pairs where both negotiators had previously lived abroad 70% found a creative solution to circumvent the negative financial bargaining zone, whereas 0% of dyads in which neither negotiator had lived abroad were able to solve the exercise creatively (Maddux & Galinsky, 2009, study 2). Interestingly, in this study as well as in the Duncker candle study, traveling abroad did not significantly predict creativity. — Roderick M. Kramer, Geoffrey J. Leonardelli, Robert W. Livingston, Social Cognition, Social Identity, and…, 2225

LIVING ABROAD FACILITATES CREATIVITY In our first study on the effect of experiences abroad on creativity, we asked a group of MBA students at the Kellogg School of Management about their previous experiences living and traveling abroad after they completed the Duncker candle task (Duncker, 1945). In this classic test of creativity, individuals are presented with three objects on a table placed next to a cardboard wall: (1) a candle, (2) a pack of matches, and (3) a box of tacks. The task is to attach the candle to the wall so that the candle burns properly and does not drip wax on the table or the floor. The solution demands the ability to literally think outside the box: By emptying the box of tacks and then tacking it to the wall, the box of tacks becomes a candleholder. The solution is considered a measure of “insight creativity” (Schooler & Melcher, 1995) because it involves the ability to overcome a barrier to creativity called “functional fixedness,” the common belief that objects can be used only for their typical function. So in this task, to find the correct answer individuals must discover the insight that the box is not just a repository for tacks but can also be used for a purpose for which it is not typically used (a candleholder). In this initial study, we found a significant correlation between the amount of time MBA students at the Kellogg School of Management had spent living abroad and whether they came up with the idea to use the box of tacks as a candleholder (Maddux & Galinsky, 2009, study 1). In fact, when we separated the results out and compared the performance of those who had lived abroad before and those who had not, we found that 60% of students who had previously lived abroad solved the problem correctly, whereas only 42% of students who had not lived abroad figured out the correct and creative solution. … Interestingly, in this study as well as in the Duncker candle study, traveling abroad did not significantly predict creativity. — Roderick M. Kramer, Geoffrey J. Leonardelli, Robert W. Livingston, Social Cognition, Social Identity, and…, 2225

Categorization

• XREF: Connects to research on how immersion versus exposure changes cognition; also the candle study referenced elsewhere in this chapter.
• QUESTION: What mechanism distinguishes living abroad from traveling? The authors hint the answer is adaptation to cultural difference, worth chasing.
• corroborated: 4 independent passages support this claim — Roderick M. Kramer, Geoffrey J. Leonardelli, Robert W. Livingston, Social Cognition, Social Identity, and…, 2225