How Multicultural Experiences Influence Malevolent Creativity

Abstract

A wealth of studies have revealed that foreign experiences affect various cognitive abilities. One well-established finding is that living abroad can increase creative thinking skills. However, there has been little research on the dark side of creativity. Here, we hypothesized that exposure to foreign experiences can also foster malevolent creativity, which refers to the deliberate application of original ideas to turn a profit at someone else’s expense. Consistent with our hypotheses, Studies 1 and 2 found that student participants with foreign experiences showed greater malevolent creativity than those without such experiences. Relying on non-student adults, Study 3 replicated the findings of Study 1 using a different behavioral outcome of malevolent creativity. Study 4 found that participants who had decided to move overseas but had not yet done so demonstrated reduced levels of malevolent creativity compared to participants who had lived abroad, which minimized the possibility of reverse causality. Study 5 utilized an experimental design methodology and provided causal evidence for the effect of foreign experiences on malevolent creativity. These findings contribute to understanding about the range of effects that foreign experiences can have on different types of creativity.