Publication Type

Journal Article

Version

acceptedVersion

Publication Date

6-2017

Abstract

The ability to think and solve problems creatively in a multicultural environment is critical for success in the 21st century. Integrating research on creative cognition and cultural intelligence, we examine the interactional effects of two cognitive capabilities – cultural knowledge and cultural metacognition – on individuals’ creativity in multicultural teams. We propose that although cultural knowledge is useful for creativity,too much knowledge can be detrimental because of cognitive overload and entrenchment.This inverted U-shaped relationship however, is moderated by cultural metacognition.Results of our study support our hypothesis of an inverted U-shape relationship between cultural knowledge and creativity. As expected, we found that the curvilinear effect of cultural knowledge occurs only for individuals with low metacognition. For high cultural metacognition individuals, cultural knowledge has no effect on creativity. These findings offer new insights and practical implications for creativity in today’s global environment.

Keywords

creativity, cultural intelligence, cultural metacognition, knowledge, teams

Discipline

Multicultural Psychology | Organizational Behavior and Theory

Research Areas

Organisational Behaviour and Human Resources

Publication

Management and Organization Review

Volume

13

Issue

2

First Page

281

Last Page

300

ISSN

1740-8776

Identifier

10.1017/mor.2016.32

Publisher

Wiley: 24 months - No Online Open / Cambridge University Press (CUP): HSS Journals - No Cambridge Open

Copyright Owner and License

Authors

Additional URL

https://doi.org/10.1017/mor.2016.32

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