Open Access. Powered by Scholars. Published by Universities.®

Social and Behavioral Sciences Commons

Open Access. Powered by Scholars. Published by Universities.®

Singapore Management University

Series

2007

Creativity

Articles 1 - 2 of 2

Full-Text Articles in Social and Behavioral Sciences

Increasing Innovation Through Identity Integration., Chi-Ying Cheng, Jeffrey Sanchez-Burks, Fiona Lee Aug 2007

Increasing Innovation Through Identity Integration., Chi-Ying Cheng, Jeffrey Sanchez-Burks, Fiona Lee

Research Collection School of Social Sciences

Innovation involves bridging existing knowledge systems from different areas. We propose that individuals who can integrate multiple social identities are better at combining knowledge systems associated with each identity, and thus exhibit higher levels of innovation. Three studies, each probing different types of social identities, provide evidence for this proposition. A laboratory experiment showed that Asian American biculturals who perceived their multiple cultural identities as compatible (high Identity Integration or high II) exhibited higher levels of innovation in creating new Asian-American recipes than biculturals who perceived their multiple cultural identities as conflicting (low Identity Integration or low II). A field …


Do Multicultural Experiences Make People More Creative? If So, How?, Chi-Yue Chiu, Angela K. Y. Leung Jan 2007

Do Multicultural Experiences Make People More Creative? If So, How?, Chi-Yue Chiu, Angela K. Y. Leung

Research Collection School of Social Sciences

MacDonalds' Rice-burger in Asia; Starbucks’ Coffee Mooncake in Singapore; Disneyland Yin-Yang Mickey Mouse Cookies in Hong Kong; Lay's Peking Duck Flavored Potato Clip … The list can go on. What is common in all these examples is that they are all novel product ideas created by integrating seemingly non-overlapping cultural or product ideas from Eastern and Western cultures. Combining seemingly non-overlapping ideas from different cultures is an example of creative conceptual expansion, a term in cognitive psychology that refers to the process of extending the conceptual boundaries of an existing concept by synthesizing it with other seemingly irrelevant concepts (Ward, …