{"298611":{"#nid":"298611","#data":{"type":"news","title":"New York Times Article Reveals how Studying or Working Abroad Develops Your Thinking","body":[{"value":"\u003Cp\u003EHow does studying or working abroad change you? You return with a photo album full of memories and a suitcase full of souvenirs, sure. But you may also come back from your time in another country with an ability to think more complexly and creatively\u2014and you may be professionally more successful as a result.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cul\u003E\u003Cli\u003E\u003C\/li\u003E\u003C\/ul\u003E\u003Cp\u003EThese are the conclusions of a growing body of research on the effects of study- and work-abroad experiences. For example: A\u0026nbsp;\u003Ca href=\u0022http:\/\/spp.sagepub.com\/content\/early\/2013\/12\/10\/1948550613515005.abstract\u0022\u003Estudy\u003C\/a\u003E\u0026nbsp;led by William Maddux, an associate professor of organizational behavior at INSEAD, found that among students enrolled in an international MBA program, their \u201cmulticultural engagement\u201d\u2014the extent to which they adapted to and learned about new cultures\u2014predicted how \u201cintegratively complex\u201d their thinking became.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Ch2 class=\u0022article-excerpt\u0022\u003E\u003C\/h2\u003E\u003Cp\u003EThat is, students who adopted an open and adaptive attitude toward foreign cultures became more able to make connections among disparate ideas. The students\u2019 multicultural engagement also predicted the number of job offers they received after the program ended.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EMore generally,\u0026nbsp;\u003Ca href=\u0022http:\/\/hbr.org\/2010\/09\/be-a-better-manager-live-abroad\u0022\u003Ewrites\u003C\/a\u003E\u0026nbsp;Maddux, \u201cPeople who have international experience or identify with more than one nationality are better problem solvers and display more creativity, our research suggests. What\u2019s more, we found that people with this international experience are more likely to create new businesses and products and to be promoted.\u201d\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EAngela Leung, an associate professor of psychology at Singapore Management University, is another researcher who has investigated the psychological effects of living abroad. She\u0026nbsp;\u003Ca href=\u0022http:\/\/psycnet.apa.org\/journals\/amp\/63\/3\/169\/\u0022\u003Ereports\u003C\/a\u003E\u0026nbsp;that people with more experiences of different cultures are better able to generate creative ideas and make unexpected links among concepts.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003ELike Maddux, Leung found that the advantages of living abroad accrue to those who are willing to adapt themselves to the ways of their host country: \u201cThe serendipitous creative benefits resulting from multicultural experiences,\u201d she writes, \u201cmay depend on the extent to which individuals open themselves to foreign cultures.\u201d This openness, she adds, includes a tolerance for ambiguity and open-endedness, a lack of closure and firm answers.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003ECould it be that people who choose to study or work in other countries are already more inclined to be complex and creative thinkers? David Therriault, associate professor of educational psychology at the University of Florida,\u0026nbsp;\u003Ca href=\u0022http:\/\/onlinelibrary.wiley.com\/doi\/10.1002\/acp.2857\/abstract\u0022\u003Eanticipated\u003C\/a\u003E\u0026nbsp;this possibility. He and his coauthors administered creative thinking tasks to three groups of undergraduates: students who had studied abroad, students who were planning to study abroad, and students who had not and did not plan to study abroad. The students who had actually studied abroad outperformed the two other groups in creative thinking.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EStudying or working in another country can make us better thinkers\u2014more flexible, creative, and complex\u2014if we\u2019re willing to adapt and learn from other cultures. As the title of an\u0026nbsp;\u003Ca href=\u0022http:\/\/psp.sagepub.com\/content\/36\/6\/731.short\u0022\u003Earticle\u003C\/a\u003E\u0026nbsp;by William Maddux advises: \u201cWhen in Rome . . . Learn Why the Romans Do What They Do.\u201d\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003E\u0026nbsp;\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003E\u003Cem\u003EArticle by Annie Murphy Paul on\u0026nbsp;http:\/\/ti.me\/1hKxsA4.\u0026nbsp;\u003C\/em\u003E\u003C\/p\u003E","summary":null,"format":"limited_html"}],"field_subtitle":"","field_summary":"","field_summary_sentence":[{"value":"NYT\u0027s Annie Murphy Paul reveals how participation in study or work abroad programs leads to greater flexibility, creativity, and complexity in thinking."}],"uid":"27834","created_gmt":"2014-05-21 09:25:34","changed_gmt":"2016-10-08 03:16:26","author":"Jaclyn Overall","boilerplate_text":"","field_publication":"","field_article_url":"","dateline":{"date":"2014-05-21T00:00:00-04:00","iso_date":"2014-05-21T00:00:00-04:00","tz":"America\/New_York"},"extras":[],"hg_media":{"206991":{"id":"206991","type":"image","title":"Argentina\/Brazil Summer","body":null,"created":"1449179988","gmt_created":"2015-12-03 21:59:48","changed":"1475894864","gmt_changed":"2016-10-08 02:47:44","alt":"Argentina\/Brazil Summer","file":{"fid":"196766","name":"argentina.jpg","image_path":"\/sites\/default\/files\/images\/argentina_0.jpg","image_full_path":"http:\/\/www.tlwarc.hg.gatech.edu\/\/sites\/default\/files\/images\/argentina_0.jpg","mime":"image\/jpeg","size":66527,"path_740":"http:\/\/www.tlwarc.hg.gatech.edu\/sites\/default\/files\/styles\/740xx_scale\/public\/images\/argentina_0.jpg?itok=kx5qjTFE"}}},"media_ids":["206991"],"groups":[{"id":"1297","name":"Office of International Education"}],"categories":[{"id":"8862","name":"Student Research"}],"keywords":[{"id":"93651","name":"NYT"},{"id":"166843","name":"Study Abroad"},{"id":"1013","name":"work abroad"}],"core_research_areas":[],"news_room_topics":[],"event_categories":[],"invited_audience":[],"affiliations":[],"classification":[],"areas_of_expertise":[],"news_and_recent_appearances":[],"phone":[],"contact":[],"email":["study.abroad@gatech.edu"],"slides":[],"orientation":[],"userdata":""}}}