Toward a more complete understanding of the link between multicultural experience and creativity

Responds to G. J. Rich's comments on the current author's original article which presented evidence supporting the idea that multicultural experience can facilitate creativity. Rich has argued that our review, although timely and important, was somewhat limited in scope, focusing mostly on smaller forms of creativity ("little c": e.g., paper-and-pencil measures of creativity) as well as on larger forms of multicultural experience ("Big M": e.g., living in a foreign country). We agree with many aspects of Rich's assessment. The issue of whether different forms of multicultural experience can affect Big C creativity is of interest to both scholars and laypeople because creative breakthroughs can literally alter the course of human progress. The response to our article, including Rich's reply, supports our view that the interest in multicultural experience and creativity is far from exhausted; future research will certainly uncover important new insights.