Studying abroad makes you smarter and more creative: science says so

"Studying abroad will make you smarter and guarantee you more job offers"

The study, conducted by Professor Maddux, professor of associative sociology at INSEAD, looks at a group of students who chose to study abroad by participating in an international cultural exchange and shows that their thinking is more complex and creative than that of their peers who never left school in their home country.

The process of adapting to other cultures has led them to make much more complex thought connections, which, Maddux adds, translates into a higher number of job offers after they graduate.

"Multicultural experiences foster creativity"

The research paper, "Multicultural Experience Enhances Creativity: The When and How," by Angela Leung, Ph.D., a member of the American Psychological Association, also shows that a study abroad experience enhances creativity; she adds that this relationship is directly related to the ability of the individuals involved to open up to foreign cultures and the Other.

"When in Rome, do as the Romans do!"

From Muddux and Leung's research, we can deduce that simply being exposed to a foreign culture is not enough to make you smarter and more creative, but that full immersion in that culture is necessary, as the famous phrase "When in Rome, do as the Romans do" states.

For this reason, a long stay abroad (for example, a semester or a school year abroad) is fundamental for a young person who is beginning to engage with the world, because through close contact with the local culture, the student can understand and adopt the habits of the people in the place where he lives, becoming an adult who is aware of the reality that surrounds him and can improve it day by day.