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1. Introduction
Increasing research indicate that studying abroad boosts individual creativity (Cho and Morris, 2015; Leung et al., 2008; Chua, 2015). However, although the relationship between multicultural experiences and creativity has empirical evidences (Leung and Chiu, 2010; Leung et al., 2008; Vezzali et al., 2016), such findings are challenged by the emergence of new technology, namely, social media (Saha and Karpinski, 2016; Hsu et al., 2015). Social media, such as Facebook and Twitter, have been used globally and penetrated multicultural activities (Forbush and Foucault-Welles, 2016; Saha and Karpinski, 2016). The prevalence of social media does not only change how people build new and maintain old social networks but also provides opportunities and challenges in information acquisition, cultural intelligence, and creativity development (Hsu et al., 2015; Kaplan and Haenlein, 2010). Scholars proposed that various usage of social media may affect the performance of individuals with multicultural experiences, but such effect is not equal among them (Li and Tsai, 2015). Therefore, some researchers have questioned the simplistic relationship between multicultural experiences and creativity to consider under which social media conditions and how explanatory mechanisms of multicultural experiences might affect individual creativity (Qiu et al., 2013; Chao et al., 2015).
Recent research has applied experiential learning theory to clarify why multicultural experiences help individuals in developing creativity (Ng et al., 2009). Some scholars, for instance, referred to this learning theory to indicate that multicultural experiences provides opportunities for individuals to acquire new cultural knowledge, thereby facilitating creativity (Ng et al., 2009; Kurpis and Hunter, 2017). Meanwhile, studies have documented the benefits of cultural intelligence in assisting individuals in cross-cultural adaptation, decision making, and performance (Li, 2009; Kurpis and Hunter, 2017; Chua et al., 2012). Cultural intelligence reflects individuals’ state-like malleable capability to function and manage effectively in culturally diverse settings (Earley and Ang, 2003; Lee and Sukoco, 2010). Although cultural intelligence is not a new concept, scholars recently investigated the relationship between individuals’ cultural intelligence and performance (Chua et al., 2012). To further study this mediational process, the current study examines cultural intelligence as a learning process through which multicultural experiences are related to individual creativity.
Furthermore, some scholars have noted the special role of social media...