The moderating role of social media usage in the relationship among multicultural experiences, cultural intelligence, and individual creativity

Abstract

PurposeThe purpose of this paper is to explore the moderating role of social media usage in the relationship among multicultural experiences, cultural intelligence, and creativity.Design/methodology/approachThis study conducted a questionnaire survey in three public universities in China and obtained 310 useful responses from international students.FindingsThe authors categorized social media usage into informational and socializing usage. Findings show that socializing social media usage strengthens the relationship between multicultural experiences and cultural intelligence, whereas informational social media usage does not strengthen such relationship.Research limitations/implicationsThe findings suggest that practitioners, such as managers or university administrators, should focus on well-designed multicultural activities in the development of individual creativity. They should also acknowledge the enabling role of cultural intelligence in developing individual creativity and realize that social media usage should be differentiated from the outcomes of its usage.Originality/valueThis study contributes to the knowledge on the moderating role of social media usage in the relationship between multicultural experiences and creativity based on experiential learning theory. The study presents the relationship among multicultural experiences, cultural intelligence, and creativity. Moreover, by investigating the moderating roles of informational and socializing social media usage, the authors presented that an IT contingent view of multicultural experiences is helpful in understanding the relationship between multicultural experiences and cultural intelligence.