Multicultural Experiences: A Systematic Review and New Theoretical Framework

Abstract

As globalization has become a defining issue for business and society in the 21st century, an increasing amount of research has examined how multicultural experiences affect a variety of psychological and organizational outcomes. We define multicultural experiences as exposure to or interactions with elements and/or members of different cultures. We then provide a comprehensive review of the literature and detail how multicultural experiences impact a variety of intrapersonal, interpersonal, and organizational outcomes, including creativity, psychological adjustment, intergroup bias, trust, morality, leadership effectiveness, and individual/firm performance. We also explore key mechanisms and boundary conditions that have also emerged. We then present a new theoretical framework—The Structure-Appraisal Model of Multicultural Experiences—that organizes the overall pattern of findings and provides a roadmap for future research. The structure part of model proposes that deeper multicultural experiences produce integrative processes that transform intrapersonal cognition, whereas broader multicultural experiences activate comparative processes that influence interpersonal attitudes and behaviors. The appraisal part of our model notes that these intrapersonal and interpersonal effects are only likely to occur when appraisals of one’s multicultural experiences are positive rather than negative. We conclude by discussing practical implications and future directions for understanding multicultural experiences.