Travel may broaden the mind, but working abroad makes you smarter!

Unpublished

Working abroad, dealing with new cultures, learning new languages – all that quick thinking gives your brain a good workout. A series of studies show that people working or studying abroad outperform others when it comes to creative thinking and problem solving.

Maybe you are looking for work abroad because the opportunities are better; perhaps you want to try out another culture. Whatever reason is behind your job search there seem to be more benefits to moving to another country than you would first think.

Associate professor of organisational behaviour at the business school INSEAD William Maddux, found that the extent to which their international students engaged with different cultures was a good indicator of their ability to make connections between different ideas.

Maddux tells Time magazine that along with problem-solving and the ability to think out of the box, ‘... we found that people with this international experience are more likely to create new businesses and products and to be promoted.'

The secret is adapting yourself to your new environment

Chris, who was helped to find a position as a reception officer in London by the French network, agrees, ‘We think that we live in a closed world, but in fact we live in one that is wide open, where we can all communicate and learn from each other.'

Another study carried out at the Singapore Management University by associate professor of psychology Angela Leung, confirms Chris' firsthand experience. Her research leads her to believe that the creative benefits may depend on how much people open themselves up to their new environment.

This openness includes tolerance for situations which may be ambiguous and for a lack of firm answers – factors that can come about when you are dealing with unfamiliar situations.

But are people who are ready to work abroad already open-minded?

Could it be that the willingness to embrace change demonstrates that a person is already open minded and ready to think creatively? Perhaps. David Therriault, associate professor of educational psychology at the University of Florida wondered the same thing. But when he tested students who had studied abroad, those that were planning to and those that intended to stay where they were, his team found those that had studied abroad did outperform the others in creative thinking tests.

So if you are looking for work abroad, it seems that the more you open yourself to your new environment, the smarter you'll be!

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