psychology
That’s why traveling not only makes you happy, but also smart
© David Prado / Adobe Stock
Traveling is an adventure, it’s about discovery, encounters and touching experiences. Incidentally, it has also been scientifically proven that immersing ourselves in foreign worlds is not only fun, but also makes us smarter.
For most people, summer is the peak travel season – and therefore the best time of the year. Because traveling makes us happy, we find relaxation and can switch off. We discover new things along the way and let ourselves be inspired. And it doesn’t matter whether we go on a cultural trip to a metropolis or explore the impressive nature on a trip in a campervan.
The positive effect of travel on our well-being has already been scientifically proven. So has about one study from the University of Tampere in Finland found that we recover better on a day off than on a day off at home. On the one hand, of course, this is due to the fact that we don’t have any everyday obligations, but on the other hand it is also due to the change of scenery and the new experiences we have while travelling.
Those who travel are more open to other points of view
But that’s not all: Travel not only makes us happier, more relaxed and happier – it also makes us smarter. This was the result of a investigation by William W. Maddux of the University of North Carolina and other researchers. The team took a closer look at international students who completed their master’s degree abroad. William Maddux and his colleagues found out that these young people had a particularly high “multicultural commitment”, i.e. they were able to adapt quickly to new cultures. At the same time, they apparently had a higher “integrative complexity” than others, and were accordingly more willing to recognize and understand different perspectives.
It was particularly interesting that the students found a job faster on average after completing their master’s degree than others who had stayed in their own social and cultural environment to study.
Travel makes us smarter and more creative
In another investigation William Maddux was able to prove something similar: he asked a group of students to recall a time they had spent abroad and write it down. Immediately afterwards they should complete the Remote Associates Test (RAT), a classic creativity test from psychology. A second group was to take the test without reminiscing about the trip first. The result: The first group solved 50 percent more of the problems than the second group. The experiences in foreign countries and cultures have obviously made the students more creative and solution-oriented.
This research was not so much about the relaxing effect that a week on the beach in Mallorca can give us – even if there is nothing wrong with that, of course. Rather, we actually need to immerse ourselves in a foreign world, we have to deal with the people and customs on site in order to benefit from them in the long term. And we do that in a variety of ways: psychologically, emotionally and apparently also cognitively.
Most of us know this from our own experience: as nice as a purely relaxing holiday on a sunny island can be, other trips have a lasting impact on us. They change our view of people, of the world – and ultimately of ourselves.
Sources used: forbes.com, geo.de