In today's global business environment, executive work is becoming more international in orientation. Several skills and traits may underlie executive success in an international environment. The Multicultural Personality Questionnaire was developed as a multidimensional instrument aimed at measuring multicultural effectiveness. The questionnaire has scales for Cultural Empathy, Openmindedness, Emotional Stability, Orientation to Action, Adventurousness/Curiosity, Flexibility, and Extraversion. In a study among a student sample (N =257) the reliability and validity of the inventory were examined. The internal consistencies of the developed scales were high, with the exception of Openmindedness and Flexibility. On the basis of factor analysis and the pattern of intercorrelations four reliable higher‐level dimensions were distinguished: ‘Openness’, ‘Emotional Stability’, ‘Social Initiative and Flexibility’. The correlations between these dimensions and related instruments were in the expected direction. Moreover, the data supported the predictive value of the instrument of multicultural activity and its incremental value above the Big Five in predicting international orientation and aspiration of an international career. The Multicultural Personality Questionnaire may be used as an instrument for the selection of expatriates or as a diagnostic tool for assessing further training needs. Copyright © 2000 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.

In two studies, one among 94 Moroccan and 203 Turkish immigrants in the Netherlands and one among 1844 people of the Dutch majority, we examined how these groups react to four dierent adaptation strategies of people with a Moroccan and a Turkish background. These strategies are: assimilation (original culture is considered unimportant whereas contact with the majority is considered important), integration (both the original culture and contact with the majority are important), separation (original culture is considered important whereas contact with the majority is not), and marginalization (both the original culture and contact with the majority are considered unimportant). The respondents were confronted with a scenario (a ®ctitious newspaper article) representing one of the four strategies. Moroccans and Turks had to indicate whether they identi®ed themselves with the person in the scenario. Their aective and normative reactions towards that person were also measured. Both Moroccans and Turks appeared to react most positively to integration and to identify themselves most with an integrating person. Dutch majority members were asked to estimate the percentage of Moroccans or Turks that use a particular adaptation form, and were also asked to give their aective and normative reactions towards the person in the scenario. The Dutch have positive attitudes towards assimilation and integration. Remarkably, they believe that separation, which is the least liked strategy by them, is the one chosen most frequently by the immigrants. #

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The present study investigates the link between multilingualism/multiculturalism, acculturation and the personality profile (as measured by the Multicultural Personality Questionnaire) of 79 young London teenagers, half of whom were born abroad and had settled down in London during their childhood 'Third Culture Kids ' (TCKs;Pollock & Van Reken, 2001). Statistical analyses revealed that TCKs scored higher on the dimension of Openmindedness and Cultural Empathy and scored lower on Emotional Stability. Language dominance (first language (L1), L1 and one or two other languages (multidominance), or any language which is not the L1 (LX) had a significant effect on the participants' personality profile, with the multidominant group scoring significantly higher on Openmindedness, marginally higher on Cultural Empathy and significantly lower on Emotional Stability than participants dominant in one language only. The number of languages known by participants was also significantly linked to their personality profile, with functional multilinguals scoring significantly higher than incipient bilinguals on Openmindedness, marginally higher on Cultural Empathy and significantly lower on Emotional Stability. These findings confirm that personality is shaped by social and biographical factors. Acculturation is stressful but the experience of having to fit in and being in contact with different languages and cultures strengthens Cultural Empathy and Openmindedness.

The present paper examined the validity of the Multicultural Personality Questionnaire (MPQ). As criteria of validity three levels of adjustment were used. The study took place among a sample of expatriates (N = 102) during their assignment in Taiwan. The MPQ has scales for cultural empathy, openmindedness, social initiative, emotional stability and flexibility. The MPQ scales appeared to be predictive of expatriates' personal, professional and social adjustment. In all three domains, emotional stability appeared most consistently as a predictor of adjustment. Social initiative was an additional strong predictor of psychological well-being, as was cultural empathy of satisfaction with life and of the amount of social support in the host country. Flexibility was a predictor of job satisfaction and social support. The study also examined the effects of marital status on adjustment. Married expatriates showed higher levels of adjustment than expatriates who were single or separated.