Personality and expatriate adjustment: A meta‐analysis

Abstract

We used meta‐analysis to advance our understanding of personality traits as antecedents of expatriate adjustment to international assignments and to test expatriate adjustment as a mediator linking the Five‐Factor Model (FFM) of personality to job performance and turnover intentions (k = 43; N = 7,007). Personality accounted for 20% of the variance in expatriate adjustment. Relative weight analyses indicated that extraversion generally accounted for the greatest proportion of predicted variance, although emotional stability and openness were important predictors as well. This pattern of findings was largely, but not completely, consistent across adjustment dimensions (i.e., general, interactional, work). Consistent with our expectations, meta‐analytic path analysis indicated that adjustment mediated the relationships between the FFM and both expatriate job performance and turnover intentions. Implications for theory and practice are discussed. Practitioner points Personality traits consistent with the Five‐Factor Model accounted for 20% of the variance in expatriate adjustment. Personality traits, particularly extraversion, emotional stability, and openness, can be used for identifying employees who are well suited for international assignments. Career planning in multinational enterprises can make use of personality scores to determine who may be a good candidate for the development for international assignments. Social support interventions (e.g., mentoring) should be provided when on assignment, particularly for introverted expatriates, to facilitate adjustment.

Is the validity of conscientiousness stable across time? Testing the role of trait bandwidth

“…However, because performance dimension scores tend to intercorrelate strongly (due to both substantive and extraneous factors), discriminant validity needed to tease out these differences might not exist in most data (Harari et al ., ; Viswesvaran et al ., ). In addition to narrower performance criteria, the same potential might exist for non‐performance effectiveness criteria that are predicted by personality traits (e.g., expatriate adjustment; Harari, Reaves, Beane, Laginess, & Viswesvaran, ); research comparing global and facet validities across time for such criteria is needed.…”

Fostering longevity attitudes in women expatriates: the role of general and targeted types of organizational support

“…Second, although we examined the role of sex, there are several other individual differences that may play a role in determining which expatriates benefit most from general and targeted types of support. In light of meta-analytic evidence that extraversion is the most important personality trait in predicting expatriate adjustment (Harari, Reaves, Beane, Laginess, & Viswesvaran, 2018), for example, it could be interesting to examine whether expatriate targeted forms of support (e.g. OCQ) could help to bolster the adjustment and longevity attitudes of introverts who may struggle to form bonds with host country nationals.…”

Emotional intelligence, social competencies and cultural adjustment of expatriates in Malaysia: The mediating role of self-motivation.

“…The study revealed that personality is one of the factors that contributed 20% of the variance in expatriate adjustment. In the study by Harari et al [30], cultural adjustment was influenced by the individual"s emotional stability and openness. Wechtler et al [31] found that age facilitates regulation of emotions on general living adjustment and interactional adjustment.…”

“…A recent study by Salgado and Bestida [29] revealed that for successful cultural adjustment, expatriates need organizational support, language skills and social skills. Harari et al [30] studied personality traits as antecedents of expatriate adjustment. The study revealed that personality is one of the factors that contributed 20% of the variance in expatriate adjustment.…”