The multicultural personality questionnaire: a multidimensional instrument of multicultural effectiveness

Abstract

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.

Personality changes after the ‘year abroad’?

“…The Multicultural Personality Questionnaire (MPQ, Van der Zee & Van Oudenhoven, 2000;2001) was developed to assess five traits that are key to individuals' cultural adaptability and their psychological well-being in a foreign environment. It was developed as the need arose among cross-cultural psychologists to have a questionnaire that was more sensitive to contextual variables (Van der Zee & Van Oudenhoven, 2000;2001).…”

“…It was developed as the need arose among cross-cultural psychologists to have a questionnaire that was more sensitive to contextual variables (Van der Zee & Van Oudenhoven, 2000;2001). The authors felt that the standard Big Five inventories lacked measures "specifically tailored to grasp individual differences predictive of multicultural attitudes and multicultural success" (Leone, Van der Zee, Van Oudenhoven, Perugini, & Ercolani, 2005, p. 1450.…”

“…Personality changes were measured quantitatively using the Multicultural Personality Questionnaire (MPQ, Van der Zee & Van Oudenhoven, 2000;2001), administered twice: pre-departure and after returning to their home university. A reflective interview was also conducted at the end of their stay abroad and analysed qualitatively to investigate whether students noted any personality changes.…”

Expatriates and non-expatriates: Effects of cultural intelligence and multicultural personality on passion for work and satisfaction with life

“…Based on the analysis of the set of characteristics pointed out by several authors and previous studies, Van der Zee and Van Oudenhoven (2000) have identified a number of specific personality characteristics, grouping them into five dimensions of multicultural competence. The structure of personality arises from its various dimensions (dispositional factors that continuously determine personality), which are the result of grouping personality traits together (Almiro & Simões, 2010.…”

“…Elements of flexibility, such as the ability to learn from mistakes and new experiences, are crucial for multicultural effectiveness (Sousa, Gonçalves, & Cunha, 2015;Spreitzer, McCall, & Mahoney, 1997). The fifth dimension, social initiative, includes an attitude of openness to new cultures, a predisposition to seek and explore new situations, facing them as challenges, and the ability to establish and maintain contacts easily (Van der Zee & Van Oudenhoven, 2000. These dimensions are positively associated with extroversion, satisfaction with life, work productivity, openness to new experiences, international orientation, social adjustment, job satisfaction, and negatively associated with hostility, neuroticism and social anxiety (e.g., Ali, Van der Zee, & Sanders, 2003;Leong, 2007).…”