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.