Proceedings of the 13th Asia Pacific Management Conference, Melbourne, Australia, 2007, 922-931

The Effects of Expatriate Personality and Cultural Intelligence on the Expatri-

ate Adjustment: The Moderating Role of Expatriate
a*
Li-Yueh Lee and Badri Munir Sukocob
a
Department of International Trade, Kun Shan University, No. 949, Da Wan Rd., Yung Kang City, Tainan Hsien, Taiwan
b
Department of Management, Faculty of Economics, Airlangga University, Jl. Airlangga 4, Surabaya, Indonesia

Abstract
The globalization of business activities has forced firms to develop more qualified expatriates. Prior research has indicated
that expatriate adjustments played very significant roles to perform as expected by headquarter. This study purposely determines
the expatriate adjustment in the individual level by emphasizing the influences of personality traits as well as the cultural intelli-
gence of the expatriates. Moreover, this study examines whether expatriates training help individuals to adjust in the new environ-
ment. More than 200 global Taiwanese expatriates participating in this study. The results revealed that the personality traits have
significant effects on the cultural intelligence and adjustment. However, the three types of cultural intelligence have no significant
effects on the level of expatriate adjustment. The expatriates who have pre-departure training for communication, cognitive as well
as experiential training have moderating effects on the relationship between personality and cultural intelligence, but the relation-
ship between personality and cultural intelligence on adjustment has no significant results. The practical implications as well as
academic contributions are presented.

Keywords: Expatriate personality; Cultural intelligence; Expatriate training; Expatriate adjustment

1. Introduction 1997). Approximately 30 to 50 percent of US expatri-

The globalization of market has led to significant
increase of cross-cultural interactions between business
people, and sending expatriates around the “global
village” is highly required. Recently, the abroad as-
signment is necessary for many executives of multina-
tional enterprises (MNEs) to develop their careers,
since it constitute an important set of work experiences
(Takeuchi, Tesluk., Yun, & Lepak, 2005). These ex-
periences are considered as ultimate resources
(Carpenter, Sanders, & Gregersen, 2001; Sambharya,
1996), and also prospective assets of competitive ad-
vantage (Spreitzer & McCall, 1997) for multinational
companies. Some advantages that companies can gain
from expatriates are maintaining relationships with
host country stakeholders, penetrating host local mar-
kets as well as increasing the productivity of foreign
subsidiaries (Dowling, Welch, & Schuler, 1999).
Therefore, it is not surprising that almost 80 percent of
midsize and large enterprises send their professionals
abroad; whereas 45 percent tend to increase the num-
ber (Black & Gregersen, 1999).
Despite of promising results, there are some
drawbacks that companies need to reconsider before
sending their people abroad. The cost of early return
for a single expatriate has been estimated to range from
$250,000 to $1,250,000 (Mervosh & McClenahen,
ates are considered marginally effective by their firms
which the average compensation package is $250,000
annually (Copeland & Griggs, 1985). One of the major
reasons of expatriates failures was that expatriates did
not adjust themselves into host country’s environment
(Caligiuri, 2000; Shaffer & Harrison, 1998). As a re-
sult, considerable attention has been devoted to identi-
fying the factors that influence expatriates’ cross-
cultural adjustment and the successful completion of
their assignments (Black, Mendenhall, & Oddou, 1991;
Shaffer & Harrison, 1998).
Despite abundant interest, a large gap remains in
our understanding of how expatriates adapt to new and
culturally diverse work assignments. There are two
major approaches that have been extensively used in
cross-cultural adjustment, an aggregate approach to
culture versus an individual view of culture (Earley &
Mosakowski, 2004b). The first approach proposed that
expatriates should be prepared on what typical cultural
values might be observed in a particular country (e.g.
Hofstede, 1980; Triandis, 1995). Expatriates are often
taught what constellation of cultural values might be
encountered in a given country and what actions and
behaviors are appropriate for these values. However,
this approach committed to the error that Hofstede
(1991) characterized as the ecological fallacy. It de-
scribed that some individuals might not have certain

* Correspondence authors. Email: wuleliyu@gmail.com

922
Proceedings of the 13th Asia Pacific Management Conference, Melbourne, Australia, 2007, 922-931
cultural values within a given culture. The second ap-
proach tried to combine psychological approach with
cultural values and management practices by proposing
that each expatriate has a psychological “fingerprint”
that makes everyone different (Erez & Earley, 1993;
Earley & Erez, 1997). It is the complex set of memo-
ries, thoughts, ways of thinking, and feelings that indi-
viduals have about the world around them. The cultur-
ally intelligent individuals need to understand what
intelligent behaviors constitute in different cultures
(Berry & Ward, 2006; Sternberg & Grigorenko, 2006).
New concept proposed by Earley and Ang (2003) as
Cultural Intelligence (CQ) proclaimed to have deter-
minant role on the adjustment process of expatriates.
Although it is important to understand outcomes
of CQ, it is also important to examine antecedents of
CQ. A diverse set of individual difference constructs
could be related to CQ (Ang, Dyne, and Koh, 2006).
This study purposely advances the study by Ang et al.
(2006) which examined the effects of personality traits
on cultural intelligence. Moreover, many scholars have
proposed that personality characteristics are significant
predictors of expatriates adjustment (Caligiuri, 2000;
Huang, Chi, & Lawler, 2005 ). However, empirical
validation is limited. This study intends to explore
whether expatriates’ cultural intelligence can deter-
mines their cross-cultural adjustment.
In addition, this study also emphasizes the moder-
ating role of expatriate training. Training provides ex-
patriate information related on the host country and
helps the expatriate to form realistic expectations from
their abroad assignment (Black et al., 1991). This
knowledge tends to reduces uncertainty and facilitates
adjustment (Caligiuri et al., 2001). Cross-cultural train-
ing has been found to be positively related to measures
of expatriate success (Black & Mendenhall, 1990; Ca-
ligiuri, 2000). This study tries to extend these results
by examining the role of training as a moderator for the
influence of expatriates’ personality and CQ on expa-
triate adjustment.
Expatriate
Training
Expatriate
Personality
Expatriate
Adjustment
Cultural
Intelligence
(CQ)
Figure 1. The Research Framework
923
2. Literature Review
2.1. Definition of Research Constructs
2.1.1. Expatriate Personality
In recent years, emphasis on the Big Five super-
ordinate factors of personality as the basic structure of
personality (Carver & Scheier, 2000) has triggered
increasing interest in personality in the organizations
(Barrick & Mount, 1991). The results of many studies
demonstrated that the Big Five strongly predicts work
behavior across time, contexts, and cultures—in do-
mestic settings (Barrick & Mount, 1991) and in over-
seas assignments (Ones & Viswesvaran, 1997). The
Big Five taxonomy therefore allows personality re-
searchers to map various personality scales and there-
fore accumulate research findings in a meaningful and
systematic manner (Costa & McCrae, 1995). Although
there is a general consensus on the Big Five model of
personality, different authors use different labels for
each of the five factors. For example, Ang, Dyne, and
Koh (2006) and Caligiuri (2000) used emotional stabil-
ity, extraversion, agreeableness, conscientiousness, and
openness to experience. However, some researchers
(Yoon, Schmidt, & Ilies, 2002) preferred to use neu-
roticism in order to replace emotional stability which
has stable factor loadings in the comparison study con-
ducted by Costa and McCrae (1995).
The study conducted by Caligiuri (2000) which
examined the Big Five as predictors of expatriate suc-
cess present a theoretically based perspective on per-
sonality and success in international assignments. Ac-
cording to Caligiuri (2000), the Big Five personality
characteristics should predict expatriate success based
on the tenets of evolutionary personality psychology
(Buss, 1991). First, according to the theory of evolu-
tionary personality psychology, the Big Five personal-
ity characteristics represent universal adaptive mecha-
nisms that allow humans to adapt with and meet the
demands of physical, social, and cultural environments
(Buss, 1991; MacDonald, 1998). Second, while all
individuals have some degree of these universal Big
Five adaptive mechanisms, individuals vary in the ex-
tent to which they possess these personality character-
istics necessary for success in goal attainment. Thus,
those who possess key personality traits suited for a
given role in a given physical or social environment
will adapt more effectively than those who do not pos-
sess the appropriate traits or personality characteristics
for that same role. Based on that, this study asserted
the theory of evolutionary personality psychology as
based to predict relationships between specific facets
of Big Five personality and specific facets of CQ. The
similar theoretical foundation also used by Ang et al.
(2006), and the results indicated that openness to new
experiences has strong predictive power of CQ. How-
ever, their study only used MBA students in Singapore
Proceedings of the 13th Asia Pacific Management Conference, Melbourne, Australia, 2007, 922-931
to examine whether personality traits determine the
level of cultural intelligence.
2.1.2. Cultural Intelligence
Currently, many studies attempted to improve cul-
tural understanding at an individual level (e.g., Ang et
al., 2006; Early and Ang, 2003). By understanding the
reasons of people from different backgrounds act as
they do, it can relates to a primary part of human think-
ing (intelligence) as capability to solve problems and
adapt to changing situations. One of the approaches is
emotional intelligence-EQ (Goleman, 1997) which
captures a variety of attributes related to a person’s
ability to read and respond to the affective states of
culturally similar others and to self regulate emotion.
However, this concept does not provide an adequate
discussion of cross-cultural context. The second ap-
proach which gained much attention is social intelli-
gence (SQ) which developed by Salovey and Mayer
(1990) that purposely enhances the understanding level
toward people ability to know and manage people.
However, this concept tends to void of multicultural
richness (Earley & Mosakowski, 2004a).
In 2003, Earley and Ang proposed cultural intelli-
gence (CQ) approach to capture the capability to adapt
across cultures and it reflects a person’s capability to
gather, interpret, and act upon these radically different
cues to function effectively across cultural settings or
in a multicultural situation. According to Earley and
Ang (2003), there are three core elements of CQ, such
as metacognition and cognition, motivation, and be-
havior (Ng & Earley, 2006). The cognitive facet
(thinking, learning, and strategizing) refers to informa-
tion-processing aspects of intelligence and it is concep-
tualized using self-concept theory (Earley, 2003). The
second facet of CQ refers to its motivational aspect
(efficacy and confidence, persistence, value congru-
ence and affect for the new culture). Cultural intelli-
gence reflects self-concept and directs and motivates
adaptation to new cultural surroundings (Earley and
Peterson, 2004). The behavioral aspect of CQ (social
mimicry, and behavioral repertoire) suggests that adap-
tation is not only knowing what and how to do (cogni-
tively) and having the motivation, but also the response
needed for a given situation in one’s behavioral reper-
toire. Thus, CQ reflects a person’s ability to acquire or
adapt behaviors appropriate for a new culture (Earley
and Peterson, 2004).
2.1.3. Expatriate Adjustment
Cross-cultural adjustment is conceptualized as the
degree of psychological comfort an expatriate has with
the various aspects of a host culture (Vianen, De Pater,
Kristof-Brown, and Johnson, 2004). Three specific
areas of cross-cultural adjustment have been distin-
guished in the literature (Black & Stephens, 1989):
924
Adjustment to (1) the general environment (degree of
comfort with general living conditions, such as climate,
health facilities and food); (2) interaction with host
country nationals; and (3) work (performance standards,
job and supervisory responsibilities). When an expatri-
ate is adjusted on each of these dimensions, he or she
experiences “satisfaction, perceived acceptance from
hosts, and ability to function during everyday activities
without severe stress” (Brislin, 1981).
To date, Black and colleagues’ (1991) three di-
mensional model (general, work, and interaction) has
received much empirical support (e.g., Parker &
McEvoy, 1993; Shaffer et al., 1999). In order to extend
the explanatory power of Black et al.’s (1991) model,
this study empirically tests the effects of personality
traits which also done by previous studies (e.g., Caligi-
uri, 2000). Moreover, this study tests the proposition of
Early and Ang (2003) that cultural intelligence can
determine the level of cross-cultural adjustment.
2.1.4. Expatriate Training
Expatriate training has been regarded as one of
the most important issues for business globalization
(Harvey & Novicevic, 2001). According to Tung
(1998) and Harvey (1998), many companies failed to
pay sufficient attention to the training of potential ex-
patriates. Expatriate training provides expatriates with
information and knowledge on the host country and
help them to form realistic expectations. This increased
knowledge on the host country reduces uncertainty and
facilitates adjustment (Caligiuri, Philips, Lazarova,
Tarique, and Burgi, 2001). Cross-cultural training
(CCT) has long been regarded as an efficient tool for
cross-cultural communication and expatriate success
(Kim & Ofori-Dankwa, 1995; Black and Mendenhall,
1990; Caligiuri, 2000). However, cross-cultural train-
ing was not very popular in American firms, which are
only 31 percent of U.S. expatriates received cross-
cultural training before their departure, compared to 38
percent of European expatriates and 67 percent of
Japanese expatriates (Black & Mendenhall, 1990).
Moreover, it is reported that about 85 percent of British
multinationals, 91 percent of German multinationals,
and 70 percent of Scandinavian multinationals pro-
vided language training to their expatriates (Suutari &
Burch, 2001). Activities of cross-cultural training have
been evaluated extensively; however, the results con-
cerning the effects of cross-cultural training are not
entirely consistent.
Tung in 1982 identified six major types of cross-
cultural training activities: (a) environmental briefings,
(b) cultural orientation, (c) cultural assimilators, (d)
language training, (e) sensitivity training, and (f) field
experience training after surveying expatriates in
Europe, Japan, and the United States. Furthermore, the
importance of on-site training has been regarded as an
Proceedings of the 13th Asia Pacific Management Conference, Melbourne, Australia, 2007, 922-931
important issue for expatriates (Finney & Von Glinow,
1988; Welch, 1994). Vance and Paik (2002) contended
that the contributions of the host country workforce
associated with expatriate development are very impor-
tant. In the framework developed by Harris and Kurma
(2000), one of the objectives of expatriate training
should provide process guidelines for cross-cultural
communication, negotiation, and teams.
2.2. Hypotheses Development
2.2.1. The Influences of Expatriate Personality on Cul-
tural Intelligence
In general, research on individual differences has
distinguished between trait-like constructs (e.g. Chen,
Gully, Whiteman, & Kilcullen, 2000; Kanfer, 1990)
and state-like constructs (e.g., Bandura, 1997). Trait-
like individual differences refer to unspecified task or
situations which are stable over time (Chen et al.,
2000), which in this study represent by personality
traits. On the other hand, state-like individual differ-
ences represent specific situations or tasks and tend to
be malleable over time (e.g., Bandura, 1997). Refer to
Kanfer (1990), trait-like individual differences are
more indirect and serve as predictors of proximal state-
like individual differences (see Chen et al., 2000),
which in this study serve as CQ (Ang et al., 2004).
The study conducted by Ang et al. (2004) found
that personality traits have significant relationship with
CQ, whereas the degree of openness to new experience
has higher influence on students’ CQ. Caligiuri’s
(2000) adopted the theory of evolutionary personality
psychology also found that personality traits are asso-
ciated with certain CQ capabilities. Ones and Viswes-
varan (1997) showed that the Big Five conceptualiza-
tion of personality offers a theoretically based and par-
simonious framework for predicting outcomes with
relevance to cross-cultural interactions, overseas as-
signments, and expatriate management. Based on the
above discussion, the following hypothesis is devel-
oped:
H1: Expatriate personality has significant influence on
expatriate cultural intelligence
2.2.2. The Influences of Expatriate Personality and
Cultural Intelligence on Expatriate Adjustment
Prior research on cross-cultural adjustment has
demonstrated that individual-level factors, such as per-
sonality, self-monitoring, and self efficacy, are impor-
tant predictors of cross-cultural adjustment (Caligiuri,
2000; Hechanova, Beehr, & Christiansen, 2003; Ones
& Viswesvaran, 1999; Parker & McEvoy, 1993). The
effects of each dimension in the personality traits has
somewhat different. Caligiuri (2000) contended that
extroversion, agreeableness, and emotional stability
lead to willingness to stay (better adjustment). Ones
and Viswesvaran (1999) indicated that conscientious-
ness level of prospective expatriates lead to higher de-
925
gree of expatriate adjustment.
The study conducted by Templer, Tay and
Chandrasekar (2006) indicated that motivational CQ
has significant influence on cross-cultural adjustment.
This study extends the results of Ang et al. (2004)
which indicated that motivational dimension has sig-
nificant influence on general adjustment. Since these
studies only used one factor of CQ, it is mandatory to
test the influence of other two dimensions of CQ on
work adjustment, as originally proposed by Earley and
Ang (2003). The degree of adjustment could be lead by
the efforts of expatriates to conceptualize their assign-
ment through their self-concept (cognitive CQ), which
directed by the motivation to adapt on new cultural
surroundings (motivational CQ). Apparently, the de-
gree of adjustment could be higher when expatriate has
ability to acquire or adapt behaviors appropriately for a
new culture (Earley & Peterson, 2004).
H2: Expatriate personality has significant influence on
expatriate adjustment
H3: Expatriate’s cultural intelligence has significant
influence on expatriate adjustment
2.2.4 The Moderating Effects Expatriate Training
The relationship between pre-departure training
and cross culture adjustment has been studied by many
scholars (e.g., Black & Mendenhall, 1990; Black et al.,
1991; Downes, et al., 2002; Wu-Lee, 2005). The study
results of Wu Lee (2005) indicated that expatriates
who received higher level of expatriate training would
result in higher levels of expatriate adjustment. Thus, it
is suggested that the contingency fit between expatriate
training and antecedents of expatriate adjustment will
enhance expatriate adjustment. In the same manners,
the training provided to expatriate prior assignment
could enhance the influence of cultural intelligence on
expatriate adjustment, as proposed by Earley and Mo-
sakowski (2004b). This proposition will be empirically
tested in this study. Based on the above discussion, the
following hypothesis is developed:
H4: The level of training for expatriate will moderate
the influence of expatriates (a) personality and (b) cul-
tural intelligence on expatriate adjustment
3. Method
The first purpose of this study is to develop a
comprehensive model that encompasses the interrela-
tionships among expatriate personality, cultural intelli-
gence, expatriate training, and expatriate adjustment.
The second purpose of this study is to empirically test
the model. The research model is shown in Figure 1.
The study used variables developed by Mount and
Barick (1995) to determine the expatriates’ personality,
while those for the cultural intelligence are adopted
Proceedings of the 13th Asia Pacific Management Conference, Melbourne, Australia, 2007, 922-931
from Earley, Ang, and Tan (2006). The measurement
items of expatriate adjustment are developed from
Black (1988) and Black and Stephens (1989), whereas
those of the expatriate training are from Wu-Lee
(2005).
A preliminary version of the questionnaire was
verified by two panel discussions. The first discussions
were conducted with three professors and continued
with 6 Ph.D. students in management in the second
round. Data collection involves two phases. In the ini-
tial phase, data was collected through a structured
mailing. The sample was drawn from the expatriates of
Taiwanese MNC firms, which are operated at least
three countries in the world. Emails were sent to the
human resources manager of MNC firms to ask for
identifying appropriate expatriates to participate in this
study. Three hundred expatriates were mailed and
asked for their opinions. Three weeks after the initial
mailing, 73 of the 300 expatriates responded. The
study continued to the second phase by sending an
email invitation letter to other 600 expatriates who
obtained from the human resources department of the
targeted MNC firms. In the second phase, expatriates
were asked to respond through online surveys, another
149 questionnaires had been completed for an overall
total of 222 (response rate 24.67 percent). Four ques-
tionnaires were unusable because of some missing re-
sponses, eventually, the effective questionnaires were
218.
The following are the basic attributes of the re-
spondents and the sample firms. Male respondents
were 89.7 percent, and majority has single status (56.9
percent). More than sixty percent has an age above 26
years old, and 98 percent has earned degree at least
bachelor degree. A quarter of them have engineering
position, and the rests have managerial position. The
sample firms has operated in conventional manufactur-
ing industry (35.8 percent), high tech manufacturing
industry (36.7 percent), and service industry (27.5 per-
cent). All subsidiaries have operated in the overseas
marketplaces for more than 3 years, which one third
operated more than 6 countries. Moreover, more than
fifty percent of MNC subsidiaries have an annual sales
volume above US$10 million, and more than sixty
percent of MNC subsidiaries running with more than
100 employees.
4. Analysis and Discussion
4.1. Factor Analysis and Reliability Tests
In order to verify the dimensionality and reliabil-
ity of constructs of this study, purification processes,
including factor analysis, correlation analysis, and co-
efficient alpha analysis were conducted. Factor analy-
sis examined the basic structure of the data; internal
926
consistency for each dimension measured by item-to-
total correlation; and the reliability of measurement
items confirmed by Cronbach’s α which generally ac-
cepted guideline is 0.70 (Hair, et al., 2006). Using the
cut-off criteria of 0.7 for factor loading, 0.5 for item to
total correlation, and 0.7 for Cronbach’s alpha, the
results of factor analysis show that there are five fac-
tors for expatriate personality, three factors for cultural
intelligence, three factors for expatriate adjustment,
and three factors for expatriate training.
4.2. Hypotheses Testing
In order to test the hypotheses, a series of multiple
regressions were conducted. Table 2 exhibited that
conscientiousness (b = 0.467, p < 0.001), openness to
experience (b = 0.294, p < 0.001) and extraversion (b =
0.124, p < 0.05) have significant influence on cognitive
CQ, while emotional stability and agreeableness has
shown insignificant effects. In terms of motivational
CQ, three factors of personality exhibited as significant
determinants: conscientiousness (b = 0.455, p < 0.001),
agreeableness (b = 0.194, p < 0.01), and openness to
experience (b = 0.151, p < 0.05). The emotional stabil-
ity and extraversion indicated insignificant influence
on motivational CQ. Finally, the results revealed that
conscientiousness (b = 0.306, p < 0.001) and extraver-
sion (b = 0.413, p < 0.001) influence significantly on
behavioral CQ, while other three personality dimen-
sions (emotional stability, agreeableness, and openness
to experience) indicated insignificant influence. There-
fore, Hypotheses 1 is only partially supported in this
study.
Table 3 reported the effects of personality on the
levels of adjustment. For general adjustment, three
factors of personality indicated significant influence
(emotional stability (b = 0.213, p < 0.001), extraver-
sion (b = 0.332, p < 0.001), and openness to experience
(b = 0.247, p < 0.001)). The conscientiousness revealed
significant effects on general adjustment at 10% level,
while agreeableness has no significant effects. More-
over, the agreeableness (b = 0.272, p < 0.001), open-
ness to experience (b = 0.313, p < 0.001) and extraver-
sion (b = 0.176, p < 0.05) exhibited significant influ-
ence on working adjustment. Even though emotional
stability has positive effects on working adjustment,
but it is insignificant; whereas conscientiousness has
effects at 10% significant level. In addition, interaction
adjustment exhibited to be influenced by emotional stabil-
ity (b = 0.243, p < 0.001), agreeableness (b = 0.157, p <
0.05), extraversion (b = 0.203, p < 0.01), and openness to
experience (b = 0.191, p < 0.01). The conscientiousness
revealed as significant predictors of interaction adjustment
at 10% level. Thus, it can be concluded that Hypothesis 2
only partially confirmed in this study.
Proceedings of the 13th Asia Pacific Management Conference, Melbourne, Australia, 2007, 922-931

Table 1. Factor Analysis Results

Eigen- Accumulative Item to total Cronbach's
Variables Factor Loading
value Explanation (%) correlation Alpha
Emotional Stability
Var1 0.841 2.207 73.559 0.647 0.819
Var2 0.879 0.709
Var3 0.853 0.665
Conscientiousness
Var4 0.898 2.428 80.948 0.768 0.882
Var5 0.905 0.780
Var6 0.897 0.766
Agreeableness
Expatriate Personal- Var7 0.884 0.727
Var8 2.303 76.778 0.848
ity 0.908 0.774
Var9 0.835 0.651
Extraversion
Var10 0.926 0.812
Var11 2.353 78.425 0.859
0.882 0.725
Var12 0.847 0.675
Openness to Experience
Var13 0.901 0.778
Var14 2.483 82.782 0.896
0.894 0.766
Var15 0.934 0.842
Cognitive CQ
Var1 0.867 2.338 77.930 0.705 0.858
Var2 0.892 0.749
Var3 0.889 0.744
Motivational CQ
Cultural Intelligence Var4 0.870 2.263 75.428 0.701 0.835
Var5 0.884 0.724
Var6 0.851 0.672
Behavioral CQ
Var7 0.857 2.340 78.007 0.689 0.858
Var8 0.881 0.727
Var9 0.910 0.783
Communication related training
Var1 0.954 2.739 91.295 0.896 0.952
Var2 0.966 0.922
Var3 0.946 0.880
Cognitive training
Expatriate Training Var4 0.952 2.753 91.733 0.893 0.955
Var5 0.960 0.910
Var6 0.962 0.913
Experiential training
Var7 0.953 2.776 92.529 0.895 0.950
Var8 0.972 0.934
Var9 0.961 0.911
Expatriate Adjust- General adjustment
ment Var1 0.872 0.799
Var2 0.914 4.008 80.161 0.859 0.937
Var3 0.872 0.800
Var4 0.934 0.890
Var5 0.883 0.816
Work adjustment
Var6 0.964 1.858 92.896 0.858 0.923
Var7 0.964 0.858
Interaction adjustment
Var8 0.968 0.875
1.875 93.763 0.933

Var9 0.968 0.875

Similarly, when the expatriates have higher CQ and

Table 4 reported the effects of cultural intelligence
on expatriates’ adjustment. The general adjustment
indicated to be influenced by three types of cultural
intelligence significantly: cognitive CQ (b = 0.362, p <
0.001), behavioral CQ (b = 0.260, P < 0.01), and moti-
vational CQ (b = 0.216, p < 0.001). Moreover, the
cognitive CQ (b = 0.361, p < 0.001) and behavioral CQ
(b = 0.275, p < 0.01) exhibited as significant determi-
nants for working adjustment, while motivational CQ
exhibited significant level at 10%. Finally, the interac-
tion adjustment has been affected by cognitive CQ (b =
0.346, p < 0.001), behavioral CQ (b = 0.278, p < 0.01),
and motivational CQ (b = 0.200, p < 0.01) in signifi-
cant manners. Thus, it can be concluded that Hypothe-
sis 3 is supported in this study.
at the same time they received enough training, the
levels of adjustment will be the highest. Interestingly,
when they received enough training but originally their
levels of cultural intelligence is lower, the working and
interaction adjustment tend to be higher ( X = 5.157
and X = 4.967) than when they have higher cultural
intelligence and less training ( X = 4.900 and X =
4.680). The lowest level revealed when the expatriates
only have lower cultural intelligence and less received
training.
In order to test the moderating effects of social sup-
port, this study tested by using ANOVA by averaging
the scores of the three dimensions of expatriates train-
ing (communication related training, cognitive training,

927
 Proceedings of the 13th Asia Pacific Management Conference, Melbourne, Australia, 2007, 922-931

and experiential training) into two groups (high and Table 3. The Regression Results of Personality on
low training) and used mean score as cut-point Adjustment
( X =4.857, SD = 1.240). The similar procedure used
Independent Dependent Variables - Cultural Intelligence
for personality ( X =4.984, SD = 1.042) and set-up the
General Working Interaction
mean score to divide the personality into two groups Variables – Adjustment Adjustment Adjustment
(high and low positive personality). Personality
β VIF β VIF β VIF
Moreover, this study used the averaged score for Emotional 0.213* 3.60 0.243* 3.60
3.606 0.059
Stability ** 6 ** 6
cultural intelligence ( X =4.714, SD = 1.064) and di-
Conscien- 0.104 0.106 2.77 0.125 2.77
vided into two groups (high and low cultural intelli- + 2.778 + +
tiousness 8 8
gence). The dependent variable to be measured is the
0.272* 3.75 3.75
three factors of expatriate adjustment. The results are Agreeableness
0.043 3.754
** 4
0.157*
4
reported in Table 5. The results indicated that expatri- 0.332* 3.54 0.203* 3.54
3.541 0.176*
ates training (communication, cognitive, and experien- Extraversion ** 1 * 1
tial training) moderate the influences of expatriates’ Openness to 0.247* 0.313* 2.86 0.191* 2.86
** 2.869 ** 9 * 9
Experience
personality on adjustment in very significant level (F =
49.939 to 56.966, p < 0.001). The results seem to sug-
R2 0.716 0.696 0.677
gest that cultural intelligence is the dominant factor for 2
Adjusted R
expatriate adjustment. The highest level of adjustment 0.710 0.689 0.669
happen when the expatriates originally have higher F-value 107.025 97.279 88.788
positive personality, while pre-assignment received P (sig.) 0.000 0.000 0.000
higher training. Positive personality could result higher
D-W
general and working adjustment even though they only 1.956 2.033 1.940
received lower training ( X = 4.800) than when they Note: + represents p<0.10; * represents p<0.05; ** represents
p<0.01; *** represents p<0.001
received higher training but they have lower positive
personality ( X = 4.656). The lowest position happens
Table 4. The Regression Results of Cultural Intelli-
when they have lower positive personality and re-
gence on Adjustment
ceived less training. It is exhibited that personality
Independ- Dependent Variables - Cultural Intelligence
should be considered as the first priority of expatriate
ent General Working Interaction
assignment, while expatriate training can enhance ad- Adjustment Adjustment Adjustment
Variables –
justment if the positive level of personality is low. β VIF β VIF β VIF
Personality
Table 2. The Regression Results of Personality on Cognitive 0.362* 4.17 0.361* 4.17 0.346* 4.17
Cultural Intelligence CQ ** 2 ** 2 ** 2
Behavioral 0.260* 4.24 0.275* 4.24 0.278* 4.24
CQ * 5 * 5 * 5
Dependent Variables - Cultural Intelligence
Independent Motiva- 0.216* 2.36 0.140 2.36 0.200* 2.36
Motivational tional CQ ** 8 + 8 * 8
Variables – Cognitive CQ Behavioral CQ
CQ
Personality
β VIF β VIF β VIF
R2 0.606 0.527 0.586
Emotional Sta- 3.60 3.60 3.60 Adjusted
bility 0.011 6 0.044 6 -0.016 6 0.600 0.520 0.580
R2
Conscientious- 0.467* 2.77 0.455* 2.77 0.306* 2.77 F-value 109.579 79.346 101.060
ness ** 8 ** 8 ** 8
3.75 0.194* 3.75 3.75 P (sig.) 0.000 0.000 0.000
Agreeableness 0.078 4 * 4 -0.029 4
D-W 1.970 1.746 1.909
3.54 3.54 0.413* 3.54
Extraversion 0.124* 1 0.073 1 ** 1 Note: + represents p<0.10; * represents p<0.05; ** represents
Openness to 0.294* 2.86 2.86 2.86 p<0.01; *** represents p<0.001
Experience ** 9 0.151* 9 0.128 9
5. Conclusions
2
R 0.771 0.686 0.543 This study examined the relationship between ex-
2
Adjusted R 0.766 0.679 0.533
patriate personality, cultural intelligence and adjust-
F-value
ment. The results indicated that the levels of positive
142.773 92.672 50.462 personality significantly influence the capability of
P (sig.) 0.000 0.000 0.000 expatriates’ to adapt in different cultures. The results
D-W confirmed the results of Ang et al. (2006) that person-
1.825 1.706 1.522
ality traits could determine the level of individuals’
Note: + represents p<0.10; * represents p<0.05; ** represents
p<0.01; *** represents p<0.001 cultural intelligence. Moreover, this study indicated
that individuals’ personality has effects on the level of

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Proceedings of the 13th Asia Pacific Management Conference, Melbourne, Australia, 2007, 922-931

Table 3. Moderating Effects of Expatriate Training expatriates to promote their adjustment, and conse-
Independent X Dependent Variables quently their overall expatriate performance can be
Moderating expected.
Variable
Group General Working Interaction Although this research is not exhaustive in nature,
Adjustment Adjustment Adjustment
Expatriate PP X Training it does examine a subset of possible variables and
1. High PP 5.812 5.833 5.798 represents an incremental step toward better under-
High ET
(n=82) standing the complex phenomenon of what is the role
2. High PP 4.800 5.091 4.682 of expatriates personality and cultural intelligence on
Low ET
(n=24) the success of expatriation. Some recommendations are
3. Low PP 4.656 4.969 4.891 provided for future research. First, since this study
High ET
(n=22) adopts a cross-sectional research design and examines
4. Low PP 4.098 4.063 4.006 the opinions of expatriates at one point in time, direc-
Low ET
(n=90) tional relationships may be not clear. It is recom-
F-Value 56.966 50.576 49.939 mended for future research to conduct out longitudinal
P 0.000 0.000 0.000
Cultural Intelligence X Training
studies which test the findings of this study. Second,
1. High CQ 5.753 5.784 5.803 due to the constraint of time and resources, the samples
High ET of this study are limited to expatriates for Taiwanese
(n=82)
2. High CQ 4.872 4.900 4.680 firms in Asian region (China, Vietnam, and other
Low ET South East Asian countries). The generalization of the
(n=24)
3. Low CQ 4.891 5.157 4.957 study results should be interpreted with appropriate
High ET caution. It is recommended that the same questionnaire,
(n=22)
4. Low CQ 4.047 4.084 3.981 or an abbreviated form, could be used for Taiwanese
Low ET expatriates in other countries, particularly when the
(n=90)
F-Value 50.306 42.192 49.786 cross-cultural differences are different, such as North
P 0.000 0.000 0.000 American countries or European countries. The addi-
Note: PP = positive personality, ET = expatriates training tional efforts will further confirm the validity and gen-
comfort on general living condition, working environ- eralizability of the findings.
ment and interaction with local people (e.g., Caligiuri,
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