Boosting Social Capital and Cross-Cultural Adjustment: The Role of Expatriate Personality and Cultural Intelligence

Ameer Asra Ahmed; P. Vinish; C. M. Charithra; Sharath Ambrose; S. Baranidharan

doi:10.57159/jcmm.5.4.261023

Authors

Ameer Asra Ahmed Department of Management Studies, Dayananda Sagar College of Arts, Science and Commerce, Bengaluru, India https://orcid.org/0000-0002-5226-8303
P. Vinish Department of Management Studies, Dayananda Sagar College of Arts, Science and Commerce, Bengaluru, India https://orcid.org/0000-0002-5009-3343
C. M. Charithra Department of Business Administration, B N M Institute of Technology, Bengaluru, India https://orcid.org/0000-0002-1305-0977
Sharath Ambrose Department of Business Administration, B N M Institute of Technology, Bengaluru, India https://orcid.org/0000-0002-4492-0250
S. Baranidharan School of Management, Presidency University, Bengaluru, India https://orcid.org/0000-0002-7780-4045

DOI:

https://doi.org/10.57159/jcmm.5.4.261023

Keywords:

Expatriates, Personality, Cultural Intelligence, Social Capital, Cross-Cultural Adjustment, India

Abstract

Expatriates play a crucial role in facilitating knowledge transfer, executing strategies, and fostering global integration within multinational corporations (MNCs). They serve as operational assets and strategic representatives, embodying the ethos and vision of their parent organizations while navigating the socio-cultural complexities of their host countries. Often, they balance aligning with the strategic goals of the parent organization and immersing themselves in the host nation's socio-cultural fabric. This study evaluates the influence of expatriate personality and cultural intelligence on social capital and cross-cultural adjustment among employees in select MNCs in India. A survey involving 385 employees from various roles and departments used a reliable questionnaire. Confirmatory factor analysis (CFA) and structural equation modeling (SEM) validated the model and tested the hypotheses. The findings reveal strong positive associations between expatriate personality, cultural intelligence, and social capital. However, neither expatriate personality nor cultural intelligence showed a significant direct effect on cross-cultural adjustment once both were estimated together in a single structural model with bootstrapped confidence intervals. Mediation analysis confirmed that social capital fully mediates the relationship between expatriate personality and cross-cultural adjustment and, once cultural intelligence and relevant controls (international experience, host tenure, and language proficiency) were modeled jointly, also fully mediates the relationship between cultural intelligence and adjustment. Language proficiency emerged as an additional significant predictor of both social capital and adjustment. This indicates that expatriate personality and cultural intelligence support cross-cultural adjustment primarily by enabling relationship building and access to social resources rather than through unmediated, direct pathways. The study offers practical recommendations for improving expatriate support systems and fostering long-term adjustment in culturally complex environments.

References

[1] P. S. Adler and S.-W. Kwon, "Social capital: Prospects for a new concept," Academy of Management Review, vol. 27, no. 1, pp. 17-40, 2002.

[2] J. S. Black and G. K. Stephens, "The influence of the spouse on American expatriate adjustment and intent to stay in Pacific Rim overseas assignments," Journal of Management, vol. 15, no. 4, pp. 529-544, 1989.

[3] P. M. Caligiuri, "The Big Five personality characteristics as predictors of expatriate's desire to terminate the assignment and supervisor-rated performance," Personnel Psychology, vol. 53, no. 1, pp. 67-88, 2000.

[4] P. M. Caligiuri, J. Phillips, M. Lazarova, I. Tarique, and P. Bürgi, "The theory of met expectations applied to expatriate adjustment: The role of cross-cultural training," International Journal of Human Resource Management, vol. 12, no. 3, pp. 357-372, 2001.

[5] A. A. Ahamed, H. A. Patrick, J. Kareem, U. Mukherjee, and M. P. Nepoleon, "Organisational justice, job performance and work engagement: The mediating role of perceived supervisory support," Review of Education, vol. 11, no. 1, p. e3390, 2023.

[6] P. Bhaskar-Shrinivas, D. A. Harrison, M. A. Shaffer, and D. M. Luk, "Input-based and time-based models of international adjustment: Meta-analytic evidence and theoretical extensions," Academy of Management Journal, vol. 48, no. 2, pp. 257-281, 2005.

[7] M. A. Shaffer, D. A. Harrison, H. Gregersen, J. S. Black, and L. A. Ferzandi, "You can take it with you: Individual differences and expatriate effectiveness," Journal of Applied Psychology, vol. 91, no. 1, pp. 109-125, 2006.

[8] M. O. Aliyu and C. G. Iwu, "Expatriate adjustment to cross-cultural learning and development among assignees in Nigeria," SA Journal of Human Resource Management, vol. 23, p. a2951, 2025.

[9] J. S. Black, M. Mendenhall, and G. Oddou, "Toward a comprehensive model of international adjustment: An integration of multiple theoretical perspectives," Academy of Management Review, vol. 16, no. 2, pp. 291-317, 1991.

[10] M. A. Shaffer, D. A. Harrison, and K. M. Gilley, "Dimensions, determinants, and differences in the expatriate adjustment process," Journal of International Business Studies, vol. 30, no. 3, pp. 557-581, 1999.

[11] A. Varma, S. Pichler, and P. S. Budhwar, "The relationship between expatriate job level and host country national categorization: An investigation in the UK," The International Journal of Human Resource Management, vol. 22, no. 1, pp. 103-120, 2011.

[12] R. Takeuchi, P. E. Tesluk, S. Yun, and D. P. Lepak, "An integrative view of international experience," Academy of Management Journal, vol. 48, no. 1, pp. 85-100, 2005.

[13] P. C. Earley and S. Ang, Cultural Intelligence: Individual Interactions Across Cultures. Stanford, CA, USA: Stanford University Press, 2003.

[14] J. Nahapiet and S. Ghoshal, "Social capital, intellectual capital, and the organizational advantage," Academy of Management Review, vol. 23, no. 2, pp. 242-266, 1998.

[15] S. E. Hobfoll, "Conservation of resources: A new attempt at conceptualizing stress," American Psychologist, vol. 44, no. 3, pp. 513-524, 1989.

[16] P. T. Costa and R. R. McCrae, Revised NEO Personality Inventory (NEO-PI-R) and NEO Five-Factor Inventory (NEO-FFI) Professional Manual. Odessa, FL, USA: Psychological Assessment Resources, 1992.

[17] R. R. McCrae and P. T. Costa, "The five-factor theory of personality," in Handbook of Personality: Theory and Research (O. P. John, R. W. Robins, and L. A. Pervin, eds.), pp. 159-181, New York, NY, USA: The Guilford Press, 2008.

[18] R. P. Tett and D. D. Burnett, "A personality trait-based interactionist model of job performance," Journal of Applied Psychology, vol. 88, no. 3, pp. 500-517, 2003.

[19] K.-Y. Ng, L. Van Dyne, and S. Ang, "Cultural intelligence: A review, reflections, and recommendations for future research," in Conducting Multinational Research: Applying Organizational Psychology in the Workplace (A. M. Ryan, F. T. L. Leong, and F. L. Oswald, eds.), pp. 29-58, Washington, DC, USA: American Psychological Association, 2012.

[20] S. Ang, L. Van Dyne, C. Koh, K. Y. Ng, K. J. Templer, C. Tay, and N. A. Chandrasekar, "Cultural intelligence: Its measurement and effects on cultural judgment and decision making, cultural adaptation and task performance," Management and Organization Review, vol. 3, no. 3, pp. 335-371, 2007.

[21] J. P. Johnson, T. Lenartowicz, and S. Apud, "Cross-cultural competence in international business: Toward a definition and a model," Journal of International Business Studies, vol. 37, no. 4, pp. 525-543, 2006.

[22] G. Hofstede, Culture's Consequences: International Differences in Work-Related Values. Beverly Hills, CA, USA: Sage, 1980.

[23] G. O. Akhimien and E. Umemezia, "Demographic profiles for cross-cultural adjustment of expatriates in Nigeria," Acta Universitatis Sapientiae, Economics and Business, vol. 9, no. 1, pp. 25-49, 2021.

[24] D. C. Thomas and M. B. Lazarova, "Expatriate adjustment and performance: A critical review," in Handbook of Research in International Human Resource Management (G. K. Stahl and I. Björkman, eds.), pp. 247-264, Cheltenham, UK: Edward Elgar, 2006.

[25] D. A. Livermore, Leading with Cultural Intelligence: The Real Secret to Success. New York, NY, USA: AMACOM, 2nd ed., 2015.

[26] T. Rockstuhl, S. Seiler, S. Ang, L. Van Dyne, and H. Annen, "Beyond general intelligence (IQ) and emotional intelligence (EQ): The role of cultural intelligence (CQ) on cross-border leadership effectiveness in a globalized world," Journal of Social Issues, vol. 67, no. 4, pp. 825-840, 2011.

[27] S. Ang and L. Van Dyne, "Conceptualization of cultural intelligence: Definition, distinctiveness, and nomological network," in Handbook of Cultural Intelligence: Theory, Measurement, and Applications (S. Ang and L. Van Dyne, eds.), pp. 3-15, Armonk, NY, USA: M. E. Sharpe, 2008.

[28] P. Caligiuri, Cultural Agility: Building a Pipeline of Successful Global Professionals. San Francisco, CA, USA: Jossey-Bass, 2012.

[29] P. Caligiuri and I. Tarique, "Dynamic cross-cultural competencies and global leadership effectiveness," Journal of World Business, vol. 47, no. 4, pp. 612-622, 2012.

[30] M. R. Barrick and M. K. Mount, "The Big Five personality dimensions and job performance: A meta-analysis," Personnel Psychology, vol. 44, no. 1, pp. 1-26, 1991.

[31] O. Shenkar, "Cultural distance revisited: Toward a more rigorous conceptualization and measurement of cultural differences," Journal of International Business Studies, vol. 32, no. 3, pp. 519-535, 2001.

[32] M. Jurásek and P. Wawrosz, "The relationship between cultural intelligence and cross-cultural adjustment," Periodica Polytechnica Social and Management Sciences, vol. 32, no. 2, pp. 192-204, 2024.

[33] L. Lei, S. Thornton, Q. Huang, and O. Částek, "When can cultural intelligence be effective for expatriate cross-cultural work adjustment? A configurational approach," The International Journal of Human Resource Management, vol. 36, no. 8, pp. 1309-1339, 2025.

[34] H. Liao and A. Chuang, "A multilevel investigation of factors influencing employee service performance and customer outcomes," Academy of Management Journal, vol. 47, no. 1, pp. 41-58, 2004.

[35] P. Bourdieu, "The forms of capital," in Handbook of Theory and Research for the Sociology of Education (J. G. Richardson, ed.), pp. 241-258, New York, NY, USA: Greenwood, 1986.

[36] J. S. Coleman, "Social capital in the creation of human capital," American Journal of Sociology, vol. 94, pp. S95-S120, 1988.

[37] J. Selmer and J. Lauring, "Host country language ability and expatriate adjustment: The moderating effect of language difficulty," The International Journal of Human Resource Management, vol. 26, no. 3, pp. 401-420, 2015.

[38] Y. Guo, H. G. Rammal, and V. Pereira, "Am I "in or out"? A social identity approach to studying expatriates' social networks and adjustment in a host country context," Journal of Business Research, vol. 136, pp. 558-566, 2021.

[39] M. Noman, N. Akhtar, M. K. Khan, and S. Qaisar, "Cross-cultural adjustment of Chinese expatriates to Pakistan: Investigating the role of social support as a moderator," Acta Psychologica, vol. 256, p. 105025, 2025.

[40] O. R. Ashaye, A. B. Mahmoud, A. S. Munna, and N. Ali, "The role of social media engagement and emotional intelligence in successful employment," Higher Education, Skills and Work-Based Learning, vol. 13, no. 2, pp. 315-337, 2023.

[41] V. Suutari and C. Brewster, "Making their own way: International experience through self-initiated foreign assignments," Journal of World Business, vol. 35, no. 4, pp. 417-436, 2000.

[42] R. D. Putnam, Bowling Alone: The Collapse and Revival of American Community. New York, NY, USA: Simon and Schuster, 2000.

[43] M. A. Gyensare, P. Jain, E. A. Asante, S. Adomako, K. S. Ofori, and Y. Hayford, "Fostering assigned expatriates' thriving at work through cultural intelligence and local embeddedness: The role of relational attachment," Journal of International Management, vol. 31, no. 2, p. 101222, 2025.

[44] J. Selmer and J. Lauring, "Cultural similarity and adjustment of expatriate academics," International Journal of Intercultural Relations, vol. 33, no. 5, pp. 429-436, 2009.

[45] T. Bogg and B. W. Roberts, "The case for conscientiousness: Evidence and implications for a personality trait marker of health and longevity," Annals of Behavioral Medicine, vol. 45, no. 3, pp. 278-288, 2013.

[46] R. L. Tung, "American expatriates abroad: From neophytes to cosmopolitans," Journal of World Business, vol. 33, no. 2, pp. 125-144, 1998.

[47] M. Lazarova and P. Caligiuri, "Retaining repatriates: The role of organizational support practices," Journal of World Business, vol. 36, no. 4, pp. 389-401, 2001.

[48] A. W. Andreason, "Expatriate adjustment of spouses and expatriate managers: An integrative research review," International Journal of Management, vol. 25, no. 2, pp. 382-395, 2008.

[49] A. Qomariyah, P.-T. Nguyen, W.-Y. Wu, and V.-L. Tran-Chi, "The effects of expatriate's personality and cross-cultural competence on social capital, cross-cultural adjustment, and performance: The context of foreign-owned multinational firms," SAGE Open, vol. 12, no. 3, 2022.

[50] U. Chanveasna, T. Chanthuch, S. Veasna, K. Sovannara, and H. Ngounhort, "The effects of social support and cultural intelligence on expatriate adjustment and performance," Open Journal of Social Sciences, vol. 12, no. 6, pp. 299-327, 2024.

[51] H. C. Triandis, "Cultural intelligence in organizations," Group and Organization Management, vol. 31, no. 1, pp. 20-26, 2006.

[52] G. Hofstede, G. J. Hofstede, and M. Minkov, Cultures and Organizations: Software of the Mind. New York, NY, USA: McGraw-Hill, 3rd ed., 2010.

[53] K. C. Huff, P. Song, and E. B. Gresch, "Cultural intelligence, personality, and cross-cultural adjustment: A study of expatriates in Japan," International Journal of Intercultural Relations, vol. 38, pp. 151-157, 2014.

[54] C. I. C. Farh, K. M. Bartol, D. L. Shapiro, and J. Shin, "Networking abroad: A process model of how expatriates form support ties to facilitate adjustment," Academy of Management Review, vol. 35, no. 3, pp. 434-454, 2010.

[55] International Organization for Migration, World Migration Report 2024. Geneva, Switzerland: International Organization for Migration, 2024.

[56] J. F. Hair, W. C. Black, B. J. Babin, and R. E. Anderson, Multivariate Data Analysis. Upper Saddle River, NJ, USA: Pearson, 7th ed., 2010.

[57] S. D. Gosling, P. J. Rentfrow, and W. B. Swann, Jr., "A very brief measure of the Big-Five personality domains," Journal of Research in Personality, vol. 37, no. 6, pp. 504-528, 2003.

[58] T. D. Little, W. A. Cunningham, G. Shahar, and K. F. Widaman, "To parcel or not to parcel: Exploring the question, weighing the merits," Structural Equation Modeling: A Multidisciplinary Journal, vol. 9, no. 2, pp. 151-173, 2002.

[59] J. Henseler, C. M. Ringle, and M. Sarstedt, "A new criterion for assessing discriminant validity in variance-based structural equation modeling," Journal of the Academy of Marketing Science, vol. 43, no. 1, pp. 115-135, 2015.

[60] P. M. Podsakoff, S. B. MacKenzie, J.-Y. Lee, and N. P. Podsakoff, "Common method biases in behavioral research: A critical review of the literature and recommended remedies," Journal of Applied Psychology, vol. 88, no. 5, pp. 879-903, 2003.

[61] A. F. Hayes, Introduction to Mediation, Moderation, and Conditional Process Analysis: A Regression-Based Approach. New York, NY, USA: The Guilford Press, 2nd ed., 2018.

[62] G. K. Stahl, E. L. Miller, and R. L. Tung, "Toward the boundaryless career: A closer look at the expatriate career concept and the perceived implications of an international assignment," Journal of World Business, vol. 37, no. 3, pp. 216-227, 2002.

[63] V. Peltokorpi, "Cross-cultural adjustment of expatriates in Japan," The International Journal of Human Resource Management, vol. 19, no. 9, pp. 1588-1606, 2008.

[64] D. C. Thomas and K. Inkson, Cultural Intelligence: Living and Working Globally. San Francisco, CA, USA: Berrett-Koehler, 2nd ed., 2009.