Cultural Adjustment in Expatriates: A Systems Perspective

As companies continue to expand globally, the expatriate process is becoming more common.

The challenges and difficulties associated with expatriatism are also becoming more prevalent.

One framework by which to examine cultural adjustment in these expatriates is the systemic perspective, which posits that adjustment is influenced by intrapersonal, interpersonal, and environmental factors to an approximately equal degree.

It was hypothesized that exploratory factor analysis will indicate the presence of 3 factors consistent with the systemic framework.

Exploratory factor analysis, analysis of variance, and correlations were conducted with results from the MMPI-2 and an attrition study for 103 active, retired, and attrited missionaries.

The analyses suggested the presence of 3 factors and supported the notion that a systems model can be used to explain expatriate adjustment.

Variables that were found to correlate with satisfaction on the field and increased time on the field include lower psychopathic deviance and schizophrenia scores, increased perception of organizational support, and greater interaction with and support from other expatriates.

Finally, the study found that depression was negatively correlated with time spent on the field, providing some support for a time element in cultural adjustment.

Future research should increase the number of variables considered, include a longitudinal study to explore the time element of adjustment, and provide confirmatory factor analysis or structural equation modeling to confirm the findings from the exploratory factor analysis.