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Introduction
Asia represents a critical context for the expatriation research agenda due to the high, and growing, number of expatriates in the region (Sorndee et al., 2017). Therefore, it is important to understand the background factors that contribute – either positively or negatively – to the adjustment and ultimately success of Asia-based expatriates. One of the chief factors in delaying or even obstructing expatriate adjustment more broadly is the difficulties involved in accommodating oneself to new cultures (Hemmasi and Downes, 2013; Sorndee et al., 2017). Cross-cultural adjustment (CCA)[1], or “the adjustment of an individual to a new cultural, social and work environment” (Davies et al., 2015, p. 170), is thus a central concept in expatriate research (Nolan and Morley, 2014).
While a number of factors at both the individual and organisational levels influence CCA (Aycan, 1997), one of the most important and widely studied has been personality traits, which refer to the “relatively stable, enduring patterns of how individuals feel, think, and behave” (Shaffer et al., 2006, p. 111). Previous studies have indicated a particularly strong association between personality and CCA, both in an Asian (Peltokorpi and Froese, 2012) and non-Asian (Caligiuri, 2000) context. It has even been suggested that personality is more important for effective adjustment than professional work skills, which, unlike personality, can be learned through training (Leiba-O’Sullivan, 1999). In essence, expatriates who possess certain stable qualities such as extroversion and open-mindedness are usually better placed to acquire and process information about, for instance, local thought and behavioural processes and, therefore, how to conduct themselves in a particular host country (Black, 1990; Huang et al., 2005; Wang et al., 2013).
However, with few exceptions (Maharjan and Sekiguchi, 2017), the majority of studies investigating the relationship between personality traits and CCA, including those focussing on the Asian context, have been conducted in largely monocultural settings, or at least on the implicit assumption of a single societal culture within the host country. In other words, there has been what Shenkar (2001) calls an “assumption of homogeneity” within the literature. While we recognise that such research has undeniably helped in advancing our understanding of the expatriate experience, it nevertheless restricts our ability to generalise to more culturally diverse Asian countries.