Goal Orientation, Self-Efficacy, and Cross-Cultural Work Adjustment among Western Expatriates in Asia

The present study extended Gong and Fan’s (2006) research with sojourning students’ adjustment, by investigating the effects of dispositional goal orientation (learning, performance-prove, and performance-avoid; VandeWalle, 1997), and self-efficacy in work and sociocultural competence, on two aspects of expatriates’ cross-cultural adjustment (operationalised as work adjustment and job satisfaction). Participants were 125 Western expatriate workers based in nine different Asian countries (68% male and 32% female; ranging from 24 to 62 years of age), who completed a questionnaire on expatriate adjustment. Learning goal orientation (and not performance-prove or performance-avoid goal orientation) was positively associated with work selfefficacy, work adjustment, and job satisfaction. Regression analysis of work adjustment revealed that the best predictor was age followed by work self-efficacy. A second regression analysis showed a medium effect size for sociocultural efficacy as the final predictor of job satisfaction. Three-step mediation analysis (Baron & Kenny, 1986) indicated that work self-efficacy mediated the relationship between learning goal orientation and work adjustment. Similarly, sociocultural efficacy mediated the relationship between learning goal orientation and expatriate job satisfaction.