Expatriate personality and cultural fit: The moderating role of host country context on job satisfaction

• We examined the interactive impact of host country context and expatriate personality traits on job satisfaction.
• The theoretical framework was drawn from the cultural fit hypothesis.
• Expatriates with high Cultural Empathy had higher job satisfaction in Japan than in Brazil; Social Initiative was more important in Brazil.

This study draws on the cultural fit hypothesis to examine interactive effects of host country context and four (Multicultural Personality Questionnaire) expatriate personality traits – Cultural Empathy, Social Initiative, Emotional Stability, and Open Mindedness – on job satisfaction. The cultural fit hypothesis maintains that it is not only the expatriate personality traits per se, but the cultural fit between expatriate personality traits and host country cultural values, norms, and prototypical personality traits that predict expatriate adjustment in host countries (Searle & Ward, 1990). Providing partial support for the cultural fit hypothesis, data derived from 191 expatriates in Brazil and Japan shows that the importance of two personality traits varies in these countries. Specifically, expatriates with high Cultural Empathy were more satisfied with their jobs in Japan than in Brazil, whereas Social Initiative was more important for expatriates in Brazil.