Predictive validity of the Multicultural Personality Questionnaire: A longitudinal study on the socio-psychological adaptation of Asian undergraduates who took part in a study-abroad program

The study examines the predictive validity of the Multicultural Personality Questionnaire (MPQ) on socio-psychological adaptation. The current research was based on a longitudinal research design with two comparative samples of Singaporean undergraduates. One group attended an international exchange program and a sample of domestic students did not (i.e., the control group). Both samples were concurrently surveyed at two time periods. The assessments included the five dimensions of intercultural effectiveness (Cultural Empathy, Open-mindedness, Social Initiatives, Emotional Stability and Flexibility) and outcome indices relating to socio-psychological adaptation. After controlling for the influences from the T1 outcome and the demographics and covariate, increased (T1) Social Initiatives predicted a reduction in (T2) behavioral and psychological difficulties. Compared to the domestic control group, the exchange sample reported higher ratings on most intercultural dimensions. As predicted, the MPQ dimensions accounted significantly more variance in the exchange sample than the domestic group.