Cultural distance and expatriate job satisfaction

Vesa Peltokorpi (1) , Fabian Jintae Froese (2)

1 GREGH - Groupement de Recherche et d'Etudes en Gestion à HEC
2 korea University Business School

Despite its strong impact in domestic settings on job performance, organizational commitment, stress, and turnover intentions, job satisfaction has received little attention in the literature on expatriates. This paper analyzes the predictors of job satisfaction that may arise in an expatriate context. Drawing on the cultural distance perspective, we propose that the national cultural distance, supervisor's nationality, host-country language proficiency, expatriate type, and company nationality are important determinants of expatriate job satisfaction. Survey results from 148 expatriates in Japan demonstrate that national cultural distance, supervisor's nationality, and expatriate type have a statistically significant influence on expatriate job satisfaction. Theoretical and practical implications are provided.

Mots clés: Expatriates; Job satisfaction; Cultural distance; Japan

Domaines: Management des ressources humaines

Vesa Peltokorpi, Fabian Jintae Froese. Cultural distance and expatriate job satisfaction. International Journal of Intercultural Relations, 2011, 35 (1), pp.49-60. ⟨10.1016/j.ijintrel.2010.10.002⟩. ⟨hal-00575631⟩