The impact of personality traits on the performance of Brazilian expatriates working in Europe

Abstract

Expatriates are an ever-growing topic for International Human Resource Management and companies worldwide. This study examined the relationship between the personality traits of extraversion and openness and the self-perceived job performance of Brazilian expatriates. With a sample of 102 expatriates (40 company assigned and 62 self-expatriates) the study focused on their self-perceived performance and personality traits. It also explored the differences between the personality traits of the two groups. Through a quantitative approach using the Big-five factor model, personality traits of respondents were accessed and tested along with their self-perceived performance. Demographic characteristic of gender was also examined and compared with performance. Results found a significant relationship between extraversion and openness and self-perceived performance. Results also indicated a significant difference in openness and extraversion scores between assigned expatriates and self-expatriates, with self-expatriates presenting higher scores in both traits compared with company assigned expatriates. No difference was found in performance regarding gender. The findings of the present study are consistent with the findings of some previous research on the topic of expatriation and suggested that expatriates with high scores in extraversion and openness are more likely to adjust and perform better on international assignments