Psychological capital, cross-cultural competence, and expatriate performance: A moderated mediation model

The international management literature has paid limited attention to expatriates’ psychological capital (PsyCap), which may act as a key determinant of success on international tasks. Drawing upon social cognitive theory, this research develops a novel theoretical model to unpack the mechanisms, conditions, and outcomes of PsyCap on international tasks. Paired data from 221 expatriates and their supervisors/foreign colleagues revealed a positive effect for PsyCap on expatriates’ cross-cultural competence, which further impacts both their short-term and long-term performance. In addition, we found that a low error aversion attitude strengthened the positive indirect relationship between PsyCap and both short-term and long-term performance via cross-cultural competence. Our findings reorient international management research towards positive psychology, with important implications for MNEs’ expatriate development, organizational support, and error management culture to foster expatriate success. JEL Classification: M12, M16