motivation for international assignment

• SUGGESTED TOPICS
• The Magazine
• Newsletters
• Managing Yourself
• Managing Teams
• Work-life Balance
• The Big Idea
• Data & Visuals
• Reading Lists
• Case Selections
• HBR Learning
• Topic Feeds
• Account Settings
• Email Preferences

A Successful International Assignment Depends on These Factors

• Boris Groysberg
• Robin Abrahams

Your marriage, your family, and your career will all benefit from advance planning.

The prospect of an international assignment can be equal parts thrilling and alarming: Will it make or break your career? What will it do to your life at home and the people you love? When you’re thinking about relocating, you start viewing questions of work and family — difficult enough under ordinary circumstances — through a kind of high-contrast, maximum-drama filter.

• BG Boris Groysberg is a professor of business administration in the Organizational Behavior unit at Harvard Business School and a faculty affiliate at the school’s Race, Gender & Equity Initiative. He is the coauthor, with Colleen Ammerman, of Glass Half-Broken: Shattering the Barriers That Still Hold Women Back at Work (Harvard Business Review Press, 2021). bgroysberg
• Robin Abrahams is a research associate at Harvard Business School.

Partner Center

• Internships
• Career Advice

7 Strategies for a Successful International Work Assignment

Published: Oct 08, 2018

International assignments are exciting for a host of reasons, but having the opportunity to live in another country while finding success in your career at the same time is particularly compelling. Working abroad allows you to gain real-world experience, advance the skills you have, and learn how to thrive in a global environment.

But living and working in a new country with a different culture is a major life change. It’s important to immerse yourself in the experience and remain positive through the ups and downs. Below are 7 tips to make the most of your journey abroad.

1. Keep an Open Mind

Social media and the internet allows us to connect with people from all over the world. Take time to learn about the history of your new home, including any local customs or laws, so you can set more realistic expectations ahead of time.

When you finally touch down in your new destination, keep an open mind. What you think you know about an area or country may end up being turned on its head once you spend more than a few days there.

For Allison Alexander, a participant in Abbott’s Finance Professional Development Program , an international assignment was the ultimate lesson in flexibility. “Going to an international role means you’re stepping into a culture and a set of expectations that are foreign to you,” she explains. “It forces you to be open to the unexpected.”

Unlike traveling for leisure, international assignments allow you to spend months or even years in a location. You can, and should, tap into the global mindset you’ve already developed while leaving room for all the surprises that will come from long-term exposure to a different culture.

2. Set Goals

Maximize the benefits of an international assignment by setting goals for yourself at the beginning. What do you hope to accomplish in the first two weeks? How can you challenge yourself once you’ve settled in? And when you leave, what are the skills you want to take with you? Having clearly defined milestones will help you stay focused on what’s important and define the steps needed to grow your career.

3. Develop Language Skills

You may not become fluent, but practicing the local language can help you build deeper connections within the community and potentially open up new work opportunities in the future. Don’t fret if you stumble through mispronunciations and tenses at first, the more you practice, the more confident you'll become, and the better you'll get.

4. Be Adventurous

When you're abroad, it's great to take advantage of travel. You have a new world at your doorstep! It's also a chance to try activities you've never tried before.

"I've been doing things I thought of all my life but could never muster enough courage to actually do," says Timir Gupta, another member of Abbott's Finance Professional Development Program, who has traveled solo, tried skydiving, and chased the northern lights. "And it's a great conversation starter during an interview," he adds.

5. Apply New Perspectives

Gaining insight into different business practices can help you learn to look at old problems in new ways when you return home. This type of creative problem solving will be an asset no matter what your next assignment is.

"When you finally make your way back to a domestic role, you've now become an expert in two completely different professional structures," says Alexander. "You've seen what works and what doesn't in a global setting, and you can lead the group on new ways of thinking that may lead to more success."

6. Expand Your Network

Get out and build connections, both at your assignment and beyond. "Because of traveling, I have friends all over the world," says Gupta. He now has connections across five continents that he can tap into when looking for a reference or career advice.

Luckily, maintaining the professional network you build abroad is now easier than ever before. Social media, LinkedIn, and apps like WhatsApp can help you stay in contact with your colleagues and mentors.

7. Market Yourself and Build Your Career

When you return home, don't forget to incorporate your experience into your personal branding. You want to make sure prospective employers know how your new skills, perspectives, and connections set you apart. Think: How can I rework my resume and reframe interview answers to showcase what I've learned?

Depending on your experience, you may even refocus your career or choose employers who will use your global mindset. If you want more opportunities to go abroad, many multinational organizations offer international assignments. With offices in more than 150 countries, Abbott has numerous internships and development programs for students in finance, information technology, engineering, manufacturing, environmental health, and quality assurance.

Look for companies expanding in emerging markets, too. This can give you the unique opportunity to get in at the ground level and learn how to evolve a product or service to match the local market.

No matter what you choose or where you go, an international assignment can provide you with the unique opportunity to grow personally and professionally—and hopefully have a little fun along the way too.

This post was sponsored by Abbott .

• Cases, Comments and Current Trends

What Motivates People to Take on Global Work?

Although travel restrictions due to the Covid-19 pandemic are taking a toll on physically mobile people such as expatriates or migrants, the number of people working across national boundaries is nowhere near stagnating. In fact, studies such as the Santa Fe Relocation Global Mobility Survey 2020/21 suggest that the nature of global mobility is evolving in ways to offer an even broader array of opportunities. For instance, the advance of hybrid forms of international assignments or global virtual team membership provide people with mobility options that do not require being physically present in other countries. It is therefore not surprising that the number of people working across borders is still growing. In this context, one question that has been appealing to both practitioners and academics but has still not been investigated sufficiently in depth is what motivates people to become involved in “global work”, or work that goes beyond national or cultural boundaries.

One might intuitively think that previous international experiences such as university study abroad programs or international assignments in multinational companies may be a trigger for future global work. However, people differ in how they make sense of their previous experiences and make decisions about their own careers. Focusing solely on previous international experience would yield an incomplete picture of global work motivations. For instance, challenges associated with global work such as intercultural frictions or potential hazards to one’s career may deter people with previous international experience from further mobility across borders. Therefore, how might previous international experiences motivate people to take on global work? To address this conundrum, my colleagues Eren Akkan, Yih-teen Lee and I embarked on a multi-year study to understand how and under which conditions previous international experiences trigger the motivation for and actual involvement in global work.

Our first finding is that people would be motivated to take on global work to the extent that their previous international experiences lead them to define themselves as suitable for future global work. We argued that those who spent longer time in culturally novel environments would retrospectively make sense of these dense, culturally novel international experiences as the basis for feeling more “global”. More specifically, dense international experiences provide the opportunity to bridge across cultures and be used to interact with people from distant cultural backgrounds. As a result, such experiences can make people feel part of a global village that goes beyond cultural boundaries, thereby becoming global citizens.

Furthermore, our results also showed that defining oneself as global by means of dense international experiences was an insufficient motivator for future global work. In fact, we observed that these individuals should also receive signals from their foreign colleagues regarding their capability to manage effectively across cultural boundaries. Such signals of cross-cultural competence should complement the feeling of being global to perceive a personal fit for future global work. In other words, a reality check is also necessary to assure these individuals of their suitability for global work, and consequently, aspire to take on future global work.

What do these findings mean for organizations? As career motivation is one important determinant of employee performance, multinational companies that rely on experience-related information in CVs and discard employees’ own perspectives may risk selecting employees that are not fit for global work. Furthermore, companies that lack rigorous mechanisms for providing intercultural competence feedback to their employees may miss the opportunity to motivate their employees for future global work. Therefore, it is crucial for organizations to thoroughly evaluate how previous international experiences influence their employees’ self-definitions and provide their employees with accurate feedback regarding their cultural competences. Implementing such evaluation and feedback mechanisms in tandem would be critical for selecting employees who are motivated to and thus more likely to succeed in global work, eventually aiding multinational organizations to effectively utilize their global workforce.

Further reading:

Akkan, E., Lee, Y.-t., & Reiche, B.S. (2022). How and when do prior international experiences lead to global work? A career motivation perspective. Human Resource Management , 61(1): 117-132.

NB: This research was supported by funding from the Spanish AEI (PID2019-103897GB-I00/AEI/10.13039/501100011033).

• career motivation
• employee performance
• global work
• international experience
• multinational company
• Google Plus

Post a comment Cancel reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

Save my name, email, and website in this browser for the next time I comment.

• Book a Speaker

Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetur adipiscing elit. Vivamus convallis sem tellus, vitae egestas felis vestibule ut.

Error message details.

Reuse Permissions

Request permission to republish or redistribute SHRM content and materials.

Managing International Assignments

International assignment management is one of the hardest areas for HR professionals to master—and one of the most costly. The expense of a three-year international assignment can cost millions, yet many organizations fail to get it right. Despite their significant investments in international assignments, companies still report a 42 percent failure rate in these assignments. 1

With so much at risk, global organizations must invest in upfront and ongoing programs that will make international assignments successful. Selecting the right person, preparing the expatriate (expat) and the family, measuring the employee's performance from afar, and repatriating the individual at the end of an assignment require a well-planned, well-managed program. Knowing what to expect from start to finish as well as having some tools to work with can help minimize the risk.

Business Case

As more companies expand globally, they are also increasing international assignments and relying on expatriates to manage their global operations. According to KPMG's 2021 Global Assignment Policies and Practices Survey, all responding multinational organizations offered long-term assignments (typically one to five years), 88 percent offered short-term assignments (typically defined as less than 12 months), and 69 percent offered permanent transfer/indefinite length.

Managing tax and tax compliance, cost containment and managing exceptions remain the three principal challenges in long-term assignment management according to a 2020 Mercer report. 2

Identifying the Need for International Assignment

Typical reasons for an international assignment include the following:

• Filling a need in an existing operation.
• Transferring technology or knowledge to a worksite (or to a client's worksite).
• Developing an individual's career through challenging tasks in an international setting.
• Analyzing the market to see whether the company's products or services will attract clients and users.
• Launching a new product or service.

The goal of the international assignment will determine the assignment's length and help identify potential candidates. See Structuring Expatriate Assignments and the Value of Secondment and Develop Future Leaders with Rotational Programs .

Selection Process

Determining the purpose and goals for an international assignment will help guide the selection process. A technical person may be best suited for transferring technology, whereas a sales executive may be most effective launching a new product or service.

Traditionally, organizations have relied on technical, job-related skills as the main criteria for selecting candidates for overseas assignments, but assessing global mindset is equally, if not more, important for successful assignments. This is especially true given that international assignments are increasingly key components of leadership and employee development.

To a great extent, the success of every expatriate in achieving the company's goals in the host country hinges on that person's ability to influence individuals, groups and organizations that have a different cultural perspective.

Interviews with senior executives from various industries, sponsored by the Worldwide ERC Foundation, reveal that in the compressed time frame of an international assignment, expatriates have little opportunity to learn as they go, so they must be prepared before they arrive. Therefore, employers must ensure that the screening process for potential expatriates includes an assessment of their global mindset.

The research points to three major attributes of successful expatriates:

• Intellectual capital. Knowledge, skills, understanding and cognitive complexity.
• Psychological capital. The ability to function successfully in the host country through internal acceptance of different cultures and a strong desire to learn from new experiences.
• Social capital. The ability to build trusting relationships with local stakeholders, whether they are employees, supply chain partners or customers.

According to Global HR Consultant Caroline Kersten, it is generally understood that global leadership differs significantly from domestic leadership and that, as a result, expatriates need to be equipped with competencies that will help them succeed in an international environment. Commonly accepted global leadership competencies, for both male and female global leaders, include cultural awareness, open-mindedness and flexibility.

In particular, expatriates need to possess a number of vital characteristics to perform successfully on assignment. Among the necessary traits are the following:

• Confidence and self-reliance: independence; perseverance; work ethic.
• Flexibility and problem-solving skills: resilience; adaptability; ability to deal with ambiguity.
• Tolerance and interpersonal skills: social sensitivity; observational capability; listening skills; communication skills.
• Skill at handling and initiating change: personal drivers and anchors; willingness to take risks.

Trends in international assignment show an increase in the younger generation's interest and placement in global assignments. Experts also call for a need to increase female expatriates due to the expected leadership shortage and the value employers find in mixed gender leadership teams. See Viewpoint: How to Break Through the 'Mobility Ceiling' .

Employers can elicit relevant information on assignment successes and challenges by means of targeted interview questions with career expatriates, such as the following:

• How many expatriate assignments have you completed?
• What are the main reasons why you chose to accept your previous expatriate assignments?
• What difficulties did you experience adjusting to previous international assignments? How did you overcome them?
• On your last assignment, what factors made your adjustment to the new environment easier?
• What experiences made interacting with the locals easier?
• Please describe what success or failure means to you when referring to an expatriate assignment.
• Was the success or failure of your assignments measured by your employers? If so, how did they measure it?
• During your last international assignment, do you recall when you realized your situation was a success or a failure? How did you come to that determination?
• Why do you wish to be assigned an international position?

Securing Visas

Once an individual is chosen for an assignment, the organization needs to move quickly to secure the necessary visas. Requirements and processing times vary by country. Employers should start by contacting the host country's consulate or embassy for information on visa requirements. See Websites of U.S. Embassies, Consulates, and Diplomatic Missions .

Following is a list of generic visa types that may be required depending on the nature of business to be conducted in a particular country:

• A work permit authorizes paid employment in a country.
• A work visa authorizes entry into a country to take up paid employment.
• A dependent visa permits family members to accompany or join employees in the country of assignment.
• A multiple-entry visa permits multiple entries into a country.

Preparing for the Assignment

An international assignment agreement that outlines the specifics of the assignment and documents agreement by the employer and the expatriate is necessary. Topics typically covered include:

• Location of the assignment.
• Length of the assignment, including renewal and trial periods, if offered.
• Costs paid by the company (e.g., assignment preparation costs, moving costs for household goods, airfare, housing, school costs, transportation costs while in country, home country visits and security).
• Base salary and any incentives or allowances offered.
• Employee's responsibilities and goals.
• Employment taxes.
• Steps to take in the event the assignment is not working for either the employee or the employer.
• Repatriation.
• Safety and security measures (e.g., emergency evacuation procedures, hazards).

Expatriates may find the reality of foreign housing very different from expectations, particularly in host locations considered to be hardship assignments. Expats will find—depending on the degree of difficulty, hardship or danger—that housing options can range from spacious accommodations in a luxury apartment building to company compounds with dogs and armed guards. See Workers Deal with Affordable Housing Shortages in Dubai and Cairo .

Expats may also have to contend with more mundane housing challenges, such as shortages of suitable housing, faulty structures and unreliable utility services. Analyses of local conditions are available from a variety of sources. For example, Mercer produces Location Evaluation Reports, available for a fee, that evaluate levels of hardship for 14 factors, including housing, in more than 135 locations.

Although many employers acknowledge the necessity for thorough preparation, they often associate this element solely with the assignee, forgetting the other key parties involved in an assignment such as the employee's family, work team and manager.

The expatriate

Consider these points in relation to the assignee:

• Does the employee have a solid grasp of the job to be done and the goals established for that position?
• Does the employee understand the compensation and benefits package?
• Has the employee had access to cultural training and language instruction, no matter how similar the host culture may be?
• Is the employee receiving relocation assistance in connection with the physical move?
• Is there a contact person to whom the employee can go not only in an emergency but also to avoid becoming "out of sight, out of mind"?
• If necessary to accomplish the assigned job duties, has the employee undergone training to get up to speed?
• Has the assignee undergone an assessment of readiness?

To help the expatriate succeed, organizations are advised to invest in cross-cultural training before the relocation. The benefits of receiving such training are that it: 3

• Prepares the individual/family mentally for the move.
• Removes some of the unknown.
• Increases self-awareness and cross-cultural understanding.
• Provides the opportunity to address questions and anxieties in a supportive environment.
• Motivates and excites.
• Reduces stress and provides coping strategies.
• Eases the settling-in process.
• Reduces the chances of relocation failure.

See Helping Expatriate Employees Deal with Culture Shock .

As society has shifted from single- to dual-income households, the priorities of potential expatriates have evolved, as have the policies organizations use to entice employees to assignment locations. In the past, from the candidate's point of view, compensation was the most significant component of the expatriate package. Today more emphasis is on enabling an expatriate's spouse to work. Partner dissatisfaction is a significant contributor to assignment failure. See UAE: Expat Husbands Get New Work Opportunities .

When it comes to international relocation, most organizations deal with children as an afterthought. Factoring employees' children into the relocation equation is key to a successful assignment. Studies show that transferee children who have a difficult time adjusting to the assignment contribute to early returns and unsuccessful completion of international assignments, just as maladjusted spouses do. From school selection to training to repatriation, HR can do a number of things to smooth the transition for children.

Both partners and children must be prepared for relocation abroad. Employers should consider the following:

• Have they been included in discussions about the host location and what they can expect? Foreign context and culture may be more difficult for accompanying family because they will not be participating in the "more secure" environment of the worksite. Does the family have suitable personal characteristics to successfully address the rigors of an international life?
• In addition to dual-career issues, other common concerns include aging parents left behind in the home country and special needs for a child's education. Has the company allowed a forum for the family to discuss these concerns?

The work team

Whether the new expatriate will supervise the existing work team, be a peer, replace a local national or fill a newly created position, has the existing work team been briefed? Plans for a formal introduction of the new expatriate should reflect local culture and may require more research and planning as well as input from the local work team.

The manager/team leader

Questions organization need to consider include the following: Does the manager have the employee's file on hand (e.g., regarding increases, performance evaluations, promotions and problems)? Have the manager and employee engaged in in-depth conversations about the job, the manager's expectations and the employee's expectations?

Mentors play an important role in enhancing a high-performing employee's productivity and in guiding his or her career. In a traditional mentoring relationship, a junior executive has ongoing face-to-face meetings with a senior executive at the corporation to learn the ropes, set goals and gain advice on how to better perform his or her job.

Before technological advances, mentoring programs were limited to those leaders who had the time and experience within the organization's walls to impart advice to a few select people worth that investment. Technology has eliminated those constraints. Today, maintaining a long-distance mentoring relationship through e-mail, telephone and videoconferencing is much easier. And that technology means an employer is not confined to its corporate halls when considering mentor-mentee matches.

The organization

If the company is starting to send more employees abroad, it has to reassess its administrative capabilities. Can existing systems handle complicated tasks, such as currency exchanges and split payrolls, not to mention the additional financial burden of paying allowances, incentives and so on? Often, international assignment leads to outsourcing for global expertise. Payroll, tax, employment law, contractual obligations, among others, warrant an investment in sound professional advice.

Employment Laws

Four major U.S. employment laws have some application abroad for U.S. citizens working in U.S.-based multinationals:

• Title VII of the Civil Rights Act.
• The Age Discrimination in Employment Act (ADEA).
• The Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA).
• The Uniformed Services Employment and Reemployment Rights Act (USERRA).

Title VII, the ADEA and the ADA are the more far-reaching among these, covering all U.S. citizens who are either:

• Employed outside the United States by a U.S. firm.
• Employed outside the United States by a company under the control of a U.S. firm.

USERRA's extraterritoriality applies to veterans and reservists working overseas for the federal government or a firm under U.S. control. See Do laws like the Fair Labor Standards Act and the Family and Medical Leave Act apply to U.S. citizens working in several other countries?

Employers must also be certain to comply with both local employment law in the countries in which they manage assignments and requirements for corporate presence in those countries. See Where can I find international employment law and culture information?

Compensation

Companies take one of the following approaches to establish base salaries for expatriates:

• The home-country-based approach. The objective of a home-based compensation program is to equalize the employee to a standard of living enjoyed in his or her home country. Under this commonly used approach, the employee's base salary is broken down into four general categories: taxes, housing, goods and services, and discretionary income.
• The host-country-based approach. With this approach, the expatriate employee's compensation is based on local national rates. Many companies continue to cover the employee in its defined contribution or defined benefit pension schemes and provide housing allowances.
• The headquarters-based approach. This approach assumes that all assignees, regardless of location, are in one country (i.e., a U.S. company pays all assignees a U.S.-based salary, regardless of geography).
• Balance sheet approach. In this scenario, the compensation is calculated using the home-country-based approach with all allowances, deductions and reimbursements. After the net salary has been determined, it is then converted to the host country's currency. Since one of the primary goals of an international compensation management program is to maintain the expatriate's current standard of living, developing an equitable and functional compensation plan that combines balance and flexibility is extremely challenging for multinational companies. To this end, many companies adopt a balance sheet approach. This approach guarantees that employees in international assignments maintain the same standard of living they enjoyed in their home country. A worksheet lists the costs of major expenses in the home and host countries, and any differences are used to increase or decrease the compensation to keep it in balance.

Some companies also allow expatriates to split payment of their salaries between the host country's and the home country's currencies. The expatriate receives money in the host country's currency for expenses but keeps a percentage of it in the home country currency to safeguard against wild currency fluctuations in either country.

As for handling expatriates taxes, organizations usually take one of four approaches:

• The employee is responsible for his or her own taxes.
• The employer determines tax reimbursement on a case-by-case basis.
• The employer pays the difference between taxes paid in the United States and the host country.
• The employer withholds U.S. taxes and pays foreign taxes.

To prevent an expatriate employee from suffering excess taxation of income by both the U.S. and host countries, many multinational companies implement either a tax equalization or a tax reduction policy for employees on international assignments. Additionally, the United States has entered into  bilateral international social security agreements  with numerous countries, referred to as "totalization agreements," which allow for an exemption of the social security tax in either the home or host country for defined periods of time.

A more thorough discussion of compensation and tax practices for employees on international assignment can be found in SHRM's Designing Global Compensation Systems toolkit.

How do we handle taxes for expatriates?

Can employers pay employees in other countries on the corporate home-country payroll?

Measuring Expatriates' Performance

Failed international assignments can be extremely costly to an organization. There is no universal approach to measuring an expatriate's performance given that specifics related to the job, country, culture and other variables will need to be considered. Employers must identify and communicate clear job expectations and performance indicators very early on in the assignment. A consistent and detailed assessment of an expatriate employee's performance, as well as appraisal of the operation as a whole, is critical to the success of an international assignment. Issues such as the criteria for and timing of performance reviews, raises and bonuses should be discussed and agreed on before the employees are selected and placed on international assignments.

Employees on foreign assignments face a number of issues that domestic employees do not. According to a 2020 Mercer report 4 , difficulty adjusting to the host country, poor candidate selection and spouse or partner's unhappiness are the top three reasons international assignments fail. Obviously, retention of international assignees poses a significant challenge to employers.

Upon completion of an international assignment, retaining the employee in the home country workplace is also challenging. Unfortunately, many employers fail to track retention data of repatriated employees and could benefit from collecting this information and making adjustments to reduce the turnover of employees returning to their home country.

Safety and Security

When faced with accident, injury, sudden illness, a disease outbreak or politically unstable conditions in which personal safety is at risk, expatriate employees and their dependents may require evacuation to the home country or to a third location. To be prepared, HR should have an evacuation plan in place that the expatriate can share with friends, extended family and colleagues both at home and abroad. See Viewpoint: Optimizing Global Mobility's Emergency Response Plans .

Many companies ban travel outside the country in the following circumstances:

• When a travel advisory is issued by the World Health Organization, Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, International SOS or a government agency.
• When a widespread outbreak of a specific disease occurs or if the risk is deemed too high for employees and their well-being is in jeopardy.
• If the country is undergoing civil unrest or war or if an act of terrorism has occurred.
• If local management makes the decision.
• If the employee makes the decision.

Once employees are in place, the decision to evacuate assignees and dependents from a host location is contingent on local conditions and input from either internal sources (local managers, headquarters staff, HR and the assignee) or external sources (an external security or medical firm) or both. In some cases, each host country has its own set of evacuation procedures.

Decision-makers should consider all available and credible advice and initially transport dependents and nonessential personnel out of the host country by the most expeditious form of travel.

Navigating International Crises

How can an organization ensure the safety and security of expatriates and other employees in high-risk areas?

The Disaster Assistance Improvement Program (DAIP)

Repatriation

Ideally, the repatriation process begins before the expatriate leaves his or her home country and continues throughout the international assignment by addressing the following issues.

Career planning. Many managers are responsible for resolving difficult problems abroad and expect that a well-done job will result in promotion on return, regardless of whether the employer had made such a promise. This possibly unfounded assumption can be avoided by straightforward career planning that should occur in advance of the employee's accepting the international assignment. Employees need to know what impact the expatriate assignment will have on their overall advancement in the home office and that the international assignment fits in their career path.

Mentoring. The expatriate should be assigned a home-office mentor. Mentors are responsible for keeping expatriates informed on developments within the company, for keeping the expatriates' names in circulation in the office (to help avoid the out-of-sight, out-of-mind phenomenon) and for seeing to it that expatriates are included in important meetings. Mentors can also assist the expatriate in identifying how the overseas experience can best be used on return. Optimum results are achieved when the mentor role is part of the mentor's formal job duties.

Communication. An effective global communication plan will help expatriates feel connected to the home office and will alert them to changes that occur while they are away. The Internet, e-mail and intranets are inexpensive and easy ways to bring expatriates into the loop and virtual meeting software is readily available for all employers to engage with global employees. In addition, organizations should encourage home-office employees to keep in touch with peers on overseas assignments. Employee newsletters that feature global news and expatriate assignments are also encouraged.

Home visits. Most companies provide expatriates with trips home. Although such trips are intended primarily for personal visits, scheduling time for the expatriate to visit the home office is an effective method of increasing the expatriate's visibility. Having expatriates attend a few important meetings or make a presentation on their international assignment is also a good way to keep them informed and connected.

Preparation to return home. The expatriate should receive plenty of advance notice (some experts recommend up to one year) of when the international assignment will end. This notice will allow the employee time to prepare the family and to prepare for a new position in the home office. Once the employee is notified of the assignment's end, the HR department should begin working with the expatriate to identify suitable positions in the home office. The expatriate should provide the HR department with an updated resume that reflects the duties of the overseas assignment. The employee's overall career plan should be included in discussions with the HR professional.

Interviews. In addition to home leave, organizations may need to provide trips for the employee to interview with prospective managers. The face-to-face interview will allow the expatriate to elaborate on skills and responsibilities obtained while overseas and will help the prospective manager determine if the employee is a good fit. Finding the right position for the expatriate is crucial to retaining the employee. Repatriates who feel that their new skills and knowledge are underutilized may grow frustrated and leave the employer.

Ongoing recognition of contributions. An employer can recognize and appreciate the repatriates' efforts in several ways, including the following:

• Hosting a reception for repatriates to help them reconnect and meet new personnel.
• Soliciting repatriates' help in preparing other employees for expatriation.
• Asking repatriates to deliver a presentation or prepare a report on their overseas assignment.
• Including repatriates on a global task force and asking them for a global perspective on business issues.

Measuring ROI on expatriate assignments can be cumbersome and imprecise. The investment costs of international assignments can vary dramatically and can be difficult to determine. The largest expatriate costs include overall remuneration, housing, cost-of-living allowances (which sometimes include private schooling costs for children) and physical relocation (the movement to the host country of the employee, the employee's possessions and, often, the employee's family).

But wide variations exist in housing expenses. For example, housing costs are sky-high in Tokyo and London, whereas Australia's housing costs are moderate. Another significant cost of expatriate assignments involves smoothing out differences in pay and benefits between one country and another. Such cost differences can be steep and can vary based on factors such as exchange rates (which can be quite volatile) and international tax concerns (which can be extremely complex).

Once an organization has determined the costs of a particular assignment, the second part of the ROI challenge is calculating the return. Although it is relatively straightforward to quantify the value of fixing a production line in Puerto Rico or of implementing an enterprise software application in Asia, the challenge of quantifying the value of providing future executives with cross-cultural perspectives and international leadership experience can be intimidating.

Once an organization determines the key drivers of its expatriate program, HR can begin to define objectives and assess return that can be useful in guiding employees and in making decisions about the costs they incur as expatriates. Different objectives require different levels and lengths of tracking. Leadership development involves a much longer-term value proposition and should include a thorough repatriation plan. By contrast, the ROI of an international assignment that plugs a skills gap is not negatively affected if the expatriate bolts after successfully completing the engagement.

Additional Resources

International Assignment Management: Expatriate Policy and Procedure

Introduction to the Global Human Resources Discipline

1Mulkeen, D. (2017, February 20). How to reduce the risk of international assignment failure. Communicaid. Retrieved from https://www.communicaid.com/cross-cultural-training/blog/reducing-risk-international-assignment-failure/

2Mercer. (2020). Worldwide Survey of International Assignment Policies and Practices. Retrieved from https://mobilityexchange.mercer.com/international-assignments-survey .

3Dickmann, M., & Baruch, Y. (2011). Global careers. New York: Routledge.

4Mercer. (2020). Worldwide Survey of International Assignment Policies and Practices. Retrieved from https://mobilityexchange.mercer.com/international-assignments-survey

Related Articles

Rising Demand for Workforce AI Skills Leads to Calls for Upskilling

As artificial intelligence technology continues to develop, the demand for workers with the ability to work alongside and manage AI systems will increase. This means that workers who are not able to adapt and learn these new skills will be left behind in the job market.

Employers Want New Grads with AI Experience, Knowledge

A vast majority of U.S. professionals say students entering the workforce should have experience using AI and be prepared to use it in the workplace, and they expect higher education to play a critical role in that preparation.

The Pros and Cons of ‘Dry’ Promotions

Hr daily newsletter.

New, trends and analysis, as well as breaking news alerts, to help HR professionals do their jobs better each business day.

Success title

Success caption

To read this content please select one of the options below:

Please note you do not have access to teaching notes, intrinsic motivation for an international assignment.

International Journal of Manpower

ISSN : 0143-7720

Article publication date: 15 August 2008

This study aims to explore how the motivational construct of intrinsic motivation for an international assignment relates to variables of interest in international expatriation research.

Design/methodology/approach

Questionnaire data from 331 employed business school alumni of a high‐ranking Canadian MBA program was analyzed. The sample consisted of respondents from a wide variety of industries and occupations, with more than half of them in marketing, administration or engineering.

Higher intrinsic motivation for an international assignment was associated with greater willingness to accept an international assignment and to communicate in a foreign language. Externally driven motivation for an international assignment was associated with perceiving more difficulties associated with an international assignment. Intrinsic and extrinsic motivations for an international assignment were, however, associated with comparable reactions to organizational support.

Originality/value

Drawing from self‐determination theory, this study explores the distinction between authentic versus externally controlled motivations for an international assignment. It underscores the need to pay more attention to motivational constructs in selecting, coaching, and training individuals for international expatriation assignments. It extends a rich tradition of research in the area of motivation to the international assignment arena.

• Expatriates
• Motivation (psychology)
• Multinational companies

Haines, V.Y. , Saba, T. and Choquette, E. (2008), "Intrinsic motivation for an international assignment", International Journal of Manpower , Vol. 29 No. 5, pp. 443-461. https://doi.org/10.1108/01437720810888571

Emerald Group Publishing Limited

Copyright © 2008, Emerald Group Publishing Limited

Related articles

We’re listening — tell us what you think, something didn’t work….

Report bugs here

All feedback is valuable

Please share your general feedback

Join us on our journey

Platform update page.

Visit emeraldpublishing.com/platformupdate to discover the latest news and updates

Questions & More Information

Answers to the most commonly asked questions here

Leo Packers and Movers

• International Moving

How to Prepare Employees for International Assignments

In today’s globalized world, international assignments are increasingly prevalent. These opportunities allow employees to develop skills, gain experience, and contribute to their company’s global expansion. However, these assignments can also pose challenges, requiring employees to adapt to new cultures, languages, and ways of life.

Ensuring the success of an international assignment involves proper preparation, including providing the necessary skills, knowledge, and support.

Key Steps in Preparing Employees for International Assignments

Here are key steps in preparing employees for international assignments:

1. Assess Employee Suitability

Consider factors such as language skills, cultural adaptability, and willingness to relocate to determine if an employee is suited for an international assignment.

2. Offer Cultural Training

Provide insights into the host country’s culture, customs, and business practices to foster understanding.

3. Provide Language Training

For interactions with non-native speakers, offering language training can be beneficial.

4. Assist in Relocation

Facilitate housing, transportation, and help with visa and immigration paperwork.

5. Ensure Ongoing Support

Regular check-ins and resources for handling challenges are crucial to ongoing success.

Benefits of preparing employees for international assignments include:

• Enhanced Performance: Prepared employees are better equipped to handle challenges in new cultural environments, boosting their overall success.
• Increased Confidence: Cultural training and support bolster employees’ confidence in succeeding abroad.
• Improved Cross-Cultural Collaboration: Cultural understanding leads to smoother collaboration with international colleagues.
• Quick Adaptation: Preparation speeds up employees’ acclimatization, reducing stress.
• Higher Job Satisfaction: Well-prepared employees enjoy assignments more, leading to increased job satisfaction.
• Higher ROI: Companies investing in preparation tend to yield higher assignment success rates.

By following these steps, companies can ensure employees are well-equipped for international assignments, benefiting both employees and the company.

Additional Tips for Preparing Employees for Overseas Assignments

Additional tips for preparing employees for overseas assignments:

• Realistic Expectations: Help employees understand potential challenges, aiding in expectation management.
• Stay Connected to Home Culture: Encourage maintaining ties to their home culture for a sense of identity.
• Share Experiences: Provide avenues for sharing experiences with fellow colleagues for mutual support.

These strategies empower companies to facilitate positive and successful international assignments for their employees.

Pre-Move Training

Pre-move training is a crucial component of preparing employees for international assignments. It should cover practical aspects such as visa requirements, legal obligations, and documentation. Additionally, it’s an opportunity to address employees’ questions and concerns, setting expectations for the assignment.

Your Potential Challenges

Understanding the potential challenges that employees may face during international assignments is essential. These challenges can include language barriers, cultural differences, and adapting to a new work environment. Identifying these challenges in advance allows for proactive preparation and support.

Areas for Cultural Training

Cultural training plays a pivotal role in helping employees navigate the nuances of a foreign culture. This training should encompass areas such as communication styles, social norms, and business etiquette. Cultural sensitivity training ensures that employees can integrate seamlessly into their new environment and foster positive relationships with local colleagues and clients.

Provide Support On The Ground

Supporting employees on the ground is essential for their well-being and success during international assignments. Employers can offer assistance with housing, transportation, and settling-in services. At Leo Packers and Movers, we specialize in facilitating smooth transitions by managing logistics and ensuring that employees have the support they need.

Establishing clear timelines for each phase of the international assignment is critical. This includes planning the move, pre-move training, arrival in the host country, and ongoing support. Having a well-structured timeline ensures that all aspects of the assignment are coordinated and that employees are prepared at every stage.

Preparing employees for international assignments requires careful planning and attention to detail. At Leo Packers and Movers, we understand the importance of a seamless relocation process. By providing pre-move training, addressing potential challenges, offering cultural training, and ensuring on-ground support, employers can ensure that their employees are well-prepared and equipped to thrive in their international assignments. Clear timelines help streamline the process and ensure a successful transition for everyone involved.

Embarking on an international assignment is a significant undertaking for both employees and their employers. Preparing employees adequately for the challenges of living and working in a foreign country is essential to ensure their success and well-being. At Leo Packers and Movers, we understand the intricacies of international relocation services . In this guide, we will explore the various aspects of preparing employees for international assignments, including pre-move training, potential challenges, areas for cultural training, on-ground support, and timelines.

The information provided on this website is for general informational purposes only. Service availability may vary, and we recommend consulting with us to confirm the suitability and availability of any Leo Packers and Movers services before making any requests or decisions based on the information presented here.

Leave a Reply Cancel reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

Save my name, email, and website in this browser for the next time I comment.

Related News

International Moving Insurance: Types, Costs, and Expert Insights

You may have missed.

Why Hire Professional Packers & Movers for A Intercity Moving Services

Quality Packers and Movers Checklist

Moving to Bangalore? Top 10 Things You Should Know

Long-term vs. Short-term Storage Services: Which Option is Right for You?

Comparing Storage Services: Self-Storage, Warehousing, and More

The Pros and Cons of Door-to-Door Vehicle Shipping in India

• Help & FAQ

Selection for international assignments

Research output : Contribution to journal › Article › peer-review

The selection of individuals to fill international assignments is particularly challenging because the content domain for assessing candidates focuses primary attention on job context rather than attempting to forecast the ability to perform specific tasks on the job or more generally, the elements listed in a technical job description. International assignment selection systems are centered on predicting to the environment in which the incumbents will need to work effectively rather than the technical or functional job they are being asked to do which in many cases is already assessed or assumed to be at an acceptable level of competence. Therefore, unlike predictors of success in the domestic context where knowledge, skills, and abilities may dominate the selection strategy, many psychological and biodata factors including personality characteristics, language fluency, and international experience take on increasing importance in predicting international assignee success. This article focuses on the predictors affecting the outcome of international assignments and the unique selection practices, which can be employed in selection for international assignments. In addition, this article discusses the practical challenges for implementing the suggestions for selecting international assignees.

All Science Journal Classification (ASJC) codes

• Applied Psychology
• Organizational Behavior and Human Resource Management

Access to Document

• 10.1016/j.hrmr.2009.02.001

Other files and links

• Link to publication in Scopus
• Link to the citations in Scopus

Fingerprint

• International Assignments Business & Economics 100%
• Job Description Medicine & Life Sciences 57%
• Predictors Business & Economics 39%
• Mental Competency Medicine & Life Sciences 35%
• Personality Medicine & Life Sciences 33%
• Biodata Business & Economics 30%
• Language Medicine & Life Sciences 29%
• Psychology Medicine & Life Sciences 25%

T1 - Selection for international assignments

AU - Caligiuri, Paula

AU - Tarique, Ibraiz

AU - Jacobs, Rick

PY - 2009/9

Y1 - 2009/9

N2 - The selection of individuals to fill international assignments is particularly challenging because the content domain for assessing candidates focuses primary attention on job context rather than attempting to forecast the ability to perform specific tasks on the job or more generally, the elements listed in a technical job description. International assignment selection systems are centered on predicting to the environment in which the incumbents will need to work effectively rather than the technical or functional job they are being asked to do which in many cases is already assessed or assumed to be at an acceptable level of competence. Therefore, unlike predictors of success in the domestic context where knowledge, skills, and abilities may dominate the selection strategy, many psychological and biodata factors including personality characteristics, language fluency, and international experience take on increasing importance in predicting international assignee success. This article focuses on the predictors affecting the outcome of international assignments and the unique selection practices, which can be employed in selection for international assignments. In addition, this article discusses the practical challenges for implementing the suggestions for selecting international assignees.

AB - The selection of individuals to fill international assignments is particularly challenging because the content domain for assessing candidates focuses primary attention on job context rather than attempting to forecast the ability to perform specific tasks on the job or more generally, the elements listed in a technical job description. International assignment selection systems are centered on predicting to the environment in which the incumbents will need to work effectively rather than the technical or functional job they are being asked to do which in many cases is already assessed or assumed to be at an acceptable level of competence. Therefore, unlike predictors of success in the domestic context where knowledge, skills, and abilities may dominate the selection strategy, many psychological and biodata factors including personality characteristics, language fluency, and international experience take on increasing importance in predicting international assignee success. This article focuses on the predictors affecting the outcome of international assignments and the unique selection practices, which can be employed in selection for international assignments. In addition, this article discusses the practical challenges for implementing the suggestions for selecting international assignees.

UR - http://www.scopus.com/inward/record.url?scp=67649531910&partnerID=8YFLogxK

UR - http://www.scopus.com/inward/citedby.url?scp=67649531910&partnerID=8YFLogxK

U2 - 10.1016/j.hrmr.2009.02.001

DO - 10.1016/j.hrmr.2009.02.001

M3 - Article

AN - SCOPUS:67649531910

SN - 1053-4822

JO - Human Resource Management Review

JF - Human Resource Management Review

An official website of the United States government

The .gov means it’s official. Federal government websites often end in .gov or .mil. Before sharing sensitive information, make sure you’re on a federal government site.

The site is secure. The https:// ensures that you are connecting to the official website and that any information you provide is encrypted and transmitted securely.

• Publications
• Account settings

Preview improvements coming to the PMC website in October 2024. Learn More or Try it out now .

• Advanced Search
• Journal List
• Front Sociol

How do Individuals Form Their Motivations to Expatriate? A Review and Future Research Agenda

Vilmante Kumpikaite-Valiuniene , Kaunas University of Technology, Lithuania

For two decades, individual motivations to expatriate have received substantial attention in the expatriation literature examining self-initiated and assigned expatriation. Recently, however, this literature has changed direction, demonstrating that prior to forming their actual motivations, individuals undergo a process wherein they actively form those motivations. No review has yet unraveled this motivation process, and this systematic literature review fills this gap. Using the Rubicon Action model that discusses the motivation process of expatriation, this article demonstrates that for self-initiated and assigned expatriation, individuals follow similar processes: expatriation expectations are formed; then, they are evaluated; and finally, preferences are built that result in motivations to expatriate. Findings for each stage are discussed in light of their contributions to the expatriation literature. For major gaps, new research suggestions are offered to advance our understanding of the individual motivation process that expats experience prior to forming their motivations to move abroad.

Introduction

For many countries, expatriation is of paramount importance, especially because it brings in knowledge and talent from abroad, strengthening the competitive advantages of regions and cities within countries ( Ridgway and Robson, 2018 ), and it may even improve a country’s global economic status ( Caligiuri and Bonache, 2016 ). Many countries therefore adopt national and regional strategies to attract talent, as is the case, for example, in the Gulf State of Qatar, where highly skilled expatriates are attracted from Europe, North America, Australia, Egypt, Jordan and the Philippines. The experience, skills and competencies of these expatriates are expected to benefit the country’s stakeholders ( Baruch and Forstenlechner, 2017 ). Also, China welcomes branch campuses of international universities to attract academics from the United Kingdom, Australia and Germany, thus strengthening the country’s human capital ( Cai and Hall, 2016 ). Recognizing the importance of expatriation to countries, researchers have also paid substantial attention to this topic in academic work. This research conducted over the past two decades has identified two main types of expatriation: self-initiated expatriation (SIE) and assigned expatriation (AE) ( Andresen et al., 2014 ; Pinto and Caldas, 2015 ; Farcas and Goncalves, 2017 ). Studies have sought to make better sense of these types of expatriation by studying, in particular, individual motivations to expatriate ( Suutari and Brewster, 2001 ; Hippler, 2009 ; Lee and Kuzhabekova, 2018 ; Ridgway and Robson, 2018 ). Perhaps because individual motivations to expatriate to a specific country reflect the country-level factors that attract talent ( Ridgway and Robson, 2018 ), identifying these factors may thus help countries establish effective strategies to attract more talented individuals. Overall, the research findings in this area demonstrate that individuals that undergo SIE and AE are motivated to move abroad by their desire to explore other job opportunities (e.g., Doherty et al., 2011 ; Froese, 2012 ) or have a general interest in enhancing their career ( Quantin et al., 2012 ). They may also be motivated to move abroad to live in a country that is economically and politically better developed than their home country ( Harry et al., 2017 ).

Interestingly, such motivations to expatriate are not always driven by serendipity, as extant work suggests (e.g., Doherty, 2013 ); thus, individuals may actively pursue a strategy to expatriate ( Shortland, 2018 ). This suggests that prior to actual expatriation, individuals go through a process that influences their motivation to expatriate. Confirming this thinking, Glassock and Fee (2015) demonstrate that individuals use social media to actively look for vacancies abroad, a practice that likely influences their motivation to expatriate to a specific country because social media can provide information about job markets in different countries. Likewise, Harris and Brewster (1999) and Shortland (2018) argue that managers utilize their informal networks to look for opportunities to work abroad, which also likely influences their actual motivation to move and work abroad because they can evaluate whether expatriation will benefit their careers ( Pinto and Caldas, 2015 ). Thus, not only do individuals go through a process that influences how and why specific expatriation motivations are formed, but they also seem to have an active role in guiding this process (i.e., triggering their own motivations to expatriate). While this knowledge is clearly discussed in the extant expatriation literature, no review has yet unraveled this individual motivation process (e.g., Al Ariss and Crowley-Henry, 2013 ; Doherty, 2013 ; Andresen et al., 2014 ; Caligiuri and Bonache, 2016 ; Farcas and Goncalves, 2017 ). Therefore, it is not known how and why individuals form specific motivations to expatriate and what their active role is in forming their own motivation. The purpose of this paper is to fill in this gap by systematically reviewing articles examining individuals’ motivations to expatriate via SIE and AE. By doing so, we particularly focus on 1) whether the articles discuss the process that individuals go through in forming their motivations to expatriate and 2) whether they have an active role in forming their own motivations. To unravel this motivation process, we draw upon the Rubicon model of action phases ( Heckhausen and Gollwitzer 1987 ; Heckhausen and Heckhausen, 2018 ), which discusses the entire decision-making process of individual expatriation. According to Andresen et al. (2014) , motivations are formed in this model through a series of steps: individuals actively form their expectations towards expatriation, then take an active role in evaluating their options to move as SIEs or AEs, and then actively build their preferences for moving somewhere. According to the authors, both SIEs and AEs go through the same stages, and hence, the motivation process is supposed to be the same for both groups.

This article makes two important contributions to the expatriation literature. First, it contributes to extant literature review papers on expatriation motivations by unraveling the process behind the actual motivations. We therefore provide greater understanding of the process that individuals go through when they are pushed towards expatriation ( Doherty, 2013 ; Glassock and Fee, 2015 ). Second, we aim to demonstrate that as individuals go through that process, they have an active role in forming their own motivations to expatriate. We therefore contribute to extant work that argues that motivations to expatriate are driven by more than just serendipity (e.g., Doherty, 2013 ) by providing explanations for why this is indeed the case. In the remainder of this article, we define SIE and AE and provide a brief overview of their motivations to expatriate, followed by an explanation of the motivation process in expatriation. We then discuss how we have conducted our review and present our findings. Finally, we discuss future research areas that will further enhance our understanding of how and why motivations to expatriate are formed.

Defining Self-Initiated and Assigned Expatriation

Self-initiated expatriation.

We follow Doherty (2013) and Al Ariss and Crowley-Henry (2013) , who define SIE as denoting internationally mobile individuals who have moved—through their own agency or through an organizationally supported expatriation—to another country for an indeterminate duration. SIEs are considered migrants if they decide to stay in the host country permanently ( Al Ariss and Özbilgin, 2010 ). Because motivations to undertake expatriation are also influenced by demographic characteristics (e.g., Selmer and Lauring, 2010 ; Doherty et al., 2011 ; Lauring et al., 2014 ), it is worthwhile to mention the demographic characteristics of both SIEs and AEs. SIEs tend to be represented by slightly younger individuals, who may be unmarried or married and accompanied by their spouses in their expatriation ( Suutari and Brewster, 2000 ). Individuals studied under the banner of SIEs include graduates (e.g., Suutari and Brewster, 2001 ), academics (e.g., Lee and Kuzhabekova, 2018 ), doctors (e.g., Humphries, et al., 2015 ), entrepreneurs (e.g., Selmer et al., 2018 ) and managers, technicians and other professionals ( Ewers and Shockley, 2018 ).

Assigned Expatriation

We follow the definition of AE used in prior work but emphasize that individuals do have some choice in accepting or declining job assignments and that they may also actively initiate their own AE ( Harris and Brewster, 1999 ). Hence, we define AE as denoting employees who undertake a sponsored expatriation because they have been assigned to a foreign subsidiary by their parent organization, which was either a result of their own initiative (e.g., Harris and Brewster, 1999 ) or their employer’s initiative but where they had the choice to accept or decline the offer ( Andresen et al., 2014 ; Cerdin and Selmer, 2014 ). AEs tend to be slightly older and represented more by married males who are also accompanied by their spouses and families ( Suutari and Brewster, 2000 ). Furthermore, AEs tend to be more represented by top managers ( Pinto et al., 2012 ; Pinto and Caldas, 2015 ).

Motivations to Expatriate for SIE and AE

Prior work demonstrates that the motivations of SIEs to move abroad have been largely explained by push and pull factors (e.g., Thorn, 2009 ; Doherty, 2013 ; Lee and Kuzhabekova, 2018 ). SIEs move abroad to improve their lifestyle and quality of life ( Marian, 2010 ); thus, career opportunities, cultural exposure, and economic and political factors are push factors motivating them to move abroad (e.g., Richardson and McKenna, 2002 ; Thorn et al., 2013 ), while family considerations tend to operate as pull factors towards the home context, demotivating individuals from initiating expatriation ( Jackson et al., 2005 ). AEs move abroad to fill managerial and technical positions in the host country ( Caligiuri and Bonache, 2016 ). Push factors triggering AEs to expatriate are—in addition to pressure from superiors ( Pinto et al., 2012 ; Pinto and Caldas, 2015 )—gaining new challenging international work experience, progressing in one’s career and wanting to learn more about oneself ( Hippler, 2009 ). Similar to SIEs, AEs are concerned with pursuing personal and professional development ( Baruch and Forstenlechner, 2017 ). AEs are also concerned with their partner’s and children’s attitude towards relocation; hence, family considerations tend to also operate as pull factors towards the home context, triggering individuals to decline international job offers ( Doherty et al., 2011 ; Froese, 2012 ). Indeed, Doherty and her collaborators (2011) compared the motivations of SIEs and AEs and concluded that career considerations may be important for both groups but are significantly more important to AEs because their international experience is coupled with career development and progression. For SIEs, the status of the host country is a much stronger pull factor towards expatriation, likely influencing where individuals decide to pursue their career path. Because career motivations still apply to both SIEs and AEs and because cultural, economic and political factors are country-level factors attracting expats ( Jackson et al., 2005 ; Doherty et al., 2011 ), we use the categories career, economy , politics and culture to analyze and report our findings regarding the motivations of SIEs and AEs to go abroad and the processes underlying these motivations. Our career category involves motivations related to the subjective career, which is an individual’s sense or evaluation of his or her own career needs and development ( Volmer and Spurk, 2011 ); this concept refers, for example, to career aspirations, employment security and access to learning and development ( Arthur et al., 2005 ). This category also involves motivations related to one’s objective career, which refers to visible indicators of individuals’ career positions, situations and status ( Arthur et al., 2005 ); it involves income, family situation, task attributes, mobility and job level ( van Maanen, 1977 , p. 9). Our economy category includes motivations derived from a country’s wealth level, which refers, for example, to regulations that exempt residents from paying taxes ( Humphries et al., 2015 ), leaving them with a higher net income ( Alonso-Garbayo and Maben, 2009 ). Our politics category involves motivations derived from factors relating to the politics of a country ( Thorn, 2009 ), such as immigration policies and the freedom to practice different religions ( Alonso-Garbayo and Maben, 2009 ), such as its food, language, habits and any other cultural activities.

Motivation Process

Before actual expatriation motivations are formed, both SIEs and AEs go through a similar process where expatriation expectations are determined, alternatives are evaluated and preferences are built ( Andresen et al., 2014 ). This motivation process has been explained in extant work using the Rubicon model of action phases ( Heckhausen and Gollwitzer, 1987 ; Andresen et al., 2014 ; Heckhausen and Heckhausen, 2018 ; Andresen et al., 2014 ), where in the first stage of the process, individuals start creating a diffuse idea about the benefits of moving abroad in order to address their individual motivations; this idea forms their expatriation expectations . Individuals have an active role triggering their own expectations, as individuals’ perceptions about the benefits of moving abroad develop when they are making sense of the expatriation experiences of others ( Kim, 2010 ). SIEs tend to form expectations by using input from multiple external sources, such as friends, family and the internet ( Glassock and Fee, 2015 ). On the other hand, in forming their expatriation expectations, AEs derive input and clues from colleagues who have already been sent on similar international postings ( Pinto and Caldas, 2015 ). Once expectations are formed, individuals continue in the second stage by evaluating their options to expatriate ( Andresen et al., 2014 ). This stage implies that they can consider taking the initiative to apply for a job abroad without seeking any organizational support or assistance (SIE) ( Suutari and Brewster, 2000 ). If individuals perceive that such actions will likely be unsuccessful, they may consider seeking assistance from recruitment agencies ( Farcas and Goncalves, 2017 ), use social networks (i.e., friends, family) to find a job abroad ( Baruch and Forstenlechner, 2017 ), or seek support from a company that is willing to support their expatriation ( Alonso-Garbayo and Maben, 2009 ). This company could be the individual’s current employer (AE) ( Cuhlova, 2017 ) or a company abroad seeking to recruit foreigners (SIE) (e.g., Alonso-Garbayo and Maben, 2009 ). Thus, in this stage, tools and other resources are likely used to evaluate options for expatriation.

The final stage, where preferences are built, is influenced by valence and expectancy parameters ( Vroom, 1964 ). Valence can be interpreted as the anticipated satisfaction with an outcome, whereas expectancy can be interpreted as an action or effort leading to the preferred outcome ( Vroom, 1964 ). In terms of expatriation, this definition implies that individuals prefer to expatriate to a country where they expect to have the most opportunities to address their individual and family needs. Such a country will be a preferred location if it offers more job opportunities, higher salaries and better assignment packages than other countries, as well as a safe environment to raise a family ( Jackson et al., 2005 ; Froese, 2012 ; Lee and Kuzhabekova, 2018 ; Richardson and Wong, 2018 ).

Methodology

The purpose of a systematic literature review is to develop conceptual consolidation across a fragmented field of study and to remove subjectivity by using a predefined selection algorithm ( Tranfield et al., 2003 ). In this sense, we also systematically reviewed articles about individual motivations to go abroad to unravel the individual process behind the actual motivations. In line with Tranfield et al. (2003) systematic review methodology, we also performed the three steps of data collection, data analysis and reporting the findings, which we discuss further below.

Data Collection

We conducted a series of searches using the ISI Web of Knowledge Database. This database has been used in prior similar work (e.g., Al-Ariss and Crowley-Henry, 2013 ; Farcas and Goncalves, 2017 ; Davda et al., 2018 ) because it includes all journals that have an impact factor and are listed in the Social Science Citation Index; hence, these journals are recognized to have an impact in the expatriation field. We found that the first article examining motivations to expatriate was published in 1994. Our initial search started in 2019 and was therefore focused on identifying articles that were published in the period between 1994 and 2019. We limited the scope of our review by using the key words “expatriate”, “migrant” and “digital nomad” combined with the additional key words “motive”, “motiv”, and “reason” because these terms are mainly used in articles studying motivations in the expatriation literature (e.g., Doherty et al., 2011 ; Harry et al., 2017 ). This search returned 919 results. Then, 148 duplicate articles were removed automatically by the web of science, leaving us with 771 articles. We then proceeded to read the abstracts of all 771 articles and excluded another 710 articles because the topics of those articles did not match the purpose of our review. The excluded articles discussed topics such as medical tourism behavior ( Mathijsen, 2019 ), psychological contract perspectives on expatriation failure ( Kumarika Perera et al., 2017 ) and cultural leadership behavior ( Kennedy, 2018 ). All remaining 61 articles were included for full text review, but only 44 articles were included in the final sample because these articles examine individual motivations to expatriate, are empirical studies (i.e., quantitative and qualitative studies) and are written in English. Therefore, literature review articles and empirical studies written in a language other than English were excluded from the final sample. In 2021, we followed the same search strategy to explore whether new articles were published between 2019 and 2021. This search added two articles to the final sample. One additional article was added as it was suggested by a reviewer. The final sample includes 47 articles. Figure 1 shows our data collection visually, and Table 1 includes a bibliography of all included articles.

Data collection.

Overview of articles included in final sample.

Data Analysis

To analyze our data, we set up a table with thematic codes that included the 1) Name (s) of the author (s); 2) Title; 3) Year of publication; 4) Journal Title; 5) Methodology; 6) Sample; 7) Expatriation type (SIE or AE) 8) Gender; 9) Occupation; (10) Motivation to expatriate; 11) Push and pull factors influencing the motivation process of all four motivations; and 12) Country, (i.e., home or host country). The motivation categories were derived from prior work examining motivations to expatriate and included, as discussed above, career, economy, politics and culture. Finally, the tables were filled in for the self-initiated and assigned expatriates separately.

Expatriation Motivations and Processes

We found thirty-four articles identifying career as a motivation to expatriate for both SIEs and AEs (SIE, N = 23; AE, N = 11). Among these articles, thirty-four discuss expatriation expectations, twenty-nine discuss how individuals expatriate (as SIE or AE), and fifteen demonstrate that individuals developed preferences to expatriate to a specific country. Below, we discuss our findings by applying them to the three stages of the motivation process.

Forming expectations. Focusing on one specific group of employees, ten articles demonstrate that academics expect that expatriation could offer more opportunities to develop their academic careers. For instance, studies by Lauring et al. (2014) and Selmer and Lauring (2011 , 2012) highlight that academics expect career enhancement during their expatriation. Furthermore, Selmer and Lauring (2010) demonstrate that there is an association between age and career development, which implies—according to the authors—that younger academics expect to find more career development opportunities once they expatriate. Studies by Stephan, Franzoni and Scellato (2016) , Lee and Kuzhabekova (2018) and Richardson and Wong (2018) indicate that academics expect to find more opportunities to engage in research if they expatriate to another country. According to Lee and Kuzhabekova (2018) , such expectations are coupled with expectations of finding a better balance between teaching and research at universities abroad. Lee and Kuzhabekova (2018) also emphasize that academics expect to contribute to new institutions by developing new programs while working abroad. Similarly, other studies find that academics intend to become involved in new projects when they move abroad ( Glassock and Fee, 2015 ; Cai and Hall, 2016 ). Academics from the United States indicate that they expect to find more job opportunities abroad compared to their home country, where a surplus of doctorates creates a highly competitive job market ( Froese, 2012 ; Lee and Kuzhabekova, 2018 ).

According to four articles, other employees specified as healthcare professionals expected to address several career needs if they moved abroad. For example, Alonso-Garbayo and Maben (2009) , Quantin et al. (2012) and Rodriguez-Arrastia et al. (2021) indicate that healthcare professionals expect to find a work environment with higher standards, where they can gain new knowledge and develop new skills. In a similar vein, Humphries et al. (2015) demonstrate that healthcare professionals expect to have opportunities for postgraduate training if they expatriate, which would benefit their careers. In addition, Quantin et al. (2012) clearly demonstrate that healthcare professionals located in different countries have different expectations of expatriation. While French doctors especially expect to find improved work conditions abroad, United Kingdom doctors expect to find interesting new positions.

Another group of employees identified in eleven articles includes managers, directors and vice presidents. In this group, expatriation expectations were found to be linked to career progression expectations (e.g., Napier and Taylor, 2002 ; Jackson et al., 2005 ; Konopaske et al., 2009 ; Dickmann and Mills, 2010 ; Pinto et al., 2012 ; Pinto and Caldas, 2015 ; Farcas and Goncalves, 2017 ). In this case, career progression expectations refer to expectations of finding new work responsibilities and new professional challenges while working abroad ( Dickmann and Mills, 2010 ; Farcas and Goncalves, 2017 ). In a similar vein, financial professionals, engineers, designers, lawyers, senior care assistants, and government officials are discussed in four articles, in which it is argued that they expect to meet their career progression expectations if they move abroad (e.g., Doherty et al., 2011 ; Cuhlova, 2017 ; Shortland, 2018 ) or to upgrade their knowledge and improve their general skills ( Martins and Bernik, 2017 ).

Other skilled employees for whom their profession was not specified in the articles also highlight career as a reason to move abroad, as mentioned in eight articles. For instance, they expect to find more career advancement opportunities when they return back home ( Baruch and Forstenlechner, 2017 ; Ryan and Mulholland, 2014 , Tharenou, 2010 ; Hippler, 2009 , Thorn, 2009 ). Another group of employees—athletes—are identified in one article, which discusses that this group expects to advance in their careers by playing professionally if they move abroad ( van Bakel and Salzbrenner, 2019 ). We found two articles studying digital nomads. This group’s expatriation expectations are linked with their career expectations because they expect to find more flexible work arrangements abroad ( Reichenberger, 2018 ; Cook, 2020 ). Finally, in another recent article Pinto et al. (2020) show that SIEs (different professions) expected to pursuit performance goals, but this was more likely the case for SIEs who had greater confidence in their ability to live and work abroad. The above-discussed articles clearly demonstrate that individuals expect their needs to be fulfilled if they move abroad, but none of these articles demonstrate whether individuals have an active role in triggering their own expectations. That is, it is not known how individuals form their expectations.

Evaluating options . Among the ten articles studying academics’ motivations to expatriate for career reasons, only Richardson and Wong (2018) explain that some academics have moved to Malaysia as SIEs because they received job offers from a university. The authors do not discuss whether these academics also considered expatriating as AEs. Similarly, Cai and Hall (2016) discuss how some academics moved to China as AEs because they were required to fulfill positions in the international branch campus; they accepted the offer because the international branch campus offers higher salaries than local Chinese universities. Glassock and Fee (2015) provide more insights into how academics use multiple external sources to evaluate how they should expatriate for career reasons. For instance, their study reveals that academics use the internet to search for job vacancies abroad and ask for advice from family and friends. Alumnae networks are also used to find expatriates and gather tips and tricks about how to expatriate. Academics also seek jobs abroad through recruitment agencies and by attending open days organized by recruitment agencies. Eventually, this search process triggers them to expatriate as SIEs, as illustrated in the article. Of the four articles studying healthcare professionals, only Alonso-Garbayo and Maben (2009) discuss how nurses took the initiative to actively look for job opportunities in specific countries using recruitment agencies in their home country. However, it is not discussed whether they evaluated other options to expatriate.

By contrast, among the eight articles studying managers, directors and vice-presidents, five articles discuss in greater depth how this group of employees evaluates options to expatriate as an SIE or AE for career reasons. A study by Farcas and Goncalves (2017) reveals that managers located in Portugal searched for jobs in the United Kingdom using social media (i.e., LinkedIn) and other tools such as VidaEdu and INOV Contacto, which are programs offering educational and work opportunities abroad for highly educated Portuguese citizens who are interested in gaining international work experience. These managers also contacted recruitment agencies and used personal contacts who were already working in the United Kingdom to help them find a job. Farcas and Goncalves (2017) demonstrate that managers decided to expatriate as SIEs because of the deteriorating professional situation in their home country, and they took the initiative to look for jobs abroad themselves. Pinto and Caldas (2015) demonstrate that individuals expatriate as AEs because they were assigned to move abroad. Harris and Brewster (1999) found that managers nominate themselves to be sent abroad and use informal networks and conversations with influential individuals to initiate their AE. Only the article by Pinto et al. (2012) reveals that expatriation was initiated by the company and required commitment from the assignee, which indicates that in this particular case, different options to expatriate were not evaluated prior to expatriation. Four articles studying financial professionals, engineers, designers, lawyers, senior care assistants, and government officials demonstrate that individuals expatriate as AEs for career reasons; however, these articles do not discuss whether individuals evaluate options to expatriate as SIEs (e.g., Cuhlova, 2017 ; Martins and Bernik, 2017 ; Shortland, 2018 ). Only one article of the four (e.g., Doherty et al., 2011 ) indicates that individuals moved as SIEs. Shortland (2018) reveals that once individuals decide to expatriate as AEs, the selection process relies heavily on personal contacts, which implies that individuals should take an active role in asking for support from their professional contacts to increase the likelihood of being selected. Other skilled employees for whom their profession was not specified are discussed in four articles, but only an article by Baruch and Forstenlechner (2017) reveals that SIEs arrive in the host country through their professional networks. Their study reveals that individuals from North African, European and American countries hear about potential job vacancies abroad from their friends and other personal contacts, while individuals from Southeastern Asian countries receive information solely from family members, and individuals from other African countries use the internet to find information about jobs abroad. Finally, the article on athletes demonstrates that this group of professionals worked with a recruitment agency to arrange a contract abroad and to secure assistance while dealing with practical issues ( van Bakel and Salzbrenner, 2019 ).

Building preferences. Referring back to Selmer and Lauring (2010) , who focus on the career expectations of younger academics, the authors also demonstrate that salary and other financial incentives play an important role in influencing the actual expatriation of these individuals, which implies that their preferences to move abroad are still developed based on subjective and objective career needs ( Biemann and Braakmann, 2013 ). Lee and Kuzhabekova (2018) reveal that marital status, age, work conditions and the job market are factors influencing how expatriates developed their preference to work overseas. In terms of accepting international assignments, the authors argue that single and young academics are more likely to actively develop a preference to move abroad because they are more adventurous and thus more enthusiastic about international experiences than their older peers. Referring back to Glassock and Fee (2015) , the authors also identify multiple criteria that academics use when selecting a country for expatriation. These criteria include whether they can speak and understand the language of the host country, whether the country is safe, whether the economic and political conditions are stable, and whether the standards of living are affordable. The authors also reveal that salary plays an important role in influencing the preference to move and that individuals seem to consider visiting the preferred country to gain real experience prior to determining their final preference. In a similar vein, Cai and Hall (2016) reveal that young academics prefer to move to China because they have previously visited the country or lived there before. Pinto and Caldas (2015) demonstrate that individuals expatriate as AEs because they have been assigned to move abroad. This article also reveals that this particular group preferred to accept their assignments because they had evaluated whether the international experience would add value to their personal and professional lives based on the experiences of their colleagues who had already worked on assignments abroad. Focusing on healthcare professionals, we found only one article by Alonso-Garbayo and Maben (2009) demonstrating that these professionals, specifically nurses, developed preferences for a specific host country based on historical ties between that country and their home. For example, nurses from India preferred to expatriate to the United Kingdom over the United States because their home country was colonized by the United Kingdom in the past, and the migration procedure would therefore be less complicated in the United Kingdom than in the United States. Muslim nurses preferred to move to the United Kingdom because, in addition to career reasons, they would also be able to practice their religion freely there, including at work. Furthermore, preference for a country was also built based on whether nurses had a social network in the country. Studies examining other highly educated and experienced professionals for whom their profession was not specified demonstrate that married women preferred to accept expatriation assignments that were long-term and offered the highest financial compensation, as well as opportunities to maintain a healthy work-family balance ( Shortland, 2018 ). Other individuals prefer to accept an international assignment where they can experience the most personal, professional and salary growth ( Cuhlova, 2017 ). Baruch and Forstenlechner (2017) explore differences between ethnicities and show that Westerners solely prioritize the career opportunities of expatriation, whereas individuals from Muslim countries prefer moving to Muslim countries that are not influenced by religious extremism to raise their families. SIEs tend to also compare locations and form preferences for the location that has the best reputation. SIEs clearly argue that expatriating to the UAE offers them more benefits compared to Saudi Arabia and Russia in terms of the country’s reputation. Finally, Thorn (2009) demonstrates that while men formed preferences to move somewhere where they could address their career needs, other factors such as the economy, quality of life and the political environment tend to influence their actual preferences for a host destination.

Our review reveals that compared to career motivations, far fewer articles focus on whether individuals are motivated to expatriate for economic reasons. Eleven articles examined this topic, of which all eleven discuss expatriation expectations and how individuals evaluate options to move abroad and seven demonstrate that individuals use economic criteria when forming their preferences to expatriate to a specific country.

Forming expectations. Studying different types of employees, eleven articles demonstrate that individuals are driven to expatriate to a country that is economically well developed to improve their own financial conditions. For instance, Harry et al. (2017) reveal that academics from poor countries expect to receive higher salaries and remuneration in South Africa because the country is better economically developed than their home countries. Likewise, academics from non-EU countries are also interested in financial incentives offered by EU countries ( Selmer and Lauring, 2011 ). In another study, healthcare professionals expect to find economic advantages in Ireland, which is expected to offer tax exemptions and higher salaries ( Alonso-Garbayo and Maben, 2009 ; Humphries et al., 2015 ). In a similar vein, Larsen et al. (2005) note that nurses expect to be able to send more remittances back home if they expatriate to the United Kingdom. Two articles show that Qatar and London are perceived to be economically well developed by managers (e.g., Dickmann and Mills, 2010 ; Ewers and Shockley, 2018 ), which is likely why they expect higher salaries when moving. Mielly et al. (2017) reveal that Indian employees expect France to be five times better economically developed than India. According to these Indian employees, France could offer them and their families a more prestigious life. Similarly, other skilled employees from New Zealand expect Asian countries to offer them economic advantages ( Thorn, 2009 ), and employees from Turkey expect the United Kingdom to provide them with economic benefits because it offers comparatively more business opportunities ( Cam, 2017 ). Employees from Yugoslavia and Turkey expect to earn more income by moving to Austria ( Winter-Ebmer, 1994 ), likely also because it is wealthier than their home country. Although the eleven articles clearly demonstrate that individuals expect to benefit from the economic conditions in their host countries, none of the articles demonstrate how these individuals formed their expectations, which was also identified as a gap in the career motivation category.

Evaluating options. Eleven articles indicate that academics, healthcare professionals, managers, directors and other skilled employees expatriated as SIEs for economic reasons (e.g., Larsen et al., 2005 ; Alonso-Garbayo and Maben, 2009 ; Thorn, 2009 ; Dickmann and Mills, 2010 ; Selmer and Lauring, 2011 ; Ryan and Mulholland, 2014 ; Humphries et al., 2015 ; Harry et al., 2017 ; Mielly et al., 2017 ; Ewers and Shockley, 2018 ), and one article indicates that managers also expatriated as AEs ( Dickmann and Mills, 2010 ). However, none of these articles discuss whether the individuals evaluated expatriation options. Alonso-Garbayo and Maben (2009) revealed that nurses used recruitment agencies in their home countries to obtain jobs abroad. Cam (2017) provides some insights into the means used by SIEs to evaluate their expatriation options by discussing how individuals use their personal social network in the host country (United Kingdom) to find assistance during their expatriation.

Building preferences . Seven articles demonstrate that individuals formed preferences to expatriate to a country that is economically better developed compared to their home country (e.g., Winter-Ebmer, 1994 ; Larsen et al., 2005 ; Alonso-Garbayo and Maben, 2009 ; Dickmann and Mills, 2010 ; Ryan and Mulholland, 2014 ; Mielly et al., 2017 ; Ewers and Shockley, 2018 ) and that offers additional benefits such as new cultural exposure ( Larsen et al., 2005 ), local security ( Ewers and Shockley, 2018 ), favorable opportunities to save money ( Alonso-Garbayo and Maben, 2009 ) and a clear and relatively easy immigration procedure ( Ryan and Mulholland, 2014 ; Mielly et al., 2017 ). Only one article by Alonso-Garbayo and Maben (2009) discusses SIEs’ active role in forming preferences to move to a specific location; the authors argue that SIEs took the initiative to seek information about countries from the companies for which they aimed to work in the host country.

We found ten articles discussing politics as a motivation to expatriate, but solely for SIEs (N = 10). Among these articles, nine discuss expatriation expectations, ten indicate that individuals evaluate options to move abroad, and five discuss how individuals form their preferences to move to a specific country. We further discuss our findings below.

Forming expectations. Two articles reveal that academics expect to find a safer political environment by moving to another country. For example, Richardson and Wong (2018) demonstrate that Iraqi and Iranian academics expect to find a more stable political environment in Malaysia. Similarly, in another article, Harry et al. (2017) reveal that academics from poor countries move abroad not only for economic reasons but also because they expect to find more political stability. Additionally, healthcare professionals appear to have expectations of finding political stability abroad, as demonstrated in another two articles (e.g., Alonso-Garbayo and Maben, 2009 ; Pinto and Araujo, 2016 ). Specifically, Pinto and Araujo (2016) indicate that healthcare professionals from Portugal expect to find a better political situation abroad. The study of Alonso-Garbayo and Maben (2009) demonstrates that nurses from India expect to be able to practice their religion freely if they expatriate to the United Kingdom. In another three articles, engineers are found to have similar expectations regarding finding a safer political environment abroad and expect to benefit from the political system in the host country. For instance, Ridgway and Robson (2018) mention that Syrian SIEs want to remain overseas due to political conflicts in their home country and they expect to avoid obligatory participation in military service back home. Mielly et al. (2017) demonstrate that Indian engineers expect to be able to apply for the French nationality when they expatriate to France. Cerdin et al. (2014) reveal that female engineers expect to gain more freedom and rights living in a democratic country. Entrepreneurs from Zimbabwe and Nigeria who moved to South Africa were found to have similar expectations about finding political stability and benefits abroad, as discussed in Khosa and Kalitanyi (2015) article. Finally, Thorn (2009) demonstrates that highly educated individuals for whom their profession was not specified expect to benefit from immigration policies; for example, they expect to receive a working visa easily in certain countries. Although all nine articles clearly discuss expatriation expectations of finding political safety and political advantages abroad, none reveal how individuals have formed these expectations, which is a gap also identified in the prior two expatriation motivations career and economy .

Evaluating options. All ten articles noted that academics, healthcare professionals, engineers, entrepreneurs and highly skilled migrants moved as SIEs ( Alonso-Garbayo and Maben, 2009 ; Thorn, 2009 ; Cerdin et al., 2014 ; Khosa and Kalitanyi, 2015 ; Pinto and Araujo, 2016 ; Cam, 2017 ; Harry et al., 2017 ; Mielly et al., 2017 ; Richardson and Wong, 2018 ; Ridgway and Robson, 2018 ). However, among those articles, only two discuss how individuals evaluated their options for moving as SIEs, and none discuss whether options for moving as AEs were evaluated.

Building preferences. We found five articles discussing how SIEs formed their preferences to move to a specific country; they did this by comparing political situations between home and host countries ( Pinto and Araujo, 2016 ; Harry et al., 2017 ; Mielly et al., 2017 ) and comparing which country would offer the most freedom to practice other religions ( Alonso-Garbayo and Maben, 2009 ; Cam, 2017 ).

Our review reveals that ten articles demonstrate that individuals are motivated to expatriate for cultural reasons. Among these articles, expatriation expectations are discussed in eight, ten articles indicate whether individuals moved as SIEs or AEs, and five articles discuss how individuals formed their preferences to move to a specific country. The findings are elaborated in more detail below.

Forming expectations. Eight articles reveal that individuals expect to be exposed to a different culture during their stay abroad, and they expect this exposure to enrich their personal lives. Academics, managers and engineers are attracted to different types of food, art and languages ( Cerdin et al., 2014 ; Glassock and Fee, 2015 ; Cai and Hall, 2016 ; Mielly et al., 2017 ). In another article, Ahmed et al. (2015) demonstrate that Chinese employees holding different positions in different fields and industries expect that expatriation to a Western country will help develop their self-confidence and social identity, particularly because the Western culture is associated with prestige and honor. In another article, Hippler (2009) demonstrates that assigned expatriates expect to broaden their horizons through new experiences, especially through living in another culture in another country, region or city. Ryan and Mulholland (2014) reveal that Polish employees moved to London because they expected to learn English. Digital nomads also move abroad because they expect to live with people from different cultures, as discussed in Reichenberger’s article (2018). As with the previously discussed expatriation motivations, we also identified a similar gap in the sense that none of the articles discuss how individuals formed their expatriation expectations.

Evaluating options. Among ten articles, seven indicate that academics, healthcare professionals, managers, engineers, other skilled employees and digital nomads moved as SIEs ( Alonso-Garbayo and Maben, 2009 ; Cerdin et al., 2014 ; Ryan and Mulholland, 2014 ; Glassock and Fee, 2015 ; Mielly et al., 2017 ; Baruch and Forstenlechner, 2017 ; Reichenberger, 2018 ). Another two articles demonstrate that academics and other skilled employees moved as AEs (e.g., Hippler, 2009 ; Cai and Hall, 2016 ). We find again that academics and nurses moved as SIEs, as they had searched for vacancies abroad ( Alonso-Garbayo and Maben, 2009 ; Glassock and Fee, 2015 ). Other skilled professionals decided to move as SIEs because they received assistance from their personal networks in the host country ( Baruch and Forstenlechner, 2017 ). For example, individuals who originated from North Africa and North America used information from friends; those from Southeast Asian countries gained information from family members, and South African SIEs utilized the internet ( Baruch and Forstenlechner, 2017 ). According to Ryan and Mulholland (2014) , SIEs also contacted recruitment agencies to find jobs abroad.

Building preferences. Five articles demonstrate that individuals formed their preference to move to a new country for cultural reasons. Referring back to Mielly et al. (2017) , the authors demonstrate that engineers formed a preference for a location where they could learn a new language and also benefit from rather simple visa application procedures, which they believed to be the case in the United Kingdom. Other skilled employees studied by Baruch and Forstenlechner (2017) preferred to move to the UAE because the country’s population includes a wide range of national and cultural backgrounds, which, according to them, facilitates their spouses’ cultural adaptation. In another article, Ryan and Mulholland (2014) reveal that other skilled employees preferred to move to an English-speaking country and decided to move to London because it offers the greatest variety of cultures. Referring again to Cai and Hall (2016) , their article demonstrates that individuals preferred to move to China not only for exposure to a new culture but also to access additional benefits, such as opportunities to pursue their personal and professional ambitions. Finally, Alonso-Garbayo and Maben (2009) demonstrate that nurses formed their preferences to move abroad for cultural reasons and sought locations where they could benefit from other economic and professional advantages. While it is clear that preferences are built, none of these articles demonstrate how individuals actively seek information to build such preferences; this was also identified as a gap in the context of economic motivation, discussed above. A summary of the findings can be found in Tables 2 , ​ ,3 3 .

Overview of the motivation process for all four motivations and the different types of employees.

An overview of the active role of different types of employees during the motivation process for all four motivations.

Discussion and Future Research Suggestions

The aim of this article was to systematically review literature discussing motivations to expatriate. The specific goals were to 1) unravel the motivation process that individuals go through prior to forming their actual motivations and 2) to identify the active role they have during this process. To achieve these aims, we have discussed the motivation process for the four different expatriation motivations separately in the findings section. In this section, we will connect and discuss the four expatriation motivations together to offer a comprehensive understanding of the existing literature in this area. After discussing each stage of the motivation process, we will discuss the major gaps we found and offer suggestions for addressing them in future research.

Forming expectations

As previously discussed, in the Rubicon model of action phases ( Heckhausen and Gollwitzer, 1987 ; Heckhausen and Heckhausen, 2018 ), expatriation expectations are formed when individuals start creating a diffuse idea about the benefits of moving abroad in order to address their individual needs ( Andresen et al., 2014 ). Our findings reveal that individuals enter this stage when they are dissatisfied with their current situation back home ( Harry et al., 2017 ; Lee and Kuzhabekova, 2018 ) or when they expect that they can improve their personal situation by expatriating ( Selmer and Lauring, 2012 ; Ewers and Shockley, 2018 ). Thus, regardless of whether individuals want to move for career, economic, political or cultural reasons, expatriation expectations reflect the factors that push individuals to think about leaving their homes. However, to better make sense of this stage, our review reveals that we cannot treat individuals as a homogenous group and that we must take some important factors into account, such as what kind of employee the individual is as well as his/her home country and gender. We will elaborate further on our argument below.

Type of employee . Our review reveals that similar types of employees have common needs that they cannot fulfill in their home countries, which triggers them to form expectations about expatriation. For example, in a number of studies, academics are found to look for research opportunities elsewhere ( Stephan et al., 2016 ; Lee and Kuzhabekova, 2018 ). In a similar vein, healthcare professionals and managers search for higher salaries ( Dickmann and Mills, 2010 ; Humphries et al., 2015 ; Ewers and Shockley, 2018 ). Sports professionals search for new opportunities to advance in their careers ( van Bakel and Salzbrenner, 2019 ). Our review thus reveals that there are common needs shared by individuals who belong to the same group of employees but that common needs may also be shared among individuals belonging to different groups of employees (i.e., healthcare professionals and managers). To understand which individuals enter the first stage of the motivation process, one must thus explore the needs or dissatisfying factors that exist for each type of employee.

Home country. Our review also demonstrates that it is worthwhile to consider an individual’s country of residence (prior to expatriation) to make sense of expatriation expectations, as this may facilitate exploring common needs that exist among different types of employees from different countries. For instance, based on their expatriation expectations, it is evident that individuals who come from poorer and less developed countries are more concerned about finding a new home in a new country that is much better developed economically and politically than back home, and as our review demonstrates, this seems to apply to academics, healthcare professionals, engineers and entrepreneurs ( Alonso-Garbayo and Maben, 2009 ; Khosa and Kalitanyi, 2015 ; Pinto and Araujo, 2016 ; Harry et al., 2017 ; Mielly et al., 2017 ; Richardson and Wong, 2018 ).

Gender. Although we did not find much evidence to argue what role gender plays in this first stage of the motivation process, we do would like to note that females working in male-dominated fields such as engineering may be more triggered to form expectations towards expatriation because they are looking for more opportunities in their industry elsewhere ( Cerdin et al., 2014 ). According to Tharenou (2010) , this perception among women may partly come from within, as they should be more confident about their skills and competencies in male-dominated fields. Furthermore, the author argues that if women want to be assigned to expatriate, they must be confident and sell themselves more in the expatriation selection process. Future research is needed to further explore the role that gender plays in the first stage of the motivation process in order to understand what differentiates men from women in how they form expatriation expectations.

Future research suggestions . We identified a major gap in the literature, indicating that while individuals form expectations about moving abroad, we do not know how they form such expectations. We recommend that future research addresses this gap by examining how a work environment triggers individuals to form expectations about expatriation. For instance, if individuals work for an employer who regularly assigns employees to international postings, they have more opportunities to make sense of the expatriation experiences of their peers at work ( Kim, 2010 ; Pinto and Caldas, 2015 ). Thus, if they are looking to address their individual needs, whether these are career related or belong to the other three motivation categories, they likely have more information available with which to form expectations about where and how to fulfill those needs. Another research suggestion is to focus on an individuals’ personal and social network by examining how it triggers individuals to move abroad. Finally, the internet may be another useful tool that individuals can use to form their expatriation expectations ( Glassock and Fee, 2015 ); further research could focus on exploring how social media influences expatriation expectations.

Evaluating options

Continuing with the second stage, our review reveals that the literature solely discusses how individuals expatriate (either as SIE or AE) but not whether they engage in a process of evaluating which of the two types of expatriation would offer the most benefits. For instance, our findings reveal that several types of employees, such as academics, managers, directors, vice presidents, financial professionals, engineers, designers, lawyers, senior care assistants and other highly skilled professionals ( Hippler, 2009 ; Dickmann and Mills, 2010 ; Selmer and Lauring, 2010 ; Doherty et al., 2011 ; Cai and Hall, 2016 ; Baruch and Forstenlechner, 2017 ; Cuhlova, 2017 ) expatriate as both SIEs and AEs, and hence, it is likely that they can evaluate both options prior to expatriating. For other types of employees, such as the digital nomad and entrepreneur, our findings reveal that they only expatriate as SIEs, probably because they work individually and are not affiliated with a company that can send them abroad ( Khosa and Kalitanyi, 2015 ; Reichenberger, 2018 ). To advance our understanding of how individuals go through the second stage of the motivation process, much more research is needed to identify which types of employees have opportunities to travel as both SIEs and AEs to explore whether and how they evaluate the two options prior to expatriation. Our review reveals that existing articles do provide insights into the tools that individuals use to plan for their expatriation when they decide to move as SIEs. Several tools are used by different types of employees who expatriate as SIEs for different reasons (i.e., career, economy, politics and culture). For instance, healthcare professionals, managers, vice presidents, directors and sports professionals seem to look for jobs abroad using recruitment agencies ( Alonso-Garbayo and Maben, 2009 ; Farcas and Goncalves, 2017 ; van Bakel and Salzbrenner, 2019 ). Social networks, including family members, alumnae, friends and managers, are used by academics, engineers, and other highly skilled professionals to look for jobs abroad ( Baruch and Forstenlechner, 2017 ; Richardson and Wong, 2018 ; Shortland, 2018 ). Finally, the internet is used to apply for jobs individually by academics, managers and other highly skilled professionals ( Glassock and Fee, 2015 ; Baruch and Forstenlechner, 2017 ; Farcas and Goncalves, 2017 ).

Future research suggestions . We previously recommended that future researchers identify whether and how individuals evaluate their options to expatriate as either SIEs or AEs, and we suggest again that future research may further explore how individuals use their work environment to evaluate options to expatriate as SIEs or AEs. The individual-level factors age and gender should also be taken into account in future research in this second stage of the motivation process, as international assignments are more likely to be given to experienced managers ( Pinto et al., 2012 ). Therefore, younger individuals might be less encouraged to evaluate whether AE is an option to consider, even though they work in a company that sends individuals abroad. Likewise, married females are less encouraged to do so because they are given fewer opportunities to work abroad compared to males ( Tharenou, 2010 ).

Building preferences

In the last stage, in which preferences are built to expatriate somewhere, valence (i.e., benefits of expatriation) is found in countries where, at minimum, the individual needs can be fulfilled in a way that pushes the individual towards expatriation. As our review demonstrates, these needs are related to career, economic, political and cultural reasons. To improve valence, individuals decide to expatriate to a country that offers opportunities to address more of their individual and family needs, and actual valence can thus be better understood by analyzing it from an individual perspective. Nevertheless, our review findings provide some insight into factors that determine how valence is calculated by each type of worker. For instance, in addition to moving to a country for career, economic, political and cultural reasons, academics from developed countries appear to find additional value in expatriation if they move to a developing country where they can contribute to improving educational institutions ( Lee and Kuzkabekova, 2018 ). Digital nomads prefer to move to a location where they can live a more convenient lifestyle ( Reichenberger, 2018 ).

For some groups of individuals, we also identified specific needs that determine how they calculate the valence of their future expatriation. For example, non-EU individuals may pay attention to the immigration procedure in potential host countries and prefer to move to a country that offers the most simple and convenient procedure ( Mielly et al., 2017 ). Additionally, religious individuals seem to have additional specific needs that they seek to fulfill in their future host country. For this group, valence is calculated by evaluating whether the location offers them the freedom to practice their religion freely or whether the country is liberal and not dominated by religious extremism, which in the latter case applies specifically to Muslim individuals moving to other Muslim countries ( Alonso-Garbayo and Maben, 2009 ; Baruch and Forstenlechner, 2017 ). Furthermore, our findings reveal that some research has demonstrated the resources that individuals use to determine the location that offers the most benefits (i.e., valence); however, this research is still quite limited and focuses solely on certain employees. For instance, academics visit potential host countries to gain real-life experience ( Cai and Hall, 2016 ), which helps them build a preference for a location. Healthcare professionals use friends or representatives of companies to obtain the necessary information about countries ( Alonso-Garbayo and Maben, 2009 ), and managers, directors and vice presidents use colleagues’ expatriation experiences to do so ( Farcas and Goncalves, 2017 ). Future research may wish to explore whether more resources are used by other employees to help them build preferences in this final stage of the motivation process.

Future research suggestions. Much more research is needed to examine the means that individuals use to build their final preferences. As individuals at this stage have already decided whether they will expatriate as SIEs or AEs ( Andresen et al., 2014 ), we recommend that future researchers distinguish between the two types of expats when studying how they build preferences to expatriate.

Practical Implications

Our review is useful for individuals who intend to move abroad on their own initiative. For instance, our review reveals that personal resources such as one’s personal network can be used to trigger one’s motivation to expatriate. Likewise, social media such as Facebook and LinkedIn can be used to interact with people who share similar interests about expatriation or to participate in online discussions to gain more knowledge about where one should move to address his/her individual and family needs. Our review is also useful to companies wishing to send their employees abroad for temporary assignments. Companies can influence their employees’ willingness to move abroad through their HR department. For instance, if an individual works in a company that regularly assigns employees to international postings, there must be an HR department that offers expatriation packages that include training, allowances and other benefits ( Shortland, 2018 ). In such a company, individuals can also derive input from colleagues’ expatriation experiences ( Pinto and Caldas, 2015 ) and thus obtain information about the value of those packages when used in practice. This information can be used by individuals who are interested in expatriation to evaluate whether they should move abroad.

Author Contributions

YA, SE and SK contributed to the design and implementation of the research, to the analysis of the results and to the writing of the manuscript.

This research is part of the Global Mobility (GLOMO) Project which has received funding from the European Union’s H2020 research and innovation programme under the Marie Sklodowska-Curie grant agreement No. 765355.

Conflict of Interest

The authors declare that the research was conducted in the absence of any commercial or financial relationships that could be construed as a potential conflict of interest.

Publisher’s Note

All claims expressed in this article are solely those of the authors and do not necessarily represent those of their affiliated organizations, or those of the publisher, the editors and the reviewers. Any product that may be evaluated in this article, or claim that may be made by its manufacturer, is not guaranteed or endorsed by the publisher.

• Ahmed T., Sullivan Mort G., D'Souza C. (2015). Consumption of Young Xin Yimin: The Role of Identity and Tacit Motives . Australas. Marketing J. 23 ( 4 ), 311–318. 10.1016/j.ausmj.2015.10.001 [ CrossRef ] [ Google Scholar ]
• Al Ariss A., Crowley‐Henry M. (2013). Self‐initiated Expatriation and Migration in the Management Literature . Career Dev. Int. 18 , 78–96. 10.1108/13620431311305962 [ CrossRef ] [ Google Scholar ]
• Al Ariss A., Özbilgin M. (2010). Understanding Self-Initiated Expatriates: Career Experiences of Lebanese Self-Initiated Expatriates in France . Thunderbird Int'l Bus Rev. 52 ( 4 ), 275–285. 10.1002/tie.20355 [ CrossRef ] [ Google Scholar ]
• Alonso-Garbayo A., Maben J. (2009). Internationally Recruited Nurses from India and the Philippines in the United Kingdom: the Decision to Emigrate . Hum. Resour. Health 7 ( 1 ), 37. 10.1186/1478-4491-7-37 [ PMC free article ] [ PubMed ] [ CrossRef ] [ Google Scholar ]
• Andresen M., Bergdolt F., Margenfeld J., Dickmann M. (2014). Addressing International Mobility Confusion - Developing Definitions and Differentiations for Self-Initiated and Assigned Expatriates as Well as Migrants . Int. J. Hum. Resource Manage. 25 ( 16 ), 2295–2318. 10.1080/09585192.2013.877058 [ CrossRef ] [ Google Scholar ]
• Arthur M. B., Khapova S. N., Wilderom C. P. M. (2005). Career success in a Boundaryless Career World . J. Organiz. Behav. 26 ( 2 ), 177–202. 10.1002/job.290 [ CrossRef ] [ Google Scholar ]
• Baruch Y., Forstenlechner I. (2017). Global Careers in the Arabian Gulf . Career Develop. Int. 22 , 3–22. 10.1108/CDI-12-2015-0164 [ CrossRef ] [ Google Scholar ]
• Biemann T., Braakmann N. (2013). The Impact of International Experience on Objective and Subjective Career success in Early Careers . Int. J. Hum. Resource Manage. 24 ( 18 ), 3438–3456. 10.1080/09585192.2013.775176 [ CrossRef ] [ Google Scholar ]
• Cai L., Hall C. (2016). Motivations, Expectations, and Experiences of Expatriate Academic Staff on an International branch Campus in China . J. Stud. Int. Educ. 20 ( 3 ), 207–222. 10.1177/1028315315623055 [ CrossRef ] [ Google Scholar ]
• Caligiuri P., Bonache J. (2016). Evolving and Enduring Challenges in Global Mobility . J. World Business 51 ( 1 ), 127–141. 10.1016/j.jwb.2015.10.001 [ CrossRef ] [ Google Scholar ]
• Cam S. (2017). Motivational Diversity and the Sense of Ill-Treatment Back home Among the UK's Migrant Workers from Turkey: A Cross-Intersectional Approach . Econ. Ind. Democracy 38 ( 1 ), 171–188. 10.1177/0143831X15561692 [ CrossRef ] [ Google Scholar ]
• Cerdin J.-L., Diné M. A., Brewster C. (2014). Qualified Immigrants' success: Exploring the Motivation to Migrate and to Integrate . J. Int. Bus Stud. 45 ( 2 ), 151–168. 10.1057/jibs.2013.45 [ CrossRef ] [ Google Scholar ]
• Cerdin J.-L., Selmer J. (2014). Who Is a Self-Initiated Expatriate? towards Conceptual Clarity of a Common Notion . Int. J. Hum. Resource Manage. 25 ( 9 ), 1281–1301. 10.1080/09585192.2013.863793 [ CrossRef ] [ Google Scholar ]
• Cook D. (2020). The freedom Trap: Digital Nomads and the Use of Disciplining Practices to Manage Work/leisure Boundaries . Inf. Technol. Tourism 22 , 355–390. 10.1007/s40558-020-00172-4 [ CrossRef ] [ Google Scholar ]
• Cuhlova R. (2017). Motivational Factors of Czech Coprorate Expatriates to an International Assignment . Ad Alta: J. Interdiscip. Res. 7 , 1. 10.33543/0702 [ CrossRef ] [ Google Scholar ]
• Davda L. S., Gallagher J. E., Radford D. R. (2018). Migration Motives and Integration of International Human Resources of Health in the United Kingdom: Systematic Review and Meta-Synthesis of Qualitative Studies Using Framework Analysis . Hum. Resour. Health 16 ( 1 ), 27. 10.1186/s12960-018-0293-9 [ PMC free article ] [ PubMed ] [ CrossRef ] [ Google Scholar ]
• Dickmann M., Mills T. (2010). The Importance of Intelligent Career and Location Considerations . Personnel Rev. 39 , 116–134. 10.1108/00483481011007896 [ CrossRef ] [ Google Scholar ]
• Doherty N., Dickmann M., Mills T. (2011). Exploring the Motives of Company-Backed and Self-Initiated Expatriates . Int. J. Hum. Resource Manage. 22 ( 03 ), 595–611. 10.1080/09585192.2011.543637 [ CrossRef ] [ Google Scholar ]
• Doherty N. (2013). Understanding the Self-Initiated Expatriate: A Review and Directions for Future Research . Int. J. Manage. Rev. 15 ( 4 ), 447–469. 10.1111/ijmr.12005 [ CrossRef ] [ Google Scholar ]
• Ewers M. C., Shockley B. (2018). Attracting and Retaining Expatriates in Qatar during an Era of Uncertainty: Would You Stay or Would You Go? Popul. Space Place 24 , e2134–5. 10.1002/psp.2134 [ CrossRef ] [ Google Scholar ]
• Farcas D., Gonçalves M. (2017). Motivations and Cross-Cultural Adaptation of Self-Initiated Expatriates, Assigned Expatriates, and Immigrant Workers: The Case of Portuguese Migrant Workers in the United Kingdom . J. Cross-Cultural Psychol. 48 ( 7 ), 1028–1051. 10.1177/0022022117717031 [ CrossRef ] [ Google Scholar ]
• Froese F. J. (2012). Motivation and Adjustment of Self-Initiated Expatriates: The Case of Expatriate Academics in South Korea . Int. J. Hum. Resource Manage. 23 ( 6 ), 1095–1112. 10.1080/09585192.2011.561220 [ CrossRef ] [ Google Scholar ]
• Glassock G., Fee A. (2015). The Decision-Making Processes of Self-Initiated Expatriates: a Consumer Behaviour Approach . J. Glob. Mobility 3 , 4–24. 10.1108/JGM-09-2014-0044 [ CrossRef ] [ Google Scholar ]
• Harris H., Brewster C. (1999). The Coffee-Machine System: How International Selection Really Works . Int. J. Hum. Resource Manage. 10 ( 3 ), 488–500. 10.1080/095851999340440 [ CrossRef ] [ Google Scholar ]
• Harry T. T., Dodd N. M., Chinyamurindi W. T. (2017). Using Narratives to Understand the Motivational Factors and Experience of Being a Self-Initiated Academic Expatriate in South Africa . SA J. Hum. Resource Manage. 15 ( 1 ), 1–9. 10.4102/sajhrm.v15i0.797 [ CrossRef ] [ Google Scholar ]
• Heckhausen H., Gollwitzer P. M. (1987). Thought Contents and Cognitive Functioning in Motivational versus Volitional States of Mind . Motiv. Emot. 11 ( 2 ), 101–120. 10.1007/BF00992338 [ CrossRef ] [ Google Scholar ]
• Heckhausen J., Heckhausen H. (2018). “ Motivation and Action: Introduction and Overview ,” in Motivation and Action (Cham: Springer; ), 1–14. 10.1007/978-3-319-65094-4_1 [ CrossRef ] [ Google Scholar ]
• Hippler T. (2009). Why Do They Go? Empirical Evidence of Employees' Motives for Seeking or Accepting Relocation . Int. J. Hum. Resource Manage. 20 ( 6 ), 1381–1401. 10.1080/09585190902909889 [ CrossRef ] [ Google Scholar ]
• Humphries N., McAleese S., Tyrrell E., Thomas S., Normand C., Brugha R. (2015). Applying a Typology of Health Worker Migration to Non-EU Migrant Doctors in Ireland . Hum. Resour. Health 13 ( 1 ), 52. 10.1186/s12960-015-0042-2 [ PMC free article ] [ PubMed ] [ CrossRef ] [ Google Scholar ]
• Jackson D. J. R., Carr S. C., Edwards M., Kaye T. (2005). Exploring the Dynamics of New Zealand's Talent Flow . New Zealand J. Psychol. 34 –2. [ Google Scholar ]
• Kennedy J. C. (2018). Forbearance of Culturally Inappropriate Leadership Behaviors: a Conceptual Model . J. Glob. Mobility Home Expatriate Manage. Res. 6 , 4–19. 10.1108/JGM-04-2017-0016 [ CrossRef ] [ Google Scholar ]
• Khosa R. M., Kalitanyi V. (2015). Migration Reasons, Traits and Entrepreneurial Motivation of African Immigrant Entrepreneurs . J. Enterprising Communities: People Places Glob. Economy 9 , 132–155. 10.1108/JEC-07-2014-0011 [ CrossRef ] [ Google Scholar ]
• Kim Y. J. (2010). The Gendered Desire to Become Cosmopolitan: South Korean Women's Motivations for Migration to the UK . Women's Stud. Int. Forum 33 ( 5 ), 433–442. Pergamon. 10.1016/j.wsif.2010.04.001 [ CrossRef ] [ Google Scholar ]
• Konopaske R., Robie C., Ivancevich J. M. (2009). Managerial Willingness to Assume Traveling, Short-Term and Long-Term Global Assignments . Manag. Int. Rev. 49 ( 3 ), 359–387. 10.1007/s11575-009-0147-8 [ CrossRef ] [ Google Scholar ]
• Kumarika Perera H., Yin Teng Chew E., Nielsen I. (2017). A Psychological Contract Perspective of Expatriate Failure . Hum. Resour. Manage. 56 ( 3 ), 479–499. 10.1002/hrm.21788 [ CrossRef ] [ Google Scholar ]
• Larsen J. A., Allan H. T., Bryan K., Smith P. (2005). Overseas Nurses' Motivations for Working in the UK . Work, employment Soc. 19 ( 2 ), 349–368. 10.1177/0950017005053177 [ CrossRef ] [ Google Scholar ]
• Lauring J., Selmer J., Jacobsen J. K. S. (2014). Business or Pleasure? Blurring Relocation Categories and Motivation Patterns Among Expatriates . Scand. J. Hospitality Tourism 14 ( 2 ), 170–186. 10.1080/15022250.2014.900286 [ CrossRef ] [ Google Scholar ]
• Lee J. T., Kuzhabekova A. (2018). Reverse Flow in Academic Mobility from Core to Periphery: Motivations of International Faculty Working in Kazakhstan . High Educ. 76 ( 2 ), 369–386. 10.1007/s10734-017-0213-2 [ CrossRef ] [ Google Scholar ]
• Marian C-H. (2010). “ Twenty-first century International Careers: From Economic to Lifestyle Migration ,” in Irish Business and Society. Governing, Participating & Transforming in the 21st Century (Ireland: Gill & Macmillan Dublin; ), 438–453. [ Google Scholar ]
• Mathijsen A. (2019). Home, sweet home? Understanding Diasporic Medical Tourism Behaviour. Exploratory Research of Polish Immigrants in Belgium . Tourism Manage. 72 , 373–385. 10.1016/j.tourman.2018.12.009 [ CrossRef ] [ Google Scholar ]
• Mielly M., Jones C., Smith M., Basistha V. (2017). A Passage to France: Skilled Indian SIEs in Transition . critical Perspect. Int. business 13 , 319–339. 10.1108/cpoib-01-2017-0003 [ CrossRef ] [ Google Scholar ]
• Napier N. K., Taylor. S. (2002). Experiences of Women Professionals Abroad: Comparisons across Japan, China and Turkey . Int. J. Hum. Resource Manage. 13 ( 5 ), 837–851. 10.1080/09585190210125949 [ CrossRef ] [ Google Scholar ]
• Pintar R., Martins J. T., Bernik M. (2017). Analysis of Expatriation Process in a Slovenian Company . Organizacija 50 , 63–79. 10.1515/orga-2017-0001 [ CrossRef ] [ Google Scholar ]
• Pinto L. H., Araújo R. C. (2016). Social Networks of Portuguese Self-Initiated Expatriates . J. Manage. Develop. 35 , 89–103. 10.1108/JMD-07-2014-0069 [ CrossRef ] [ Google Scholar ]
• Pinto L. H., Cabral-Cardoso C., Werther Jr. W. B., Jr (2020). Expectancies and Motivational Goals of Self-Initiated Expatriates as Predictors of Subjective Assignment Achievements and success . Manage. Res. Rev. 43 ( 4 ), 427–445. 10.1108/MRR-07-2019-0319 [ CrossRef ] [ Google Scholar ]
• Pinto L. H., Cabral-Cardoso C., Werther W. B., Jr (2012). Compelled to Go Abroad? Motives and Outcomes of International Assignments . Int. J. Hum. Resource Manage. 23 ( 11 ), 2295–2314. 10.1080/09585192.2011.610951 [ CrossRef ] [ Google Scholar ]
• Pinto L. H., Caldas R. (2015). Making Sense of Expatriation . Manage. Res. 13 ( 3 ), 267–284. 10.1108/MRJIAM-07-2014-0559 [ CrossRef ] [ Google Scholar ]
• Quantin C., Abbas R., Hagi M., Breton G. L., Romestaing M., Carnet D. (2012). Comparison of British and French Expatriate Doctors' Characteristics and Motivations . BMJ open 2 , 6. 10.1136/bmjopen-2012-001706 [ PMC free article ] [ PubMed ] [ CrossRef ] [ Google Scholar ]
• Reichenberger I. (2018). Digital Nomads - a Quest for Holistic freedom in Work and Leisure . Ann. Leis. Res. 21 ( 3 ), 364–380. 10.1080/11745398.2017.1358098 [ CrossRef ] [ Google Scholar ]
• Richardson C., Wong H-W. (2018). Expatriate Academics in Malaysia: Motivation, Adjustment, and Retention . J. Manage. Develop. 37 , 299–308. 10.1108/jmd-12-2017-0421 [ CrossRef ] [ Google Scholar ]
• Richardson J., McKenna S. (2002). Leaving and Experiencing: Why Academics Expatriate and How They Experience Expatriation . Career Dev. Int. 7 , 67–78. 10.1108/13620430210421614 [ CrossRef ] [ Google Scholar ]
• Ridgway M., Robson F. (2018). Exploring the Motivation and Willingness of Self-Initiated Expatriates, in the Civil Engineering Industry, when Considering Employment Opportunities in Qatar . Hum. Resource Develop. Int. 21 ( 1 ), 24–45. 10.1080/13678868.2017.1340075 [ CrossRef ] [ Google Scholar ]
• Rodriguez‐Arrastia M., Ropero‐Padilla C., Fernández‐Sola C., Portillo M. C. (2021). Nursing Emigration in the United Kingdom: A Qualitative Exploration of the Spanish Nursing Community . Nurs. open 8 ( 2 ), 675–687. 10.1002/nop2.672 [ PMC free article ] [ PubMed ] [ CrossRef ] [ Google Scholar ]
• Ryan L., Mulholland J. (2014). Trading Places: French Highly Skilled Migrants Negotiating Mobility and Emplacement in London . J. Ethnic Migration Stud. 40 ( 4 ), 584–600. 10.1080/1369183X.2013.787514 [ CrossRef ] [ Google Scholar ]
• Selmer J., Lauring J. (2011). Acquired Demographics and Reasons to Relocate Among Self-Initiated Expatriates . Int. J. Hum. Resource Manage. 22 ( 10 ), 2055–2070. 10.1080/09585192.2011.580176 [ CrossRef ] [ Google Scholar ]
• Selmer J., Lauring J. (2012). Reasons to Expatriate and Work Outcomes of Self‐initiated Expatriates . Personnel Rev. 41 ( 5 ), 665–684. 10.1108/00483481211249166 [ CrossRef ] [ Google Scholar ]
• Selmer J., Lauring J. (2010). Self‐initiated Academic Expatriates: Inherent Demographics and Reasons to Expatriate . Eur. Manage. Rev. 7 ( 3 ), 169–179. 10.1057/emr.2010.15 [ CrossRef ] [ Google Scholar ]
• Selmer J., McNulty Y., Lauring J., Vance C. (2018). Who Is an Expat-Preneur? toward a Better Understanding of a Key talent Sector Supporting International Entrepreneurship . J. Int. Entrepreneurship 16 ( 2 ), 134–149. 10.1007/s10843-017-0216-1 [ CrossRef ] [ Google Scholar ]
• Shortland S. (2018). Female Expatriates’ Motivations and Challenges: the Case of Oil and Gas . Gend. Manag. Int. J. 33 , 50–65. 10.1108/GM-02-2017-0021 [ CrossRef ] [ Google Scholar ]
• Spencer-Oatey H., Franklin P. (2012). What Is culture." A Compilation of Quotations. GlobalPAD Core Concepts . Available at GlobalPAD Open House http://www2.warwick.ac.uk/fac/soc/al/globalpad/interculturalskills/ (Accessed July 11, 2020)
• Stephan P., Franzoni C., Giuseppe Scellato (2016). Global Competition for Scientific talent: Evidence from Location Decisions of PhDs and Postdocs in 16 Countries . Ind. Corporate Change 25 ( 3 ), 457–485. 10.1093/icc/dtv037 [ CrossRef ] [ Google Scholar ]
• Suutari V., Brewster C. (2001). Expatriate Management Practices and Perceived Relevance . Personnel Rev. 30 , 554–577. 10.1108/EUM000000005939 [ CrossRef ] [ Google Scholar ]
• Suutari V., Brewster C. (2000). Making Their Own Way: International Experience through Self-Initiated Foreign Assignments . J. World Business 35 ( 4 ), 417–436. 10.1016/S1090-9516(00)00046-8 [ CrossRef ] [ Google Scholar ]
• Tharenou P. (2010). Women’s Self-Initiated Expatriation as a Career Option and its Ethical Issues . J. business Ethics 95 ( 1 ), 73–88. 10.1007/s10551-009-0348-x [ CrossRef ] [ Google Scholar ]
• Thorn K., Kerr I., Carr S. (2013). New Constructs for the Prediction of Self-Initiated International Mobility: an Exploratory Study . J. Pac. Rim Psychol. 7 ( 1 ), 24–35. 10.1017/prp.2013.3 [ CrossRef ] [ Google Scholar ]
• Thorn K. (2009). The Relative Importance of Motives for International Self‐initiated Mobility . Career Develop. Int. 14 ( 5 ), 441–464. 10.1108/13620430910989843 [ CrossRef ] [ Google Scholar ]
• Tranfield D., Denyer D., Smart P. (2003). Towards a Methodology for Developing Evidence-Informed Management Knowledge by Means of Systematic Review . Br. J. Manage. 14 ( 3 ), 207–222. 10.1111/1467-8551.00375 [ CrossRef ] [ Google Scholar ]
• van Bakel M., Salzbrenner S. (2019). Going Abroad to Play: Motivations, Challenges, and Support of Sports Expatriates . Thunderbird Int. Business Rev. 61 ( 3 ), 505–517. 10.1002/tie.22020 [ CrossRef ] [ Google Scholar ]
• van Maanen J. (1977). “ Experiencing Organization: Notes on the Meaning of Careers and Socialization ,” in Organizational Careers: Some New Perspectives (New York: Wiley; ), 15–45. [ Google Scholar ]
• Volmer J., Spurk D. (2011). Protean and Boundaryless Career Attitudes: Relationships with Subjective and Objective Career success . Z. für ArbeitsmarktForschung 43 ( 3 ), 207–218. 10.1007/s12651-010-0037-3 [ CrossRef ] [ Google Scholar ]
• Vroom V. H. (1964). Work and Motivation New York: Wiley. [ Google Scholar ]
• Winter-Ebmer R. (1994). Motivation for Migration and Economic success . J. Econ. Psychol. 15 ( 2 ), 269–284. 10.1016/0167-4870(94)90004-3 [ PubMed ] [ CrossRef ] [ Google Scholar ]

Main motivations for employees to accept international assignments

We listed some of the primary aspects employees consider when taking a  relocation position , specifically, an international one.

In general,  the assignee and  their family also   can benefit from this unique and enriching experience! Let’s take a closer look at the motivations for why employees accept  international assignments .

Personal development

With a stronger mental health and  self-development  mindset emerging, people often perform a self-check and look for areas in which they can improve their skills.

I mprove/develop adaptation and problem-solving skills

The relocation process itself requires a lot of  planning and replanning . On top of that, moving to a completely unfamiliar place enhances the skill of adaptation. 

Adjusting  to a new city, country, or job position can be challenging, but this experience is surely  worth it ! Learning how to better adapt is  key for one’s success on a global assignment and is also a valuable lifelong tool.

When an employee moves, they are quite likely to face  challenges  and problems that require quick and wise decisions, and coping with that is another skill most employers or future bosses look for.

Improve communication and social skills

Shifting to another country, getting in touch with a relocation team, and meeting new colleagues, and new neighbors can be  valuable  though sometimes it requires people to  leave their comfort zone  for a while.

As time goes by, the associate will be  acquainted  with the people they encounter in their  new international routine  without any problems.

Once this adaptation is finished, transferees and their families can take advantage of this new  enhancement in their social life .

Many people are  attracted  by the idea of getting to know  a different culture  than theirs. Experimenting with new foods, meeting people from completely  different backgrounds , and visiting unknown places are some of the aspirations of  relocation position  candidates.

New language skills

Alongside the new culture, there is also the  satisfying challenge  of acquiring a new language or perfecting one.

Learning a new language is both a  professional and personal milestone  and can guarantee better future job posts and many other  opportunities .

Greater responsibilities 

When we think of work relocation, we often assume a transferee has quite a bit of  responsibility  and that is definitely true. 

An assignee is often a  representative  of their home country in the company and is required to attend to specific and crucial procedures regarding the  relationship between the units  of the current and the home country. 

Great  professional and personal responsibilities  are crucial skills, to  incentivize many candidates to choose  global mobility  opportunities.

Quality of life

Some countries may attract applicants more than others due to the  higher quality of life  for the transferee and their  family .

Many countries offer  high-quality services  such as health care and education. These factors can create one more benefit of relocation. 

Weather, security,  and things that improve the assignee’s  mental health  can also be a factor when choosing to apply for an  international assignment .

Good companies

Most international assignments are offered by either  big multinationals or growing companie s of  different segments . 

This trait is particularly attractive to relocation applicants since this implies  career growth opportunities  may appear soon.

Final considerations

International relocations are  highly valuable  for the transferee, their family as well as the  organization . Behind a couple of challenges, there is  personal and professional growth  for the employee and of course, the company.

Learn more about this topic:

International Hiring: 4 reasons why an employee would accept your job offer

5 Factors not to lose sight of during an International Relocation

Meta description 

Whether an employee goes through national or international relocation, they consider many aspects before choosing this career shift. We listed the main motivators of relocation for transferees.

Relocation expert

Michael Deane

Helping companies relocate employees & recruits seamlessly, whether it is domestically, cross-border or globally.

Related Content

Domestic Services

Destination Services

Immigration Services

Global Mobility

Let us know your interests!

We would happily answer any questions!

All Points Relocation Service Inc.

3250 Bloor Street West, Suite 440 Toronto, Ontario - Canada M8X-2X9

Main: +1 (416) 234-1995 Toll Free: +1 (800) 281-2777 Fax: +1 (416)-234-0753

All Points Relocation inc. ©2023 All rights reserved.

Click through the PLOS taxonomy to find articles in your field.

For more information about PLOS Subject Areas, click here .

Loading metrics

Open Access

Peer-reviewed

Research Article

Intention for international assignment among workers in Ghana: Modelling the role of motivators, demotivators and cultural disposition

Roles Conceptualization, Data curation, Formal analysis, Methodology, Software, Validation, Writing – original draft

* E-mail: [email protected]

Affiliation Department of Business Studies, College of Distance Education, University of Cape Coast, Cape Coast, Ghana

Roles Writing – original draft, Writing – review & editing

Affiliation Department of Human Resource Management, School of Business, University of Cape Coast, Cape Coast, Ghana

• Moses Segbenya, 
• Nana Yaw Oppong

• Published: May 4, 2023
• https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0284615
• Reader Comments

This study examined intention for international assignment among workers in Ghana by modelling the role of motivators, demotivators and cultural disposition on such intentions. The cross-sectional survey design was used to sample 723 workers drawn from Northern Ghana. Data were collected with a self-administered questionnaire. The Partial Least Square-Structural Equation Modelling was used to analyse the data collected. The study found from individual workers’ and developing economy perspectives that cultural disposition influences motivation for accepting international assignments and expatriates’ intention to accept international assignments. Motivation and demotivation among workers were also found to have had a statistically significant relationship between expatriate intention and significantly mediated the relationship between cultural disposition and expatriate intention to participate in international assignments. Cultural disposition was, however, found to have a non-significance relationship with expatriates’ intention to accept an international assignment. It is therefore recommended that human resource managers should make international assignments attractive for workers and expose workers to cross-cultural training through job rotations, working in teams and experiential training. It is expected that such opportunities prepare individuals for an international assignment.

Citation: Segbenya M, Oppong NY (2023) Intention for international assignment among workers in Ghana: Modelling the role of motivators, demotivators and cultural disposition. PLoS ONE 18(5): e0284615. https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0284615

Editor: Dan-Cristian Dabija, Babes-Bolyai University, Cluj-Napoca, ROMANIA

Received: December 13, 2022; Accepted: April 5, 2023; Published: May 4, 2023

Copyright: © 2023 Segbenya, Oppong. This is an open access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License , which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original author and source are credited.

Data Availability: All relevant data are within the paper and its Supporting Information files.

Funding: The author(s) received no specific funding for this work

Competing interests: The authors declare that no competing interests exist

List of abbreviations: CFA, Confirmatory Factor Analysis; CD, Cultural Disposition; HTMT, Heterotrait-Monotrait Ratio; MOT, Motivation to accept an international assignment; DEMOT, Motivation to accept an international assignment Dem; INTPERF, Intention for t an international assignment; PLS, Partial Least Squares; PLS-SEM, Partial Least Squares Structural Equation Modelling; SEM, Structural Equation Modelling; VIF, Variance Inflated Factor

Introduction

The competitive business environment continues to compel organisations to spread their activities abroad for growth. Multinational and transnational organisations have resulted in deploying workers/managers to international locations to push their organisational goals and objectives [ 1 ]. Assignee managers or staff, either with or without families, take up such responsibilities and positions in another country for a period of six months to five years [ 2 , 3 ]. Thus, international assignment in this context relates to dispatching employee/s by their organisation from their home country to take up an oversea task temporarily to work at overseas offices or companies. International assignments, thus, help organisations to promote global integration and competencies and build a global and mature workforce [ 4 , 5 ].

Meanwhile, the ability of organisations to achieve targets associated with international assignments largely depends on the success of assignees on the international assignment [ 6 ]. Several factors play influential roles in determining the success of expatriates or staff on international assignments [ 6 , 7 ]. Success in international assignments starts with the intention and motivation to take up an international assignment [ 8 ]. Studies have found that international positions and appointments not based on the motivation of assignees are often not successful [ 7 – 9 ]. Thus, human resource managers of multinational organisations need to pay attention to motivation among staff to take up an international assignment [ 2 , 10 ]. Factors that can motivate staff to take up international assignments can include remuneration, support for spouses and children and good organisational policies on returning to the home country after an international assignment [ 7 , 11 , 12 ]. It stands to reason that in the absence of motivators, workers are likely going to be disinterested or demotivated to take up an international assignment.

Motivation or demotivation is not enough to explain the success of expatriates. For this reason, cultural disposition was found to have played a critical role in the success of international assignees [ 6 ]. Cultural disposition relates to the exposure of the assignee to other cultures, especially the culture of the host country of the international assignment [ 6 ]. The ability of expatriates to express themselves in the host country’s language and other aspects of its culture has the potential to ensure the success of expatriates [ 6 ]. Thus, cross-cultural training could play a critical role in enhancing the chances of an expatriate’s performance in an international assignment [ 8 ].

Ghana hosts branches or headquarters of several multinational and transnational organisations. Therefore, the human resource of these organisations can be described as either host country, home country, or third-country national. The filling of vacancies in overseas subsidiaries will continue to be an important issue for international human resource managers for the growth of their organisations [ 6 , 13 ]. While some workers are already exposed to international experience, others have yet to have such opportunities [ 3 , 14 ]. Those who have had expatriate or international experience by working on international assignments could have also learnt their lessons as to whether to take up a future international assignment of their organisations (expatriation or im-patriations) or other organisations in the form of self-initiated oversea assignment.

In this regard, workers’ intention towards an international assignment is key for international human resource managers to recruit for international assignments [ 14 , 15 ]. Workers’ intentions could be influenced by their cultural disposition and motivation to accept international assignments [ 11 ]. Alternatively, certain demotivators and failure in an earlier international assignment could explain the lack of motivation for an international assignment [ 8 , 13 , 16 ]. International human resource managers benefit from the knowledge of motivators or demotivators among workers who have international working exposure and those who do not.

Meanwhile, earlier studies by [ 17 – 23 ] have focused on cultural adjustment and expatriate performance, job satisfaction, expatriate’s spouse adjustment; and [ 22 , 24 ] on job insecurity, expatriate’s benefits. Though [ 24 – 27 ] delved into an intention to accept an international assignment, these studies were conducted from the organisational approach. Thus, individual and contextual (Ghanaian) perspectives were either not addressed or not adequately addressed. This is because individuals’ appreciation of motivating and demotivating factors as well as their disposition towards various cultures could differently influence their intention to accept international/expatriate assignments. It is also possible that individuals’ socio-demographics (either married or single, number of foreign languages individuals can speak) could influence workers’ decision to accept expatriate assignments. The individual perspective is deemed very important for this study because it could not just influence the intention to accept an international assignment but also ensure higher employee performance in an international assignment.

The novelty and motivation for this study are not limited to the individual perspective but also to bring to the fore how cultural disposition, motivating, and demotivating factors from a developing economy perspective are influencing acceptance of international assignments. For this reason, this study sought to contribute to the literature on international assignment and international human resource management by examining the intention for international assignment among workers in Ghana. This study specifically modelled the role of motivators, demotivators, and cultural disposition in predicting intention to accept an international assignment from individual and developing economy perspectives. Thus, the role of factors that could serve as motivators and demotivators, as well as the cultural disposition of workers, were examined from workers’ perspectives in terms of how these factors could influence their intention and performance. The next sections of the paper focus on the theoretical review, conceptual model and hypotheses development. Other issues addressed were the methodology, results and analysis, discussion of the results, implications, conclusions and recommendations.

Literature review

Theoretical review.

This study was guided by the Hofstede’s Cultural Model. The cultural model propounded by Geert Hofstede in 1980 was based on five pillars- power distance , individualism , masculinity; uncertainty avoidance; and long-term orientation [ 28 , 29 ]. Each of these five pillars has two dimensions-high or low, suggesting that the level of individual workers’ inclination towards these pillars could influence the intention to accept international assignments. The first pillar, which is power distance , relates to power distribution between subordinates and superiors or society. The subordinates and superiors are the same in low power distance society. However, in a high-power distance society like the study context (Ghana), power is unevenly distributed or centralised among a few people. Hence superiors are different from subordinates because the superiors have power, and subordinates need to accept and respect it [ 29 ].

The second pillar of Hofstede’s Cultural Model— Individualism/Collectivism , explains how individuals relate to a group. A society where individuals tend to focus on their own interests and that of the immediate family relates to an individualised culture [ 29 ]. However, where individuals respect and seek the good and respect the group that they belong, it is a collectivist society. The third dimension, masculinity or femininity , deals with what motivates people. In masculine society, people strive to be the best; they portray values such as competitiveness and performance in that masculine have sympathy for the successful achievers, However, in feminine culture, people have a concern with relationships and quality of life [ 29 ].

The fourth dimension- Uncertainty Avoidance- relates to the level to which individuals in society welcome uncertainty [ 28 ]. In high uncertainty avoidance society, individuals are afraid to take a risk for fear of failure, unlike in a low uncertainty avoidance society where individuals are ready to deal with any situation regardless of the outcome. The last dimension of the theory, termed as short/long-term orientation , is also explained the extent to which society shows a future-oriented perspective versus a short-term point of view. Thus, short-term profit concentration characterised society with short-term orientation whiles people of long-term orientation emphasise future growth. The Hofstede’s cultural model with the five dimensions revealed that the Ghanaian society that serves as the study context is largely inclined towards a high-power distance culture, collectivism culture, feminine culture, high uncertainty avoidance culture, and short-term orientation culture [ 28 , 29 ].

Conceptual model and hypotheses development

The discussion in this section will focus on the key variables of the study, which are cultural disposition, motivation, demotivation, and intention to accept an international assignment among workers. The review for each subsection will be associated with the specific hypothesis related to it.

Cultural disposition and intention for international assignment.

Culture relates to a way of life and is described as “the collective programming of the mind which differentiates one group from the other” [ 28 ]. Culture could be classified into material, tangible and non-material or intangible cultures. Key components of culture are the structure of society, values, religion, education, personal communication, and physical environment. Generally, culture has the characteristics of being learned. Language as an essential component, sometimes abstract, a product of behaviour and shared by individuals. Other characteristics also include culture being shared by members of society; it is pervasive and variable. In terms of layers, culture has three basic layers -assumption/beliefs, norms, and values and lastly, behavioural or explicit layers. Thus, culture could be a national culture, organisational culture, corporate culture or professional culture. Workers will easily and gladly accept to work in jurisdictions with similar cultural settings [ 3 , 29 ]. Some workers see different cultural settings as problematic places requiring so much time and effort to acclimate if they accept an international assignment in such locations [ 29 ]. This means that an individual’s cultural disposition plays a role in accepting or rejecting an international assignment [ 5 , 30 ]. It also means that cultural disposition could be a motivator for contemplating accepting an international assignment [ 30 ]. It is for these reasons that this study hypothesised that:

• 1. H 1 : Cultural disposition has a statistically significant effect on the intention to participate in an international assignment .
• 2. H 1 : Cultural disposition has a statistically significant effect on motivation to accept an international assignment .

Demotivators and intention for international assignment.

Demotivators to accepting international assignments are factors that make both companies and employees disinterested in expatriation. For this reason, [ 30 ] identified factors including adaptability/cross-culture adjustment, spouse and family concerns, and compensation/salary-related issues that are not managed well. [ 7 , 29 ] identified five factors that could serve as demotivators and lead to expatriate failure. These are job-related factors comprising r ole conflict, role novelty, role clarity and role direction, organisational factors including organisational culture novelty, social support from co-workers and superiors, and logistical support. Other categorisations were positional factors —hierarchical level, functional area and assignment vector; non-work factors -culture novelty and spouse/family adjustment; and individual factors including self-efficacy, relational and perceptual skills, previous international assignments, and language fluency [ 27 ]. If these factors are not framed well in an organisational policy and managed well, employees will not be motivated to take up an international assignment. To further assess how demotivators influence acceptance of an international assignment among workers in a developing economy perspective, this study hypothesised that:

• 3. H 1 : Demotivation among workers toward international assignments has a statistically significant effect on the intention to participate in an international assignment .

Motivation and intention for international assignment.

Several studies have found that there are many factors that motivate workers to accept international assignments [ 24 , 29 , 31 ]. These motivators are tax equalisation, temporary living allowances, language and cross-cultural training, overseas healthcare plan, and host-country housing assistance [ 23 , 31 ]. Other motivating factors include career and repatriation planning, home leave allowances, rest and relaxation leave, spouse job assistance and child education allowance [ 13 , 24 ]. The Global Mobility Challenge Survey by Ernst and Young revealed the top five incentives that motivate workers to accept international acceptance. These were repatriation assistance, round-trip airfare to return home for family visits, a paid trip to visit the country before agreeing to move there, paid language training, and immigration assistance for a spouse to obtain employment. Thus, managers must be very concerned about using these factors to motivate intention to accept an international assignment. However, how these motivators influence workers in developing economies to accept an international assignment is not clear Meanwhile, motivation to accept an international assignment could also play a mediating role between cultural disposition and intention to accept an international assignment. This means that apart from motivation influencing intention directly, it could also play an indirect role between cultural disposition and intention to accept an international assignment. It is for this reason that this study hypothesis that:

• 4. H 1 : Motivation to accept international assignments among workers has a statistically significant relationship with the intention to participate in an international assignment .
• 5. H 1 : Motivation to accept international assignments among workers statistically significantly mediate the relationship between cultural disposition and intention to to participate in an international assignment.

Based on the review, a conceptual framework was designed to guide the study, as shown in Fig 1 .

• PPT PowerPoint slide
• PNG larger image
• TIFF original image

Source: Field survey (2021).

https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0284615.g001

Methodology

The study used a cross-sectional survey design [ 32 ]. A sample of 723 workers was drawn from workers in Ghana. Multi-stage sampling techniques [ 33 ] including stratified and simple random techniques, were deployed to sample the respondents to the research instrument. These were simple random sampling techniques and stratified sampling techniques. The study adopted the lottery method of the simple random sampling technique. The study employed a multi-stage sampling procedure. The first sampling technique was the simple random sampling technique, and the lottery type of simple random was adopted [ 34 ]. The second sampling technique adopted by this study was the proportional stratified sampling technique. Grouping of subjects in a population into the same characteristics (strata) is related to a stratified sample [ 35 ]. Another probability sampling technique (cluster or simple random sampling) is deployed for each subgrouping or stratum [ 34 ]. The stratified sampling technique was employed because the characteristics of the population were diverse, and there was a need to ensure that every characteristic was adequately represented.

Data were collected, using a self-administered instrument measured on a four Likert point scales where 1 = strongly disagreement, 2 = disagreement, 3 = agreement and 4 = strongly agreement. The questionnaire had two sections. Section one dealt with the biodata of respondents, and section two focused on the five hypotheses guiding the study. The questionnaire obtained a reliability value above the 0.70 thresholds which confirmed that the instrument was good to be used for the data collection. Cronbach alpha values obtained for cultural disposition was .703, motivation was .793, Demotivators was .853, and lastly, intention for international assignment was .868. Data were collected from July 2021 to November 2021. Ethical considerations such as respondents’ anonymity, freedom to withdraw, confidentiality, freedom to participate, and informed consent were observed [ 36 ]. Written consent was obtained from respondents prior to data collection. A consent statement was indicated on the questionnaire and participants were to indicate their agreement or disagreement to continue or otherwise with the study.The Partial Least Square Structural Equation Modelling (PLS-SEM) was used to analyse the hypotheses of the study. The PLS-SEM is a method of structural equation modelling which allows estimating complex cause-effect relationship models with latent variables. The PLS-SEM technique is widely applied in business and social sciences, and its ability to model composites and factors makes it a formidable statistical tool for new technology research. The partial least squares structural equation modelling (PLS-SEM) has been said to be the most effective analytical approach for non-experimental research for the last 20 years [ 37 ]. Some goodness-of-fit tests that make the PLS-SEM analytical tool very robust are the coefficient of determination (R 2 ), effect size (F 2 ), and the importance and performance map analysis (IPMA), among others. All these qualities were utilised to make the results of this study very robust.

Socio-demographic characteristics of respondents

The first part of the results presented in this section is the s ocio-demographic characteristics of respondents . The s ocio-demographic characteristics considered in this study, as presented in Table 1 , were age, gender, country of birth, sector of employment, international working experience and highest academic qualification. The rest of the s ocio-demographic characteristics were marital status, international and local languages spoken, and preferred continent for international job/assignment. The results in Table 1 on respondents’ s ocio-demographic characteristics revealed that the majority of the respondents were 30–39 years (48.5%), were male workers (62.0%), Ghanaians by birth (99.3%), public sector workers (82.4%), and never had an international working experience (82.3%). Additionally, the majority of the respondents had tertiary education (88.8%), were married with Kids (54.8%), were fluent in the English language (93.5%), could speak the Dagbani (32%) and Twi local (30.8%) languages, and preferred Europe (48.1%)for their international assignment or job. Though the demographic characteristics are not directly related to the study hypotheses, readers need to understand the characteristics of respondents prior to the presentation of the main findings of the study in the next section.

https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0284615.t001

Model measurement

The estimation of the internal consistency measure of the model was initially carried out with the use of the PLS algorithm for confirmatory factor analysis. The individual items forming each construct or variable in the study were used for the measurement, as seen in the reflective model presented in Fig 2 . Based on a minimum threshold of 0.70 for every item to be retained by [ 38 ], all items measuring below the minimum 0.70 thresholds were deleted to obtain the results presented in Fig 2 . Thus, in Fig 2 , the algorithm CFA obtained values above the 0.70 minimum threshold, suggesting that the model achieved internal consistency for the confirmatory factor analysis.

https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0284615.g002

The measure of internal consistency

The PLS path model’s internal consistency measures were further measured with four indices: rho A, Composite Reliability, Cronbach’s Alpha and Average Variance Extracted (AVE) [ 38 ]. Results reported in Table 2 show that Average Variance Extracted (AVE) values obtained for all the constructs ranged from 0.526 to 0.739, and Composite Reliability values were also between 0.810 and 0.905. The last two indices also recorded values ranging between 0.703 and 0.872 for rho -A and 0.701–0.869 for Cronbach’s Alpha. All constructs attained recommended a minimum threshold of 0.70 for Composite Reliability, Cronbach’s Alpha, and rho A [ 38 ]. Additionally, [ 39 ] recommended a minimum threshold of 0.50 for Average Variance Extracted (AVE) was also attained. Thus, both reliability and validity were attained for all four constructs in the study.

https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0284615.t002

Discriminant validity

Heterotrait-Monotrait Ratio (HTMT) was used to ascertain the exclusivity of each construct in the model, as recommended by [ 40 ]. The results, as presented in Table 3 , show that the diagonal loadings between variables of the study were below 0.85 thresholds and for the same variable was zero [ 40 ]. Thus, discriminant validity was achieved for the PLS path model.

https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0284615.t003

Multicollinearity

The inner VIF (variance inflated factors) was used to check the existence of multicollinearity since its existence can fluctuate or affect the results. The recommendations of [ 38 ] of VIF values below 3.3 as an indication of the absence of multicollinearity were used, and the results is presented in Table 4 . The results revealed that all values of VIF were indeed below 3.3 thresholds, suggesting that there were no multicollinearity issues. Deatialed outer VIF values can be seen from S2 Appendix .

https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0284615.t004

Path analysis and hypotheses testing for the model

Before results for path analysis are presented, a bootstrapping sequence of 5000 samples utilised in the PLS according to the recommendation of [ 38 ] was carried out. The results, as presented in Fig 3 , confirmed the significance of the hypothesised paths.

https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0284615.g003

Results for hypotheses testing

Table 4 presents the detailed results of path significance determined from the PLS bootstrapping sequence. The results revealed that the structural model explained about 0.137 variances in intention to participate in international assignments (INTPERF), and 0.154 variances in motivation (MOT) as expressed under the R 2 . The adjusted r-square in Table 4 further supports the results for the R2. The approximate 13.7 percent variance explained by the independent variables of the study suggests that there were other factors that influenced the intention to accept an international assignment among workers in developing economies that were not included in the model.

The results for the path analysis, as presented in Table 4 , suggest that four out of the five hypotheses guiding the study were supported since they attained statistical significance. That is, cultural disposition (CD) had a statistically significant relationship with motivation to accept an international job or assignment (MOT) at ( β = 0.393, t = 10.235, p = 0.000) for hypothesis two. There was a significant statistical relationship between demotivation for international assignment (DEMOT) and intention to participate in an international assignment (INTPERF) at ( β = 0.106, t = 2.604, p = 0.009) for hypothesis three; and motivation for expatriation (MOT) and expatriate’s intention to participate in an international assignment (INTPERF) at ( β = 0.137, t = 6.902, p = 0.000) for hypothesis four of the study. The last hypothesis was supported because it attained statistical significance. That is, motivation (MOT) statistically and significantly mediated the relationship between cultural disposition (CD) and expatriate intention to participate in an international assignment (INTPERF) for hypotheses five at ( β = 0.158, t = 7.852, p = 0.000). Meanwhile, the study found a non-statistical significant relationship between cultural disposition (CD) and expatriate intention to participate in an international assignment (INTPERF) at ( β = 0.015, t = 0.394, p = 0.693) for hypothesis one.

Importance of performance map analysis (IPMA)

PLS Importance Performance Map Analysis (IPMA) was conducted in this study to further check the PLS estimates of the structural model variable relationships, and the results are presented in Table 5 . The analysis compares the constructs’ total effect to that of its performance to determine the most relevant to consider for policy decisions. This was done based on [ 37 ] argument that the total effects represented the sum of direct and indirect effects; hence, the unstandardised effects were relied upon by the IPMA to enable a “ceteris paribus” interpretation of predecessor constructs’ impact on the target construct.

https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0284615.t005

This meant that the size of the total unstandardised effect increased the performance of the target construct when there was an increase in certain predecessor construct’s performance. The results, as presented in Table 5 , show the IPMA values for expatriates intention to participate in an international assignment (INTPERF). From Table 5 , the construct with the highest and strongest performance value was cultural disposition (CD), with a value of 74.117. However, cultural disposition was not the most relevant in predicting expatriate intention in the model since its importance value was the second-highest (0.173). Therefore, the model’s most relevant predictor of expatriate performance was rather a motivation to take on expatriate assignment (MOT) with the highest value of 0. 399. The results are further corroborated by the additional information provided in Fig 4 . It is obvious from Fig 5 that MOT was the most relevant predictor of expatriate performance in international assignments, followed by CD.

https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0284615.g004

https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0284615.g005

Graphical representation of the PLS IPMA path results

Fig 5 further presents the results for the graphical representation of the IPMA path analysis for the PLS path model. This presentation was based on [ 37 ] argument that there are differences between the graphical PLS-SEM results and the graphical representation of IPMA in PLS outputs. The values of performance of individual independent variables IPMA are shown instead of the dependent variables’ values of R 2 in the PLS path model. Additionally, [ 37 , 41 ] believed the IPMA results highlighted the unstandardised and recalled the outer weights of the measurement models (formative and reflective) and not the standardised outer loading or weights. Therefore, the beta values in the outer model reported in Fig 5 indicate the importance of individual items to the construct and not the loading. Thus, in this study, the results of the beta values highlighted in the outer model in Fig 5 revealed each item’s importance to the construct and not the loading. Additionally, inner values presented in Fig 5 further revealed the performance values of each of the variables of the study to the endogenous variable and not the total variance explained.

Discussion of results

The discussion of the results session focuses on the five hypotheses guiding the study based on the three independent variables of the study (cultural disposition, motivators and demotivators) related to the dependent variable-intention to accept an international assignment. The findings for hypothesis one, that there was a non-statistical significant relationship between cultural disposition and expatriate intention to participate in an international assignment, can be explained further. The result suggests that an expatriate’s experience in working in different cultures in terms of weather, food, and clothing, and ability to work with people of different cultures were good for an expatriate assignment but do not solely influence their intention. The result suggests that cultural disposition alone is not enough to influence the intention of expatriates to accept an international assignment. Thus, from the individual workers’ and developing economy perspectives, a cultural disposition is not enough to ensure significant relations with an intention to accept expatriate assignment. The results thus disagree with that of [ 6 ], who found that cultural disposition is a strong predictor of intention in an international assignment.

It is important to note that the non-significant relationship established between cultural disposition and expatriate intention in hypothesis one is further and better explained by hypothesis five. The findings for hypothesis five suggest that motivation statistically and significantly mediates the relationship between cultural disposition and the expatriate’s intention to participate in international assignments. The results mean that expatriates need to be motivated to take up an international assignment in addition to their cultural disposition before they can accept an international assignment. Thus, an employee must be convinced or motivated that in addition to cultural disposition, an international assignment will help him/her to meet career goals, bring him/her recognition, opportunities, and social rewards, will empower him/her for future higher assignments, to experience higher performance on the international assignment. The results mean that motivation is a potent mediator between cultural disposition and acceptance of an international assignment from an individual and developing economy perspectives. The findings agree with the findings of [ 31 ] that expatriate motivation to take up an international assignment influences their performance.

Findings for hypothesis two, that there was a statistically significant relationship between cultural disposition and motivation for an international assignment, need further explanation. The results can be explained that expatriates will be motivated to take up an international assignment when they have experience in working in different cultures, are able to work with people from different cultures and when one has the ability to learn other languages. Thus, motivation for an international assignment is highly dependent on one’s cultural disposition. To increase workers’ motivation for international assignments in other parts of the world, employers will need to pay attention to exposing workers to different cultures. This could take the form of organising cross-cultural training for workers expected to take up international assignments. This finding of the study equally corroborates the findings of [ 29 ] that cultural disposition is a strong predictor of motivation to take up an international assignment.

The findings that demotivation among workers’ assignments significantly predicted the intention to take up an international assignment have several dimensions to be explained. The results suggest that there are factors that can cause disaffection toward opting for an international assignment. Thus, expatriates’ intentions and performance could suffer depending on the level of dissatisfaction. A low dissatisfaction could lead to a low effect on intention, and a high dissatisfaction could lead to a high effect on the intention of expatriates. Thus, expatriates’ intentions could be affected if the worker’s spouse cannot accompany them on an international assignment and cannot get the right person to take care of the family at home while on an international assignment. Other dissatisfiers that could influence acceptance for expatriate assignment and intention to accept an international assignment were the negative impact of an internal assignment on children’s education and not being able to readjust after the expiration of an international assignment. The findings of this study agree with the findings of [ 29 , 39 ] that demotivation among workers affects acceptance of the expatriate assignment and the performance of expatriates.

The last finding of the study, that motivation for expatriate assignment significantly influences intention to participate in an international assignment, also need to be explained further. The results mean that workers will be motivated to take up an international assignment if motivators are attached to the appointment. Thus, if a worker is forced or coerced to take up an international assignment against their will, this could affect the intention and performance. The results further suggest that it is not enough to use an organisational perspective to determine intention for international assignments as captured in previous studies. Rather, individual workers’ motivation for international assignment is key for successful international assignments among expatriates. Thus, the findings of [ 26 ] that motivation among workers to take expatriate jobs greatly influence their intention and performance in an international assignment is upheld by the findings of this study. Though previous studies found a significant relationship between cultural disposition and intention to accept an international assignment. this study revealed and added to knowledge that cultural disposition is not adequate in influencing intention for expatriate assignments, but rather does so through motivation.

Theoretical implications

The findings of this study have several theoretical implications for Hofstede’s Cultural Model. This study is premised on a national culture that is generally characterised by high power distance culture, collectivism culture, feminine culture, high uncertainty avoidance culture and short-term orientation culture, as captured in the five dimensions of the theory. These characteristics need to be considered and respected by human resource managers when recruiting and training people for an international assignment in Ghana or sending a Ghanaian on an expatriate mission. This is because the findings of this study have confirmed certain hidden characteristics in theory. These are cultural matters in international business. There is a statistical difference between the populations of two countries or ethnic groups. The dimensions reflect stable national differences, implying that cultures tend to move together in the same cultural direction. Thus, cultural adaptation and integration become easier for an expatriate assignment in similar cultures.

Practical implications

The findings of this study have practical implications for human resource managers of multinational organisations. The human resource of every organisation remains one of the most important factors for international organisations. The first implication of this study relates to the relevance of cultural disposition for intention and expatriate performance. It suggests that human resource managers need to expose their workers to other cultures to prepare individuals to accept and work in other cross cultures. Cross-cultural exposures can come in the form of job rotations, transfers and teamwork. These can help to expose the individual to local cross-cultural elements, which could serve as a launchpad for accepting to work on an international assignment.

Another implication of the results of this study also relates to the motivation level of workers to accept an international assignment. It calls for ensuring that better packages are associated with international appointment. This could relate to remuneration, jobs for spouses, provision for children’s education, intense cross-cultural training and allowing workers to have international exposure by visiting the country of the international assignment before finally taking the appointment. Closely related to the motivation was also the demotivation for international appointments. Failure on the part of human resource managers of international firms to provide adequate information on the international appointment and exposure of workers to other cultures can result in two things. That is, it can lead to an unwillingness to accept an international assignment and greater chances of expatriate failure or poor performance. The policy implication of the findings of this study was that culture, motivation and demotivation should be taken very seriously by all multinational organisations for greater acceptance and for an international assignment.

Conclusion and recommendations

This study examined the motivation and demotivation for accepting expatriate assignments among workers in Ghana. Previous studies have examined these factors from organisational perspectives. However, the present study examined these factors from individual workers and from developing economy perspectives. Therefore, it can be concluded from the individual and developing economy perspectives, based on the findings of this study, that cultural disposition influences motivation for accepting an international assignment. Motivation and demotivation among workers were also found to have had a statistically significant relationship between expatriate intention and significantly mediated the relationship between cultural disposition and expatriate intention to participate in an international assignment. However, cultural disposition was found to have a non-significance relationship with expatriates’ intention to accept an international assignment. The contribution of this study to knowledge is from individual and developing economy perspectives. That is, cultural disposition alone is not potent to relate very well to acceptance of international assignment among individual workers in a developing economy like Ghana. Rather, cultural disposition becomes a significant factor when associated with motivators.

These conclusions call for a recommendation for managers of multinational organisations and human resource managers. Therefore, it is suggested that human resource managers expose workers to cross-cultural training through job rotations, working in teams, and experiential training. It is expected that such opportunities will reduce culture shock and prepare individuals for an international assignment. It is also recommended that international assignments should be made very attractive to be able to appeal to workers to be willing to accept such job openings. Expatriates should get more recognition, opportunities, social rewards, professional skills, attractive remuneration and other benefits, among others, attached to the expatriate job. The expatriate should also be prepared well for repatriation after the end of an international assignment.

Additionally, human resource managers should deal with demotivators with an international assignment. These demotivators relate to alienation from family, not getting the right person to take care of the family while on the international assignment, and differences in religious beliefs between host and home countries. This can be addressed by ensuring that expatriates are sent to their country or continent of their choice or similar exposure. Allowing a spouse to accompany the expatriate and providing jobs for spouses, as well as paying academic bills for children’s education for the expatriate in the foreign country, will be very helpful in addressing some of the challenges that relate to demotivation.

Limitations and suggestions for further studies

This study was limited to a quantitative approach and failed to capture the qualitative dimensions. The focus of this study was on the general motivation and demotivation among workers in Ghana toward an international assignment. It did not focus on only workers already on an international assignment. Future studies can pursue these dimensions. The analysis of this study did not consider the demographic characteristics of respondents in terms of gender and sector of employment. Other further studies can consider these perspectives. A comparative study between two or more countries will also be very revealing.

Supporting information

S1 appendix. descriptive results of the study..

https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0284615.s001

S2 Appendix. Outer VIF values.

https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0284615.s002

https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0284615.s003

Acknowledgments

We wish to express our profound appreciation to all respondents who took time off their busy schedules to respond to the instrument for data gathering. The support of MBA (HRM) students at Tamale Centre for data collection and national service personnel (Raymond, Samuel, Edwina, Dennis) with the Art and Social Science Unit, CoDE, UCC during data analysis is also recognised and appreciated. God bless you all.

• View Article
• Google Scholar
• PubMed/NCBI
• 28. Hofstede G. (1980). Culture’s consequences: International differences in work-related values. Beverly Hills, CA: Sage.
• 29. Oppong N.Y & Opoku F. (2021). International human resource management. College of Distance Education, University of Cape Coast, Ghana: UCC printing Press University
• 35. Creswell J.W. (2009). Research design: qualitative: Quantitative, and mixed methods approaches. Sage Publications, Thousand Oaks, CA.
• 39. Kline R. B. (2015). Principles and practice of structural equation modelling. New York City, USA: Guilford Publications.

The Effect of Mindset Interventions on Stress and Academic Motivation in College Students

• Open access
• Published: 10 April 2024

Cite this article

You have full access to this open access article

• Heidi H. Meyer 1 &
• Lauren A. Stutts   ORCID: orcid.org/0000-0002-5014-1907 1  

286 Accesses

6 Altmetric

Explore all metrics

Stress levels are high among college students in the United States. Growth mindset and stress-is-enhancing mindset interventions offer ways to reduce stress, but minimal research has examined them. This study’s aim was to examine the effect of mindset interventions on mindsets, stress, academic motivation, and responses to hypothetical academic scenarios. Participants included 210 college students who were randomized to one of four groups: growth mindset (intelligence is malleable), stress mindset (stress is beneficial), synergistic (intelligence is malleable, and stress is beneficial), or control (brain functions). The growth mindset and the synergistic mindset group increased in growth mindset, and the growth mindset group had higher growth mindset than the stress mindset and control group post-intervention. The stress mindset and the synergistic group increased in stress-is-enhancing mindset, and both groups had higher stress-is-enhancing mindsets than the growth mindset and control group post-intervention. All groups decreased in stress and increased in academic motivation. The synergistic group was the only group to improve on all the main outcomes, and students in this group were less likely to want to withdraw from a course in both negative hypothetical academic scenarios (if they failed an assignment or were faced with a professor with a fixed mindset). Our findings suggest that students would benefit from increased access to mindset interventions.

Similar content being viewed by others

A synergistic mindsets intervention protects adolescents from stress

David S. Yeager, Christopher J. Bryan, … Jeremy P. Jamieson

Trajectories of Perceived Stress among Students in Transition to College: Mindset Antecedents and Adjustment Outcomes

Shan Zhao, Yanjia Zhang, … Danhua Lin

Study protocol for a randomised controlled trial investigating the effects of Mindfulness Based Stress Reduction on stress regulation and associated neurocognitive mechanisms in stressed university students: the MindRest study

Nikos Kogias, Dirk E. M. Geurts, … Erno J. Hermans

Avoid common mistakes on your manuscript.

The American College Health Association ( 2022 ) reported that approximately 50% of college students in the United States (U.S.) reported experiencing a moderate level of stress, and approximately 30% of students reported experiencing a high level of stress. Stress has been found to be strongly associated with psychological disorders (e.g., depression) and suicidality in college students (Liu et al., 2019 ). Therefore, it is critical to examine what factors are related to stress and how stress can be reduced.

One key factor that influences stress and resilience is one’s mindset (Yeager & Dweck, 2012 ). Mindsets are defined as one’s implicit theories about the flexibility of characteristics such as intelligence. There are two main types of mindsets regarding intelligence: growth and fixed (Dweck & Leggett, 1988 ). A growth mindset believes intelligence can be improved through effort, while a fixed mindset believes that intelligence is set and cannot change despite someone’s effort. Individuals are theorized to be on a continuum between these two mindsets. A meta-analysis found that growth mindsets are negatively correlated with psychological distress and positively correlated with active coping (Burnette et al., 2020 ). This association may be because a growth mindset buffers against maladaptive cognitions that can lead to maladaptive coping and/or adverse psychological outcomes.

A growth mindset is a skill that can be learned through interventions. For example, Smith and Capuzzi ( 2019 ) examined the effect of a single-session growth mindset intervention on anxiety and grades for U.S. college students in a statistics class (Smith & Capuzzi, 2019 ). They randomly assigned students to either a growth mindset intervention (e.g., a 75-minute interactive class session with exercises) or a control group (no intervention). They measured the students’ mindset and anxiety level at baseline and six months after completing the intervention. They found that students in the intervention group had an increased growth mindset, whereas mindset did not change in the control group. While they did not find significant changes in anxiety in either group, they found that a higher growth mindset was associated with lower anxiety and a higher course grade. Another study found that a single-session growth mindset intervention reduced depressive symptoms in U.S. adolescent girls four months after the intervention (Heaman et al., 2023 ).

Furthermore, a growth mindset is related to positive educational outcomes. A meta-analysis across 10 studies concluded that teaching students about a growth mindset increases their motivation and achievement (Sarrasin et al., 2018 ). For example, one study randomized adolescents in the U.S. to a growth mindset group (8-session intervention with information about the brain and growth mindset) or a control group (8-session intervention with information about the brain) (Blackwell et al., 2007 ). Students in the growth mindset group had significantly more positive change in classroom motivation three weeks after the intervention than the control group.

While a growth mindset is associated with lower stress (Burnette et al., 2020 ), two mindsets directly related to stress have been studied as well: stress-is-enhancing and stress-is-debilitating (Crum et al., 2013 ). A stress-is-enhancing mindset views stress as beneficial, whereas a stress-is-debilitating mindset views stress as harmful (Crum et al., 2013 ). Similar to growth and fixed mindsets, individuals are thought to be on a continuum between these two mindsets. Keech et al. ( 2018 ) found that having a stress-is-enhancing mindset was negatively correlated with perceived stress and was positively correlated with proactive behavior. Another study found that a stress-is-enhancing mindset served as a moderator between perceived stress and depressive symptoms in U.S. college students (Huebschmann & Sheets, 2020 ). The stress mindset is theorized to be beneficial in part because it changes how one psychologically experiences stress and how one behaviorally copes with stress (Crum et al., 2013 ).

Similar to a growth mindset, a stress-is-enhancing mindset can be developed through interventions. For example, one study with Australian university students found significant benefits of a stress mindset intervention (Keech et al., 2021 ). Students were randomized to one of two groups: an intervention group who watched videos about the consequences and benefits of stress and completed mental imagery tasks applying the benefits of stress in their own lives (one session of an unspecified length of time), or a control group who completed a mental imagery task unrelated to reframing stress. Two weeks after the intervention, the intervention group increased in stress-is-enhancing mindset from pre- to post-intervention and had a higher stress-is-enhancing mindset than the control group. In participants with high perceived stress, those in the intervention group also had lower distress and more proactive behavior than the control group. Another study using college students in the U.K. found that short videos about the stress-is-enhancing mindset was effective in increasing the stress-is-enhancing mindset immediately after the intervention (Williams & Ginty, 2023 ). However, no previous studies to our knowledge have examined the effect of a stress-is-enhancing intervention on academic motivation.

Yeager et al. ( 2022 ) proposed a mindset that combines the growth mindset and stress-is-enhancing mindset, which they called a synergistic mindset. They created a single-session 30-minute online module that contained information and exercises related to improving both mindsets. In a sample of U.S. college students, they found that this synergistic mindset intervention was more effective than a growth mindset intervention alone, a stress-is-enhancing mindset intervention alone, or a control intervention (learned about brain functions) in reducing cardiovascular reactivity when experiencing a social stressor shortly after the intervention (Yeager et al., 2022 ). In another sample of college students who received the intervention, they found that students made less negative stress appraisals about a quiz one to three days after the intervention and three weeks afterward (Yeager et al., 2022 ).

Having single-session interventions can be valuable as they are time- and cost-effective, but it’s important that they have lasting effects. A meta-analysis on single-session interventions on psychiatric problems in adolescents found that the interventions had the highest effect size for lasting effects on anxiety, which is similar to the present study’s focus on stress in young adults (Schleider & Weisz, 2017 ). Another study specifically examined the longitudinal effects of a single-session synergistic mindset intervention (Hecht et al., 2023 ). At the beginning of the semester, U.S. college students were randomly assigned to receive a 30-minute synergistic mindset or a control intervention (lesson about the brain). Subsequently, half of the students in each group received four 5-minute supportive messages related to the synergistic mindset whereas the other half received 5-minute neutral messages about assessing their learning progress periodically over the remainder of the semester (15-week semester). They found that the synergistic mindset intervention was effective in reducing fixed mindset beliefs and increasing stress-is-enhancing beliefs immediately after the intervention and at 3-weeks post-intervention similar to previous findings (Yeager et al., 2022 ); however, they found that receiving brief continued supportive messages made the initial intervention’s effects stronger over time (Hecht et al., 2023 ). Overall, single-session interventions are promising low-cost, accessible options that need further exploration.

Present Study

The present study is novel in two main ways. First, we examined the impact of mindset interventions on academic motivation and on responses to hypothetical academic scenarios to examine how mindsets could affect one’s potential behaviors, which has not been explored previously to our knowledge. Second, we assessed the efficacy of a shorter and simpler intervention (5 to 10 min) than was used previously (Yeager et al., 2022 ), which could make the intervention even more accessible for students.

Our main study aim was to assess the effect of mindset interventions on growth mindset, stress-is-enhancing mindset, stress, and academic motivation. We randomly assigned participants to one of four groups: growth mindset, stress mindset, synergistic mindset, or control. Participants’ growth mindset, stress-is-enhancing mindset, stress, and academic motivation were measured before and after the intervention. We hypothesized that the synergistic group would have increased growth mindset, stress-is-enhancing mindset, and academic motivation, and decreased stress from pre- to post-intervention. We also predicted that the synergistic group would have lower stress and higher academic motivation post-intervention compared to the other groups. In contrast, we predicted that the control group would have lower growth mindset, stress-is-enhancing mindset, and academic motivation and higher stress compared to the other groups post-intervention. Our second aim was to assess the effect of mindset interventions on responses to hypothetical academic scenarios to examine how mindsets could affect one’s potential behaviors. We did not create hypotheses for the second aim as it was exploratory.

Participants

Any currently enrolled students at a southeastern college who were at least 18 years of age were eligible to participate in the study. According to a G*power analysis using an effect size f 2 of 0.25, a power level of 0.80, and a significance value of 0.05, 136 participants were required for the main analysis (2 × 4 mixed ANOVA) to have sufficient statistical power (Faul et al., 2009 ). Although 272 participants began the survey and provided consent, we removed data from 62 participants because they stopped the study before finishing the pre-post measures ( n  = 58), or they did not follow the instructions in their written responses ( n  = 4). The majority of individuals who stopped early quit on the first survey ( n  = 26) or during the intervention ( n  = 21). There was not a clear trend that one intervention resulted in more drop-out than others ( n  = 4 growth mindset; n  = 4 synergistic; n  = 6 stress-is-enhancing mindset; n  = 7 control group. Our final sample contained 210 participants, which was sufficient for our analyses.

We received approval from the Institutional Review Board of the college and collected data in January 2023 online. Participants were recruited through a campus-wide email. After indicating consent, participants completed a baseline stress scale. Next, they completed measures of growth mindset, stress-is-enhancing mindset, state stress, and academic motivation. Subsequently, they were randomly assigned to one of four groups: growth mindset, stress mindset, synergistic mindset, or control. All groups completed three activities designed to shift their mindset to the group they were assigned. After completing the activities, participants completed the same assessments of growth mindset, stress-is-enhancing mindset, state stress, and academic motivation. Subsequently, participants responded to behavioral questions about hypothetical academic scenarios. Finally, participants completed demographic information. The study took approximately 17 min, and each participant was compensated with a $10 Amazon gift card.

Group Interventions

Our interventions were modeled after Yeager et al. ( 2022 ) but were adapted to be shorter and simpler. Each group first read research on their assigned mindset. The growth mindset group read about the malleability of the brain. The stress mindset group read about the adaptive purposes of stress. The synergistic mindset group read about both of those topics, and the control group read about the functional areas of the brain. Each group then read practical strategies about how to implement the mindsets in their life. Next, participants read an example story about how a student applied the assigned mindset to an academic challenge. Finally, participants were asked to write a short paragraph about how they planned to use a similar mindset and strategies on a future academic setback/challenge. They were prompted to write at least 500 characters (100 words). Each group’s procedure is detailed in the Supplemental Materials.

Baseline Stress

Baseline stress was measured with the Perceived Stress Scale, which asked participants questions to rate their stress levels over the past month (Cohen et al., 1983 ). Participants rated 10 items (e.g., “In the last month, how often have you been upset because of something that happened unexpectedly?”) on a scale from 0 ( never ) to 4 ( very often ). After reverse scoring the necessary items, a total score was calculated. The possible total score ranged from 0 to 40, with higher scores representing more stress. Cronbach’s α was 0.86.

Pre-Post Measures

Growth mindset.

The Growth Mindset Scale assessed whether participants believe they can learn and improve (Dweck et al., 1995 ). Participants indicated their agreement with three items (e.g., “You have a certain amount of intelligence, and you can’t really change it”) on a Likert scale from 1 ( strongly agree ) to 6 ( strongly disagree ). Items were reverse-scored and averaged; higher scores indicated a higher growth mindset. Cronbach’s α was 0.88 for pre- and post-intervention.

Stress Mindset

The Stress Mindset Measure assessed whether participants view stress as enhancing or debilitating (Crum et al., 2013 ). Participants indicated their agreement to eight items (e.g., “Experiencing stress facilitates my learning and growth”) on a Likert scale from 0 ( strongly disagree ) to 4 ( strongly agree ). Scores were averaged, and higher scores indicated a higher stress-is-enhancing mindset. Cronbach’s α was 0.83 for pre-intervention and 0.88 for post-intervention.

State Stress

State stress was measured through a visual analog scale where participants indicated how much they felt stress currently from 0 ( not at all ) to 100 ( extremely ).

Academic Motivation

Academic motivation was measured through a visual analog scale where participants indicated how motivated they felt to complete their coursework currently from 0 ( not at all ) to 100 ( extremely ).

Academic Scenarios

Participants read and responded to three hypothetical academic scenarios. The first scenario involved failing an assignment: “Imagine you fail the first assignment of the semester after completing the work and trying your best.” The second scenario included a professor’s fixed mindset response: “Imagine that you talk to the professor about your failed assignment. Your professor tries to make you feel better by telling you that this subject is hard and isn’t for everyone.” The third scenario demonstrated a professor’s growth mindset response: “Imagine that you talk to the professor about your failed assignment. Your professor tries to make you feel better by telling you that they will help you, and they believe in your ability to improve.” In each scenario, participants were asked to rate how much they would want to withdraw from the course if they could on a visual analogue scale from 0 ( not at all ) to 100 ( extremely ).

Demographic Questions

Participants reported their age, gender, race, ethnicity, and class year.

Manipulation Check

We examined all the written responses to the interventions to make sure they followed instructions of their group assignment. We removed four individuals for not following those instructions.

Statistical Analyses

SPSS version 28 was used for all analyses. Descriptive statistics and reliability analyses were calculated for all main variables. Chi-squared analyses were conducted to assess if there were differences in demographic variables among the four groups. A one-way (group) ANOVA was conducted for baseline stress to determine any baseline differences among the four groups. For aim 1, we conducted 2 (time) x 4 (group) mixed ANOVAs on growth-mindset, stress-is-enhancing mindset, stress, and academic motivation. For aim 2, we conducted one-way between-subjects (4 groups) ANOVAs on desire to withdraw from a course based on three hypothetical scenarios. Post-hoc tests using Bonferroni were conducted to determine where the significant differences occurred.

Descriptive Statistics of Participants

Descriptive statistics including gender, race, ethnicity, class year, and age for participants are displayed in Table  1 . Most participants were White, non-Hispanic/Latinx women. The mean age of participants was 20 years old and ranged from 18 to 22. There were no significant differences by demographic variables among the four groups (Table  1 ).

There was a significant interaction between time and group for growth mindset, F (3, 206) = 10.65, p  < .001, η p 2  = 0.13 (Fig.  1 ). Growth mindset significantly increased from pre-intervention ( M  = 4.21, SD  = 1.05) to post-intervention ( M  = 4.67, SD  = 1.06) in the synergistic group, p  < .001. Additionally, growth mindset significantly increased from pre-intervention ( M  = 4.14, SD  = 1.05) to post-intervention ( M  = 4.78, SD  = 1.07) in the growth mindset group, p  < .001. At post-intervention, the growth mindset group ( M  = 4.78, SD  = 1.07) had significantly higher growth mindset than the control group ( M  = 4.18, SD  = 1.06), p  = .028, and the stress mindset group ( M  = 4.22, SD  = 1.06), p  = .048.

Growth Mindset by Group and Time. Note. Vertical axis was abridged for clarity. The bracket indicates there is a significant difference between the growth mindset group and the stress mindset and control group. Error bars represent standard error. * p  < .05

Stress-is-Enhancing Mindset

There was a significant interaction between time and group for stress-is-enhancing mindset, F (3, 206) = 17.74, p  < .001, η p 2  = 0.21 (Fig.  2 ). Stress-is-enhancing mindset significantly increased from pre-intervention ( M  = 1.76, SD  = 0.67) to post-intervention ( M  = 2.18, SD  = 0.66) in the synergistic group, p  < .001. Additionally, stress-is-enhancing mindset significantly increased from pre-intervention ( M  = 1.72, SD  = 0.65) to post-intervention ( M  = 2.25, SD  = 0.63) in the stress mindset group, p  < .001. At post-intervention, the synergistic group ( M  = 2.18, SD  = 0.69) had significantly higher stress-is-enhancing mindset than the control group ( M  = 1.82, SD  = 0.69), p  = .048, and the growth mindset group ( M  = 1.73, SD  = 0.69), p  = .005. Also at post-intervention, the stress mindset group ( M  = 2.25, SD  = 0.69) had significantly higher stress-is-enhancing mindset than the control group ( M  = 1.82, SD  = 0.69), p  = .011, and the growth mindset group ( M  = 1.73, SD  = 0.69), p  < .001.

Stress Mindset by Group and Time. Note. Vertical axis was abridged for clarity. The bracket indicates there is a significant difference between both the synergistic and stress mindset group and the growth mindset and control group. Error bars represent standard error. * p  < .01

There was a significant main effect by time, F (1, 206) = 21.80, p  < .001, η p 2  = 0.10, such that stress decreased across all groups from pre-exposure ( M  = 46.41, SD  = 23.59) to post-exposure ( M  = 41.76, SD  = 25.04), p  < .001 (Fig.  3 ). However, there was not a significant main effect by group, F (3, 206) = 0.37, p  = .77, η p 2  = 0.005, or a significant interaction by time and group, F (3, 206) = 1.42, p  = .24, η p 2  = 0.02.

Stress by Group and Time. Note. Vertical axis was abridged for clarity. Error bars represent standard error. * p  < .01

There was a significant main effect by time, F (1, 206) = 13.74, p  < .001, η p 2  = 0.063, such that academic motivation increased across all groups from pre-exposure ( M  = 51.74, SD  = 25.94) to post-exposure ( M  = 55.19, SD  = 25.98) (Fig.  4 ). However, there was not a significant main effect by group, F (3, 206) = 0.31, p  = .82, η p 2  = 0.004, or a significant interaction by time and group, F (3, 206) = 0.05, p  = .99, η p 2  = 0.001.

Academic Motivation by Group and Time. Note. Vertical axis was abridged for clarity. Error bars represent standard error. * p  < .01

There was a significant main effect for group about wanting to withdraw from a course if they could when they failed the first assignment after trying their best, F (3, 206) = 5.99, p  < .001, η p 2  = 0.08. The synergistic group ( M  = 40.54, SD  = 33.60) had a significantly lower likelihood of wanting to withdraw from the course compared to the control group ( M  = 67.15, SD  = 33.59), p  < .001. In addition, the stress mindset group ( M  = 46.22, SD  = 33.64) had a significantly lower likelihood of wanting to withdraw from the course compared to the control group ( M  = 67.15, SD  = 33.59), p  = .01.

There was also a significant main effect for group about wanting to withdraw when participants were faced with a professor with a fixed mindset, F (3, 206) = 2.88, p  = .037, η p 2  = 0.04. Participants in the synergistic group ( M  = 51.37, SD  = 35.52) were significantly less likely to want to withdraw from the course than those in the control group ( M  = 71.48, SD  = 35.57), p  = .03. When a professor had a growth mindset, participants did not differ significantly in their likelihood to want to withdraw from the course based on their mindset group, F (3, 206) = 1.08, p  = .36, η p 2  = 0.02.

This study’s main aim was to examine the effect of mindset interventions on mindsets, state stress, and academic motivation. Our hypotheses were partially supported. Each mindset intervention improved mindsets as intended. In addition, state stress decreased, and academic motivation increased from pre- to post-intervention in the mindset groups as predicted, but we did not predict that state stress would decrease and academic motivation would increase in the control group as well. In addition, we did not find that the synergistic group had better outcomes compared to the other three groups for stress and academic motivation. The study’s second aim was to examine the effect of the mindset interventions on hypothetical academic scenarios. We found that students in the synergistic group were the only students who were less likely to want to withdraw from a course in both negative hypothetical academic scenarios (if they failed an assignment or were faced with a professor with a fixed mindset), suggesting the benefits of the synergistic mindset.

Our results showed that the growth mindset intervention (in both the growth mindset group and synergistic group) was successful in increasing a growth mindset. This finding aligns with previous research (Smith & Capuzzi, 2019 ). However, our study also found that the growth mindset intervention reduced stress, whereas Smith and Capuzzi ( 2019 ) did not find a change in anxiety, though they found a negative relationship between growth mindset and anxiety. Perhaps the difference in the construct of anxiety versus stress and the different measures used in those studies played a role in those varying results. However, our study’s intervention was notably shorter (5 to 10 min) than Smith and Capuzzi’s ( 2019 ) 75-minute intervention, which suggests that a growth mindset can be induced more efficiently. Moreover, we found that the growth mindset intervention increased academic motivation, which parallels previous research (Blackwell et al., 2007 ; Sarrasin et al., 2018 ). That said, it is important to note that while participants in the growth mindset group had significantly higher growth mindset than the control group, there were not differences between the groups for stress and academic motivation, indicating a lack of treatment effect for those variables. That lack of difference may be because those variables were more distal outcomes. A meta-analysis found that the largest effects for growth mindset interventions are on more proximal outcomes such as mindset than more distal outcomes such as psychological health (Burnette et al., 2023 ).

Similarly, we found that the stress mindset intervention (in both the stress mindset group and synergistic group) was successful in increasing a stress-is-enhancing mindset. This finding is in concert with previous research (Keech et al., 2021 ). Furthermore, we found that stress decreased in those groups, whereas Keech et al. ( 2021 ) only found decreased stress in participants who had overall higher stress than the other participants. Our sample had high averages of baseline stress across all groups, which may be why we found an overall difference for everyone. We also found that the stress mindset intervention increased academic motivation, which has not been studied previously to our knowledge. Perhaps rethinking academic stress reminded students of the benefits of learning rather than viewing it as threatening, which may have led to an increased desire to complete academic work. However, similar to growth mindset, we only found differences between the stress mindset group and the control group for the proximal outcome of stress-is-enhancing mindset, which indicates there was not a treatment effect for stress and academic motivation.

The control group did not change in growth mindset or stress-is-enhancing mindset over time, which aligns with expectations. Surprisingly, though, the control group had decreased stress and increased academic motivation after learning about the brain, despite us using a similar control group design as Yeager et al. ( 2022 ). It is possible that learning about the function of different brain parts and writing about them led to increased feelings of appreciation of one’s brain. Completing this activity also served as a break from their academic work, which may also have led to students feeling less stressed and more energized for their work.

While the synergistic group was the only group to have improvements in all four outcomes, the synergistic group did not show significantly better results in stress reduction and academic motivation than the other groups. Therefore, it appears that learning about both mindsets does not necessarily have additive effects as they potentially affect stress and academic motivation in a similar way. However, the mechanisms of how those mindsets are related to different outcomes needs to be explored further.

For our second aim, we found that the interventions affected projected behavioral responses to hypothetical academic scenarios. The synergistic and stress mindset groups were significantly less likely to want to withdraw from a course compared to the control group when faced with failing the first assignment in a course after trying their best. Perhaps they were applying what they learned and practiced in the intervention to view the failure as a challenge rather than a stressor.

In addition, participants in the synergistic group were less likely to want to withdraw from a course compared to the control group when faced with a professor who expressed a fixed mindset. This finding is in line with previous research that shows that a professor’s mindset can affect students’ course engagement and dropout intentions (Muenks et al., 2020 ). The synergistic group may have applied both ideas from the growth mindset and stress mindset intervention; they may have trusted their own mindset rather than the professor’s mindset and reframed the situation as a challenge rather than a stressor. These behavioral responses suggest that the synergistic group may confer benefits above and beyond the single mindset groups.

Our sample had multiple limitations regarding participants. For example, the sample was mostly white, educated women, which limits the generalizability of our findings. The demographics of this study’s sample also could have influenced the familiarity of participants with the concepts taught. For example, the concept of a growth mindset is now commonly taught in many college courses, especially psychology courses. Therefore, participants may have already been aware of some of the research about mindsets.

Furthermore, the intervention was limited in several ways. We do not know if participants read and absorbed each piece of information. In addition, twenty-one participants quit the study during the intervention, which could indicate that they were not interested in it or engaged with it. There was not a clear difference in drop-out across intervention groups, so it’s possible it was due to all of them requiring writing. However, further research is needed to determine why some individuals would choose not to continue this type of intervention. A few individuals also had negative responses to the stress mindset intervention as they thought that it was invalidating to the negative impact of stressors. Yeager et al. ( 2022 ) highlighted that mindset interventions are not meant for reappraising traumatic stressors; therefore, it’s possible that the individuals who had a negative response may have had those types of experiences and felt invalidated. In turn, feeling emotionally invalidated has been found to predict negative affect and stress (Schreiber & Veilleux, 2022 ; Zielinski et al., 2023 ). Recent research has discovered that applying a meta-cognitive approach that highlights both the stress-is-enhancing mindset and addresses how to handle society’s messaging around the negative aspects of stress was more effective than a stress-is-enhancing mindset intervention alone (Crum et al., 2023 ). Future research should continue to explore how these interventions can balance providing the benefit of mindset change while not invalidating an individual’s stress.

Moreover, there were limitations to our measures and the timing of them. State stress and academic motivation were single item sliders, which did not allow us to assess reliability. We also administered the intervention at the beginning of the semester, which could have influenced engagement and perceived relevance of the information. Furthermore, since we only assessed participants at one time point, we do not know how long the effects of the short intervention lasted. While single-session mindset interventions have been shown to have long-term effects (e.g., Heaman et al., 2023 ; Hecht et al., 2023 ; Smith & Capuzzi, 2019 ), it is possible that this shorter intervention will not have sustained effects over time. Including brief “booster” sessions after the intervention similar to Hecht et al. ( 2023 ) would potentially be valuable and should be examined in future research.

The main implication of our study is that brief mindset interventions can be effective in shifting student mindsets. Our results also showed that the synergistic mindset intervention provided the most benefits to students; it was the only group that improved on all the main outcomes, and students in this group were less likely to want to withdraw from a course in both negative hypothetical academic scenarios (if they failed an assignment or were faced with a professor with a fixed mindset). This type of brief (5–10 min) mindset intervention could be easily applied online by students or led by teachers in the classroom. Future research should further examine the mechanisms by which these mindsets are effective on various outcomes. In addition, research should examine the longitudinal effects of brief interventions and if students apply them behaviorally. It also would be valuable for studies to examine how individuals’ characteristics (e.g., age, gender) influence the effectiveness of mindset interventions. Overall, continuing this research can have benefits on reducing stress and improving educational outcomes in young adults.

Data Availability

Data can be made available upon request.

American College Health Association (2022). National College Health Assessment: Spring 2022 reference group executive summary . https://www.acha.org/documents/ncha/NCHA-III_SPRING_2022_REFERENCE_GROUP_EXECUTIVE_SUMMARY.pdf

Blackwell, L. S., Trzesniewski, K. H., & Dweck, C. S. (2007). Implicit theories of intelligence predict achievement across an adolescent transition: A longitudinal study and an intervention. Child Development , 78 (1), 246–263. https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1467-8624.2007.00995.x

Article   Google Scholar  

Burnette, J. L., Knouse, L. E., Vavra, D. T., O’Boyle, E., & Brooks, M. A. (2020). Growth mindsets and psychological distress: A meta-analysis. Clinical Psychology Review , 77 , 101816. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.cpr.2020.101816

Burnette, J. L., Billingsley, J., Banks, G. C., Knouse, L. E., Hoyt, C. L., Pollack, J. M., & Simon, S. (2023). A systematic review and meta-analysis of growth mindset interventions: For whom, how, and why might such interventions work? Psychological Bulletin , 149 (3–4), 174–205. https://doi.org/10.1037/bul0000368

Cohen, S., Kamarck, T., & Mermelstein, R. (1983). A global measure of perceived stress. Journal of Health and Social Behavior , 24 (4), 385–396. https://doi.org/10.2307/2136404

Crum, A. J., Salovey, P., & Achor, S. (2013). Rethinking stress: The role of mindsets in determining the stress response. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology , 104 (4), 716–733. https://doi.org/10.1037/a0031201

Crum, A. J., Santoro, E., Handley-Miner, I., Smith, E. N., Evans, K., Moraveji, N., Achor, S., & Salovey, P. (2023). Evaluation of the rethink stress mindset intervention: A metacognitive approach to changing mindsets. Journal of Experimental Psychology: General , 152 (9), 2603–2622. https://doi.org/10.1037/xge0001396

Dweck, C. S., & Leggett, E. L. (1988). A social-cognitive approach to motivation and personality. Psychological Review , 95 , 256–273. https://doi.org/10.1037/0033-295X.95.2.256

Dweck, C. S., Chiu, C., & Hong, Y. (1995). Implicit theories and their role in judgments and reactions: A world from two perspectives. Psychological Inquiry , 6 (4), 267–285. https://doi.org/10.1207/s15327965pli0604_1

Faul, F., Erdfelder, E., Buchner, A., & Lang, A. G. (2009). Statistical power analyses using G*Power 3.1: Tests for correlation and regression analyses. Behavior Research Methods , 41 (4), 1149–1160. https://doi.org/10.3758/BRM.41.4.1149

Heaman, J. A. L., Cherry, K. M., McMurtry, C. M., Giguère, B., & Lumley, M. N. (2023). Changing minds: An rct of a growth mindset intervention on depressive symptoms and well-being in adolescent girls and boys. International Journal of Applied Positive Psychology . https://doi.org/10.1007/s41042-023-00128-z

Hecht, C. A., Gosling, S. D., Bryan, C. J., Jamieson, J. P., Murray, J. S., & Yeager, D. S. (2023). When do the effects of single-session interventions persist? Testing the mindset + supportive context hypothesis in a longitudinal randomized trial. JCPP Advances , 3 (4), e12191. https://doi.org/10.1002/jcv2.12191

Huebschmann, N. A., & Sheets, E. S. (2020). The right mindset: Stress mindset moderates the association between perceived stress and depressive symptoms. Anxiety Stress & Coping: An International Journal , 33 (3), 248–255. https://doi.org/10.1080/10615806.2020.1736900

Keech, J. J., Hagger, M. S., O’Callaghan, F. V., & Hamilton, K. (2018). The influence of university students’ stress mindsets on health and performance outcomes. Annals of Behavioral Medicine , 52 (12), 1046–1059. https://doi.org/10.1093/abm/kay008

Keech, J. J., Hagger, M. S., & Hamilton, K. (2021). Changing stress mindsets with a novel imagery intervention: A randomized controlled trial. Emotion , 21 (1), 123–136. https://doi.org/10.1037/emo0000678.supp

Liu, C. H., Stevens, C., Wong, S. H. M., Yasui, M., & Chen, J. A. (2019). The prevalence and predictors of mental health diagnoses and suicide among U.S. college students: Implications for addressing disparities in service use. Depression and Anxiety , 36 (1), 8–17. https://doi.org/10.1002/da.22830

Muenks, K., Canning, E. A., LaCosse, J., Green, D. J., Zirkel, S., Garcia, J. A., & Murphy, M. C. (2020). Does my professor think my ability can change? Students’ perceptions of their STEM professors’ mindset beliefs predict their psychological vulnerability, engagement, and performance in class. Journal of Experimental Psychology: General , 149 (11), 2119–2144. https://doi.org/10.1037/xge0000763.supp

Sarrasin, J. B., Nenciovici, L., Foisy, L. M. B., Allaire-Duquette, G., Riopel, M., & Masson, S. (2018). Effects of teaching the concept of neuroplasticity to induce a growth mindset on motivation, achievement, and brain activity: A meta-analysis. Trends in Neuroscience and Education , 12 , 22–31. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.tine.2018.07.003

Schleider, J. L., & Weisz, J. R. (2017). Little treatments, promising effects? Meta-analysis of single-session interventions for youth psychiatric problems. Journal of the American Academy of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry , 56 (2), 107–115. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jaac.2016.11.007

Schreiber, R. E., & Veilleux, J. C. (2022). Perceived invalidation of emotion uniquely predicts affective distress: Implications for the role of interpersonal factors in emotional experience. Personality and Individual Differences , 184 , 111191. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.paid.2021.111191

Smith, T. F., & Capuzzi, G. (2019). Using a mindset intervention to reduce anxiety in the statistics classroom. Psychology Learning & Teaching , 18 (3), 326–336. https://doi.org/10.1177/1475725719836641

Williams, S. E., & Ginty, A. T. (2023). Improving stress mindset through education and imagery. Anxiety Stress and Coping , 1–9. https://doi.org/10.1080/10615806.2023.2279663

Yeager, D. S., & Dweck, C. S. (2012). Mindsets that promote resilience: When students believe that personal characteristics can be developed. Educational Psychologist , 47 (4), 302–314. https://doi.org/10.1080/00461520.2012.722805

Yeager, D. S., Bryan, C. J., Gross, J. J., Murray, J. S., Cobb, D. K., Santos, P. H. F., Gravelding, H., Johnson, M., & Jamieson, J. P. (2022). A synergistic mindsets intervention protects adolescents from stress. Nature , 607 (7919), 512–520. https://doi.org/10.1038/s41586-022-04907-7

Zielinski, M. J., Veilleux, J. C., Fradley, M. F., & Skinner, K. D. (2023). Perceived emotion invalidation predicts daily affect and stressors. Anxiety Stress and Coping , 36 (2), 214–228. https://doi.org/10.1080/10615806.2022.2033973

Download references

Open access funding provided by the Carolinas Consortium. This work was supported by the George L. Abernethy Endowment at Davidson College.

Author information

Authors and affiliations.

Public Health Department, Davidson College, 209 Ridge Rd, PO Box 5000, Davidson, NC, 28035, USA

Heidi H. Meyer & Lauren A. Stutts

You can also search for this author in PubMed   Google Scholar

Contributions

Heidi Meyer and Lauren Stutts designed the study aims and procedures, obtained IRB approval, conducted literature searches, provided summaries of previous research studies, collected the data, analyzed the data, and wrote the paper. All authors have contributed to and approve the final manuscript.

Corresponding author

Correspondence to Lauren A. Stutts .

Ethics declarations

Financial interests.

The authors declare they have no financial interests.

Non-Financial Interests

Research involving human participants.

This study was approved by the Institutional Review Board at Davidson College.

Informed Consent

All participants provided informed consent before they began the study.

Additional information

Publisher’s note.

Springer Nature remains neutral with regard to jurisdictional claims in published maps and institutional affiliations.

Electronic Supplementary Material

Below is the link to the electronic supplementary material.

Supplementary Material 1

Rights and permissions.

Open Access This article is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License, which permits use, sharing, adaptation, distribution and reproduction in any medium or format, as long as you give appropriate credit to the original author(s) and the source, provide a link to the Creative Commons licence, and indicate if changes were made. The images or other third party material in this article are included in the article’s Creative Commons licence, unless indicated otherwise in a credit line to the material. If material is not included in the article’s Creative Commons licence and your intended use is not permitted by statutory regulation or exceeds the permitted use, you will need to obtain permission directly from the copyright holder. To view a copy of this licence, visit http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/ .

Reprints and permissions

About this article

Meyer, H.H., Stutts, L.A. The Effect of Mindset Interventions on Stress and Academic Motivation in College Students. Innov High Educ (2024). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10755-024-09706-8

Download citation

Accepted : 04 March 2024

Published : 10 April 2024

DOI : https://doi.org/10.1007/s10755-024-09706-8

Share this article

Anyone you share the following link with will be able to read this content:

Sorry, a shareable link is not currently available for this article.

Provided by the Springer Nature SharedIt content-sharing initiative

• Growth mindset
• Stress-is-enhancing mindset
• Synergistic mindset
• Academic motivation
• Find a journal
• Publish with us
• Track your research