Can a multicultural personality profile be identified?
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2019-07-10
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en
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Currently, many organization are operating in an international context. As a consequence, the working environment is becoming more multicultural and multilingual for employees. Selecting employees that fit the increasingly internationally focused working environment, may, therefore, be important to organizations. A multicultural effective employee profile that is expected to be able to easily adjust to an intercultural working environment, might be what an organizations are looking for. Multicultural personality dimensions measured with the Multicultural Personality Questionnaire (MPQ), foreign language mastery, and job satisfaction were found to be relevant concepts linked to multicultural effectiveness. In a Dutch business setting, including Dutch employees working in the educational sector, this current study had the purpose to gain insight into whether a multicultural personality profile could be distinguished among employee groups in different working environments, based on differences in the MPQ personality dimensions and foreign language competencies. Moreover, it was examined whether the MPQ dimensions related to employees’ job satisfaction. Results showed non-international employees, being Dutch employees working in an non-international oriented job, to be more cultural empathic compared to international employees, being Dutch employees working in an international oriented job. International employees, on the other hand, showed to be more proficient in foreign languages compared to the other employees. Cultural empathy and foreign language mastery both showed to be predictive of employee group membership. No relationship was found between the MPQ dimensions and foreign languages mastery. Job satisfaction, however, was positively related to most MPQ dimensions. The somewhat surprising results suggest that no particular multiculturally effective employee profile can be differentiated. As no straightforward, ideal employee profile could be distinguished yet, it may be wise for HR managers to carefully consider candidates’ multicultural competence individually, in which foreign language proficiency and MPQ dimensions may be interesting criteria in the selection of employees.
Keywords: MPQ, multicultural effectiveness, foreign language mastery, job satisfaction, Dutch employees, multicultural personality profile, HRM
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