Predicting cross-cultural training performance: The validity of personality, cognitive ability, and dimensions measured by an assessment center and a behavior description interview.

2003/01/01 by Filip Lievens, Michael M. Harris, Etienne Van Keer +1 · 1 citation
Social Sciences · Psychology · #International Student and Expatriate Challenges #Cultural Differences and Values #Human Resource Development and Performance Evaluation #Psychology #Openness to experience #Assessment center #Personality #Teamwork #Cognition #Incremental validity #Applied psychology #Set (abstract data type) #Variance (accounting) #Cross-cultural #Selection (genetic algorithm) #Personnel selection #Big Five personality traits #Adaptability #Cultural group selection #Social psychology #Cognitive psychology #Test validity #Psychometrics #Developmental psychology #Statistics #Artificial intelligence

paper · doi:10.1037/0021-9010.88.3.476

openalex publication_date 2003/01/01 · openalex created_date 2025/10/10 · openalex updated_date 2026/07/02

Abstract

This study examined the validity of a broad set of predictors for selecting European managers for a cross-cultural training program in Japan. The selection procedure assessed cognitive ability, personality, and dimensions measured by assessment center exercises and a behavior description interview. Results show that the factor Openness was significantly related to cross-cultural training performance, whereas cognitive ability was significantly correlated with language acquisition. The dimensions of adaptability, teamwork, and communication as measured by a group discussion exercise provided incremental variance in both criteria, beyond cognitive ability and personality. In general, these results are consistent with the literature on domestic selection, although there are some important differences.

Citations

• ADAPTABILITY TO CHANGING TASK CONTEXTS: EFFECTS OF GENERAL COGNITIVE ABILITY, CONSCIENTIOUSNESS, AND OPENNESS TO EXPERIENCE
• THE BIG FIVE PERSONALITY DIMENSIONS AND JOB PERFORMANCE: A META‐ANALYSIS
• Toward an integrative theory of training motivation: A meta-analytic path analysis of 20 years of research.
• The validity and utility of selection methods in personnel psychology: Practical and theoretical implications of 85 years of research findings.
• Personnel Selection: Looking Toward the Future--Remembering the Past
• THE BIG FIVE PERSONALITY CHARACTERISTICS AS PREDICTORS OF EXPATRIATE'S DESIRE TO TERMINATE THE ASSIGNMENT AND SUPERVISOR‐RATED PERFORMANCE

Cited by

• Cultural competence [wikipedia]