Does Angry Temperament Undermine the Beneficial Effects of Expatriates' Proactive Personality?

Personal proactivity and emotional self-regulation have been shown to be central aspects in a successful international relocation process. However, we do not know how these elements function in combination. Drawing from the proactive motivation model, we examine if and how low emotional self-regulation, in the form of angry temperament, interacts with proactive personality in the prediction of expatriate performance outcomes. Results from regression analyses based on a sample of 531 business expatriates in East Asia confirm our proposed moderated mediation model. Thus, findings indicate that angry temperament inhibits the beneficial effects of proactive personality on time to proficiency. Moreover, results suggest that time to proficiency functions as a mediator in the relationship between proactive personality and performance. This mediation effect was found to be conditional and accordingly hinges on the level of expatriates' angry temperament. Our research implies that organizations should consider expatriates' personality and particularly assess proactive personality and angry temperament in selection processes.