1. ¹Department of Management of Organizations, Hong Kong University of Science and Technology, Kowloon, Hong Kong
2. ²Department of Human Resource Management, Rutgers, The State University of New Jersey, New Jersey, USA
3. ³Department of Managerial Studies, University of Illinois at Chicago, Chicago, IL, USA
4. ⁴Department of Management, Seoul National University, Seoul, South Korea

Correspondence: R Takeuchi, Department of Management of Organizations, School of Business and Management, Hong Kong University of Science and Technology, Clear Water Bay, Kowloon, Hong Kong SAR. Tel: +852 2358 7741; Fax: +852 2335 5325; E-mail: mnrikit@ust.hk

Received 15 February 2005; Revised 11 October 2006; Accepted 8 February 2007; Published online 12 July 2007.

Abstract

Integrating research on parental demands, learning, and expatriate adjustment, we examine potential nonlinear influences of two stressors – parental demands and perceived culture novelty – on general adjustment of expatriates and their spouses. Using a sample of 170 matched pairs of Japanese expatriates and spouses assigned to the US, we found a quadratic effect of parental demands and a cubic effect of cultural novelty on spouse general adjustment but not on expatriate general adjustment. Implications and directions for future research are discussed.