I am Going Home: Expatriates Positive Affect and Premature Return Intentions

Rigorous selection methods must be used and proper support provided to expatriates in order to
complete their assignments successfully in order to mitigate the high cost of a failed assignment.
We examined how positive affect relates to expatriates’ work adjustment, intentions to return
home as well as what factors can moderate such relationship. We found that employees with high
levels of sociocultural adaptation and positive affect tend to adjust better to their work
environment while those with high levels of conscientiousness were less likely to show
intentions of premature return.