Expatriate Adjustment: The Role of Conflict and Justice in Intimate Relationships

Abstract

This research examines the influence of perceived relationship justice and conflict on the psychological adjustment of expatriates and their spouses. We proposed an interdependence model - in which both ego and alter effects were assumed - to address the influence spouses exert on each other. Two hundred and six participants (103 couples) completed a questionnaire. Hypotheses were largely supported but only for expatriate partners. Expatriate partner's perception of interpersonal justice was positively associated to psychological adjustment of both the expatriate partner and the expatriate. These relationships were mediated by expatriate partner's en expatriate's level of personal conflict. Among expatriates distributive justice was a strong predictor of one's own and the expatriate partner's level of personal conflict. As expected detrimental effect on psychological adjustment were found for personal conflict rather than task conflict.