The soft side of global mobility: emotional intelligence meets organizational support

Purpose The aim of this study is to examine whether emotional intelligence (EI) predicts expatriates’ cross-cultural adjustment (CCA) across general, interaction and work domains. It also investigates whether perceived organizational support (POS) strengthens these relationships and whether this moderating effect differs according to assignment type (self-initiated vs. assigned expatriates [AEs]). Design/methodology/approach Data were collected through an online questionnaire from 178 expatriates working in Morocco. CFA was used to assess the measurement model, while hierarchical regression analyses were conducted in three stages: Model 1 tested the direct effects of EI, POS and assignment type on CCA; Model 2 examined the two-way interaction effects and Model 3 tested whether assignment type moderated the EI × POS relationship across general, interaction and work adjustment. Findings EI was a significant positive predictor of general, interaction and work adjustment. POS was also positively related to adjustment, and the EI × POS interaction was significant across outcomes, showing that EI was more strongly associated with adjustment when POS was higher. In Model 3, the three-way interaction was significant for all three adjustment outcomes, indicating that the moderation pattern differed between self-initiated and AEs. In the conditional effects, POS strengthened the EI–adjustment relationship more clearly for SIEs, while the pattern was weaker for AEs. Research limitations/implications The study relied on cross-sectional self-report data, which limit causal interpretation and may increase the risk of common method bias. In addition, the sample size (N = 178) and snowball sampling approach limit generalizability. Future research should adopt longitudinal, multi-source and multi-method designs and compare self-report and performance-based EI measures to better understand how emotional resources and organizational support jointly influence expatriates’ CCA across different assignment types and cultural contexts. Practical implications The findings suggest that successful expatriate adjustment depends not only on expatriates’ emotional resources but also on whether organizations create conditions that allow those resources to be effectively mobilized during adjustment. The results further indicate that support practices should be differentiated according to assignment type, as SIEs appear to benefit more from relational and socialization-oriented support, whereas AEs may benefit more from better coordinated formal assignment support. Academically, the study advances a more conditional and interactional understanding of CCA by demonstrating that the influence of EI depends partly on organizational support and expatriation pathway rather than operating as a universally effective individual resource. Originality/value This study contributes to expatriate adjustment research by integrating EI, POS and assignment type into a single conditional model of CCA. It extends prior research by testing a three-way interaction (EI × POS × assignment type), showing that the influence of EI on general, interaction and work adjustment depends not only on organizational support but also on assignment type, which may shape how support is experienced across expatriate groups. By distinguishing between self-initiated expatriates and AEs, the study advances a more interactional understanding of expatriate adjustment and highlights assignment type as a theoretically meaningful boundary condition. Conducted in a MENA host context, the study also broadens expatriation research beyond the Western and Asian settings that dominate the literature.