Expatriates’ Cultural Intelligence Mediates the Relationship Between Lifestyle and Performance: A Cross-Sectional Analysis and a Longitudinal Pilot Study

Brain Behav. 2025 May;15(5):e70576. doi: 10.1002/brb3.70576.

ABSTRACT

INTRODUCTION: Cultural intelligence (CQ) has been attracting increasing attention in recent years as a necessary caability for adapting to a different culture and improving expatriate performance (EP). However, the methods for improving this intelligence have not been fully elucidated, and in particular, the relationship with lifestyle (LS) has hardly been clarified.

METHODS: In this paper, we therefore conducted a cross-sectional analysis using questionnaire response data obtained from 184 Japanese expatriates working for Japanese subsidiaries overseas in Study 1, and in Study 2, we measured changes in 15 of them as an exploratory pilot study after using a smartphone app with health promotion functions for two weeks.

RESULTS: The results showed that CQ mediated the relationship between LS and EP in both Study 1 and Study 2.

CONCLUSION: The results of this study suggest that a health science approach that improves LS can be effective in improving the EP of businesspeople working in different cultural environments through improving their CQ.

PMID:40418665 | DOI:10.1002/brb3.70576