Join the Center for International Human Resource Studies (CIHRS) in welcoming Dr. Maria L. Kraimer, Rutgers University, as their first speaker of the fall 2020 semester. 

Dr. Kraimer will be speaking on, "A Transactional Stress Theory of International Travel Demands: A Challenge, Hindrance, or Both?"

Based on transactional stress theory, we argue that international travel demands may have both positive and negative consequences for global employees. We identify three moderators – cultural intelligence, cognitive flexibility demands, and nonwork disruption demands – to explain when international travel demands will positively relate to appraisals that global work is hindering versus challenging. Hindrance appraisals are, in turn, proposed to positively relate to employee burnout and work-family conflict, whereas, challenge appraisals are proposed to positively relate to thriving and work-family enrichment.

We tested the hypothesized conditional indirect effects between international travel demands and these outcomes with a matched sample of 229 global employees and their spouses. We found that international travel demands positively related to spouse ratings of burnout and work-family conflict through hindrance appraisals when employees had lower cultural intelligence or had jobs that demanded greater cognitive flexibility (i.e., require the employee to think differently about people or problems). At the same time, international travel demands positively related to employee thriving through challenge appraisals when employees experienced fewer nonwork disruption demands. These findings contribute to our understanding of how employees may react to international travel and to the transactional theory of stress by identifying moderators that impact challenge and hindrance appraisals.

Maria L. Kraimer is a Professor of HRM in the School of Management and Labor Relations at Rutgers University. She received her PhD in human resources management from the University of Illinois at Chicago, and her B.S. in business administration from University of Illinois-Urbana-Champaign. Her research addresses issues related to the challenges and consequences of working globally, predictors of career success, and the employee-employer relationship. Her research on these topics has resulted in more than 50 peer-reviewed journal publications or book chapters and has accumulated more than 17,000 citations in Google Scholar. She and her co-authors have received “Best Paper” Awards from the Academy of Management, including the 2001 Best Paper Award from the Academy of Management Journal.  In 2010, Maria was awarded the Cummings Scholarly Achievement Award for early- to mid-career accomplishments from the Organizational Behavior Division of the Academy of Management. She was an elected officer for the HR Division from 2014-2018. Maria currently serves on the editorial boards of Journal of Applied Psychology, Personnel Psychology, and Journal of Management. She was past Associate Editor (2010-2013) and the Editor-in-Chief (2017-2019) for Personnel Psychology.

The Zoom link to attend will be shared with School of LER faculty, staff, and graduate students on the day of the event. If you are an undergraduate who would like to attend or if you would like to invite someone else, please contact Dr. Olivas-Luján (miguel.olivas@psu.edu) or Abby Cluster (amk5977@psu.edu).