Do not forget the spouse at the expatriation!

Do not forget the spouse at the expatriation! The purpose of this essay is to investigate the spouse perspective of an expatriation and his/her own adaptation process in order to identify adjustment factors for spouses. The essay is a qualitative method, since the purpose was to gain a deeper understanding of the accompanying spouse adjustment process. Four people were interviewed on four different factors, personality, family, work and help to adapt. Furthermore, two more persons were interviewed working on Relocation Services at a large international company. The results show that the above factors play a major role in the spouse adjustment. Important features of the personalities are openness, responsiveness, flexibility and being a problem solver. Family communication and what age the children have also played into how well the partner adapts. Preparatory training in the form of cultural training, language training and awareness adaptation curve for accompanying partners. Support for relocation like mentoring and support for employment had significant impact on how well the partner adapts to the new country