Learning the local language is important for the successful integration of immigrants. Previous research has identified a number of sociodemographic factors that are associated with the effectiveness of local language acquisition among immigrants, but little is known about the influence of psychological differences on immigrants’ local language acquisition. In the present research, individual differences in general mental ability (GMA), work search intention, and personality traits Conscientiousness and Openness were studied among recently arrived Syrian (n = 1054) and Eritrean (n = 500) refugees in the Netherlands. The results revealed that in addition to the effects of age of arrival, local length of stay, premigration educational attainment, and psychological distress, GMA and work search intention were positively associated with refugees’ local language proficiency. Additionally, work search intention was found to strengthen the effect of GMA on local language proficiency. No positive linear effects were observed for Conscientiousness and Openness. Some evidence was found for curvilinear relationships between psychological predictors and local language proficiency. Implications are discussed.

This dissertation aimed to enhance the understanding of psychological assessment in relation to work-related integration of refugees through four empirical chapters. The second, third, and fourth chapters focused on individual-level predictors of refugees’ linguistic and economic integration outcomes, while the fifth chapter concentrated on the development and validation of an implicit instrument for the organizational context. Chapter 2 examined whether refugees could be grouped into subgroups based on their psychological profiles. The study was conducted among recently arrived refugees in the Netherlands, and it identified four clusters of refugees who shared similar profiles through means of cluster analysis: bright, incapable, distressed, and undistinctive-ordinary clusters. These clusters, as well as the refugee demographic subgroups based on nationality, gender, age, and educational level, were related to the refugees’ level of work search intention and local language proficiency. The results showed that the psychological clusters differed particularly in local language proficiency, with the bright and the incapable clusters showing respectively high and low local language proficiency test scores. However, the psychological clusters were substantially less differentiated in their level of work search intention. The refugee subgroups based on nationality, gender, and educational level showed larger differences in work search intention compared to the psychological clusters. Chapter 3 investigated the relationship between psychological traits and refugees’ local language proficiency and the potential incremental validity of psychological traits in predicting local language proficiency. Using cross-sectional assessment data of a large group of Syrian and Eritrean refugees living in the Netherlands, the results showed that GMA and work search intention showed positive relationships with local language proficiency, above and beyond the effects of refugees’ demographic variables and psychological distress. Additionally, one’s work search intention was found to strengthen the effect of GMA on local language proficiency. Contrary to the predictions, no positive linear effects on local language proficiency for Conscientiousness and Openness were observed, although some evidence was found for curvilinear relationships between these traits and the outcome. Chapter 4 introduced and tested a novel framework of individual-difference factors as predictors of refugees’ workforce participation. The framework organizes individual-difference factors into two hindering and two facilitating variable groups: Impeding demographics and health- and family-related challenges (hindering), and acquired human and social capital and work-relevant traits (facilitating). The framework was examined using time-lagged data with a five-year span among Syrian and Eritrean refugees living in the Netherlands. The findings revealed that several hindering factors (i.e., older age, being a woman, and physical health problems) and several facilitating factors (i.e., pre-migration educational level, pre-migration work experience, local language proficiency, frequency of contact with natives, Extraversion, GMA, and work centrality) contributed to predicting one or more of the studied employment outcomes. Chapter 5 focused on the development and validation of an integrity-related implicit instrument for the organizational context. Implicit instruments offer a solution to the cross-cultural validity issues of traditional personality inventories. This instrument assesses the integrity-related personality trait of Honesty-Humility, which has been shown to be an important trait for employment outcomes. The study found that the implicit measure of Honesty-Humility was positively related to supervisor-rated job performance, and this relationship was mediated by employees’ behavioral intentions to comply with ethical standards. Overall, these chapters provide insights into the psychological assessment of refugees in relation to work-related integration and offer practical implications for policymakers and practitioners working in the field of refugee integration.