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Expatriate support and success: A systematic review 83 proximity, future research needs to examine how these variables influence the value of support. This may be especially helpful in untangling the mixed results regarding co- worker support. Second, in line with common belief, the impact of social support was more consistently positive for proximal success criteria such as satisfaction, commitment and adjustment, which were shown to frequently mediate the effects on the more distal criteria of retention and performance. However, certain configurations of support, such as that of HCN co-workers, contradicted this general assumption, underlining the need for future research to specify the proximity dimensions. Third, this review suggests that support is more effective depending on the characteristics of the expatriate and the assignment, examples being the expatriate’s cross-cultural motivation or the level of hardship. From a theoretical perspective, this review identified three main paradigms that complement each other, especially in light of House’s taxonomy of support (1981). First, stress management theories posit that social support is necessary to facilitate international transitions by reducing the uncertainty expatriates experience. Therefore, the stress paradigm applies especially to the informational and appraisal support expatriates receive, as both reduce uncertainty by clarifying what is (to be) expected. Second, theories in the social capital paradigm view resources as means by which expatriates may achieve their goals in the new cultural and work environment. Although various types of resources may fit this perspective, the general notion of the social capital paradigm is that resources are instrumental. Finally, social exchange theories argue that only social interactions that are considered fair and discretionary wouldmake expatriates feel a psychological obligation to reciprocate. In this sense, support needs to include emotional elements in order to fit the reciprocal process of this relational paradigm. In sum, the theoretical paradigms seem complementary, as they refer to different types of support and different processes. Future research could test to what extent sources provide specific types of support and how these stimulate the processes leading to IA success. From a more operational perspective, the large variety of social support sources in the 39 studies showed that the construct is highly multi-dimensional during the process of expatriation. Assistance in the work context can be provided by multiple organizational units (i.e., headquarters, subsidiary or sending organization), as well as by their members, who may be more or less proximal to the expatriate in multiple dimensions. This review demonstrates that the hierarchical and geographical proximity of a support source can influence the relationship between its support and the success of IAs. However, too many studies ignored this influence and did not specify the relevant information. Regarding situational and cultural proximity, workplace interactions between individuals with different cultural backgrounds, with different past experiences and on different employment terms occur on a daily basis as expatriation, in all its variants, steadily increases (Baruch et al., 2016). Although literature suggested that such differences influence the value of social interactions (e.g., Peltokorpi, 2007; Sias et al., 2008) and early studies demonstrated some effects (e.g., Johnson et al., 2003), the expatriate management literature has not sufficiently investigated the implications yet. Scholars should more