SIEs motivational CQ on job satisfaction: A two-study examination of power distance and role clarity

Choosing to work abroad without the sponsorship of an organisation is becoming increasingly commonplace, and this is a defining characteristic of self-initiated expatriates (SIE). Previous research suggests that SIEs’ willingness to interact and adapt to new cultural occupational settings, and their motivational cultural intelligence or cultural quotient (motivational CQ), are particularly important qualities, and that these qualities are related to their levels of job satisfaction. However, it remains unclear how motivational CQ interacts with specific situational aspects of the workplace, such as role clarity and power distance. This study examines the contributions made by motivational CQ and its interaction with power distance in relation to role clarity to determining subsequent job satisfaction. The results indicate that motivational CQ is positively related to role clarity, which helps to improve job satisfaction, and that this indirect effect is moderated by power distance. Furthermore, this pattern of effects is more apparent for Chinese SIEs than for British SIEs. We discuss the theoretical and practical implications of the findings, as well as the limitations of the study.     

Cultural distance and expatriate job satisfaction

Despite its strong impact in domestic settings on job performance, organizational commitment, stress, and turnover intentions, job satisfaction has received little attention in the literature on expatriates. This paper analyzes the predictors of job satisfaction that may arise in an expatriate context. Drawing on the cultural distance perspective, we propose that the national cultural distance, supervisor's nationality, host-country language proficiency, expatriate type, and company nationality are important determinants of expatriate job satisfaction. Survey results from 148 expatriates in Japan demonstrate that national cultural distance, supervisor's nationality, and expatriate type have a statistically significant influence on expatriate job satisfaction. Theoretical and practical implications are provided.     

Sojourner expectations: Are they met and does it matter if they’re not?

This research examines the association between cross-cultural travelers’ well-being and the discrepancy between expected and experienced adaptation, in a longitudinal study of intercultural exchange students (N = 1762; M_age = 17 years; 70 % female). Specifically, two competing hypotheses were tested. Whereas the accuracy hypothesis suggests that unmet expectations lead to poorer outcomes, the directional hypothesis proposes that the outcome of unmet expectations will depend on whether expectations are overmet or undermet. Both sojourners’ adaptation expectations (pre-travel) and adaptation experiences (during the sojourn) were measured alongside general well-being. Controlling for baseline, well-being during the sojourn was regressed on the direction (undermet or overmet) and the magnitude (extent of discrepancy) of the adaptation expectation-experience discrepancies. These analyses were conducted across time (at entry or 5 months into the sojourn), different types of adaptation (psychological and sociocultural adaptation), and different measures of well-being (stress and satisfaction with life). Across analyses, results indicate that the direction of mismatch appears to matter little for small mismatches. However, for larger mismatches a positive effect emerged for sojourner well-being when the experience was better than expected, but a negative effect when the experience was worse than expected. Overall, the results support a directional hypothesis.     

International assignments: The role of social support and personal initiative

This study adapts components of Fay and Frese's nomological network of personal initiative (2001) and Caligiuri and Lazarova's model (2002) for the influence of social support on adjustment. Based thereon, a model for the relationship between personal initiative, social support and work adjustment was developed and tested. One-hundred twenty-seven expatriates answered an online questionnaire during and after their foreign sojourn. Results suggest that personal initiative of the expatriates and social support received from supervisors - but not from their co-workers - predicted job satisfaction, job stress and job performance of the expatriates. Social support and personal initiative have a strong relationship with successful work adjustment. Personal initiative moderates the relationship between social support from co-workers and job performance. There are practical implications for companies that send their staff on international assignments. Implications for the concept of personal initiative in expatriate adjustment research are discussed.     

Sojourner adjustment: does missionary status affect acculturation?

Sojourners are individuals who leave their home culture and live in another country for an extended period of time. Previous research on the sojourner acculturation process has focused on investigations of coping and adjustment to cultural stressors of various groups (e.g., business managers, exchange students, embassy staff, military personnel, etc.); however, little research has been conducted specifically on one group of sojourners—missionaries. The primary aim of the present study was to compare the levels of coping and adjustment of missionaries to those of other expatriates. To accomplish this research goal, questionnaire packages were distributed to expatriates residing in Nepal (100 missionaries, 67 other expatriates). Along with coping and adjustment measures, questionnaire packages included measures of stress, satisfaction with life and social support. It was discovered that missionaries reported less satisfaction in their foreign posting than other expatriates. This finding may be due, in part, to their increased direct contact with host nationals compared to other expatriates, as well as lower social status and feelings of not being ‘connected’ to other, culturally similar, expatriate support.     

Organizational role ambiguity as a proxy for uncertainty avoidance

Despite studies’ mixed results regarding the construct validity of Hofstede’s (2001) Uncertainty Avoidance (UA) Index and findings linking UA to related psychological, physiological, and behavioral health outcomes at the cultural level of analysis, none have examined the concurrent criterion-related validity of UA. The current study attempts to do so by introducing organizational role ambiguity (ORA), operationalized as an organization’s structured communication strategy about performance expectations between work role, division, and organization, as a correlate of UA. Data on ORA, risk-taking, and organizational satisfaction were collected from over 15,000 respondents in 20 countries and data on cultural values, wealth, sources of guidance, personality, and satisfaction were extracted from published data. Results show that ORA negatively correlates with UA and intellectual autonomy values, as well as organizational satisfaction, but positively correlates with risk-taking, masculinity values, lateral (coworkers as) sources of guidance, agreeableness, and job satisfaction. Thus, ORA, a construct organizations often assess in engagement and climate surveys, appears to be a reasonable correlate of UA. The country’s cultural context of UA is reflected in the collective experience of an organization’s communication structures within a given country. These findings have implications for organization’s accessing their own, already available, ORA data to understand its implications on employee experiences, as well as for intercultural training and global research on occupational stress.     

MNC commitment, OCB role definition and intent to leave in subsidiary top managers: The moderating effect of uncertainty avoidance values

The current paper analyses in depth and expands on the study of the consequences of organisational commitment in the MNC setting. To that end the moderating effect of uncertainty avoidance as a personal cultural value is studied and two consequences of MNC commitment are analysed: intent to leave and organisational citizenship behaviour. The empirical analysis carried out on a cross-organisational sample of 101 top managers of MNC's subsidiaries located in Spain confirms the moderating role of uncertainty avoidance for the affective and normative commitments, as well as its moderating effect on the influence that organisational citizenship behaviour role definition exerts on intent to leave. Implications for management theory and practice are discussed.     

The role of communication content in an ethnically diverse organization

A research on the content of communication at work, job attitudes and unequal treatment was conducted in an ethnically diverse organization in the Netherlands comprising 504 ethnic majority and 113 ethnic minority employees. Ethnic minority employees experienced less person-related communication at work and perceived higher levels of unequal treatment of minorities than ethnic majority employees. However, compared to their ethnic majority colleagues, ethnic minority employees reported higher levels of work-related communication and more positive attitudes towards their job. Regression analyses revealed significant relations between communication content and employees’ job attitudes, with positive relations between both role-related and person-related communication and job satisfaction and positive relations between both organization-related and role-related communication and organizational identification.     

Expanding the role of the interpreter to include multiple facets of intercultural communication

Intercultural communication difficulties include language factors handled well by interpreters, but the problems also include factors such as non-verbal behavior, different bases for making attributions about others, and biases stemming from the ingroup-outgroup distinction. Interpreters could expand their role by incorporating these additional facets of intercultural communication into their work. The job enlargement could have such beneficial effects as greater satisfaction, productivity, and pride in the profession. The enlargement would also increase the visibility of the profession, especially at a permanent organization where interpreters and elected representatives could form stronger relationships than those common at ad hoc meetings held in different places.     

Diplomats’ quality of life: The role of risk factors and coping resources

The health-related well-being of diplomats has rarely been addressed in empirical studies. This is a shortcoming since this group of expatriates is confronted with specific mobility challenges. This paper has two central objectives. First, we investigate how the self-reported health-related quality of life (HRQOL) of German Foreign Service (GFS) employees compares to respective reference values from the German general population. Second, within the framework of an expanded Job Demands–Resources (JD-R) model, we analyze how diplomats’ HRQOL is affected by exposure to international relocation mobility and various personal risk and protective factors.All employees of the GFS were surveyed using online questionnaires (N = 2433). Our HRQOL measure was derived from the “Quality of Life Questionnaire Core 30” (QLQ-C30).We show that, compared to the general population, diplomats report a worse HRQOL with respect to all subdomains included (physical symptoms as well as role, emotional, and social functioning). Absolute exposure to mobility (time spent in international rotation) did not affect HRQOL, while individually perceived stress shows significant detrimental effects and personal resources (self-efficacy, mobility-specific coping, social support) show significant beneficial effects on diplomats’ HRQOL. Perceived demands of work in diplomacy had significant health-impairment effects, but perceived resources had no additive value in explaining diplomats’ HRQOL once controlling for other factors. Moderator analyses reveal that mobility-specific coping acted as a buffer in the relationship between perceived stress and perceived job demands and HRQOL.Practical implications are drawn as to support plans that respect the individual’s stress perceptions and available resources.     

Expatriate adjustment in the digital age: The co-creation of online social support resources through blogging

Support provided through social contacts in the host environment has long been recognized as critical for expatriate adjustment. Internet technologies are changing the way individuals form and interact with social contacts and access social support. These technologies have the potential to offer expatriates new sources and means for accessing social support. We investigated the role of blogging technology in expatriates’ adjustment to foreign environments through a qualitative analysis of a set of blogs written by foreign individuals living in Canada between 2005 and 2012. We found that the blogging system, which is comprised of the blogging technology, bloggers, discussants, and co-created digital discourse, generated online adjustment support resources which were accessed by expatriates. Online adjustment support resources are social support resources, created and residing online, which may help expatriates deal with their experiences of uncertainty, ambiguity and anxiety and include information, interpretation schemas, and comfort.     

Immigrants and host nationals at work: Associations of co-worker relations with employee well-being

The aim of this study was to investigate how co-worker relations are associated with psychological well-being and job satisfaction among immigrants and host nationals working at the same workplace. Among immigrants, we examined co-worker relations with co-culturals, host nationals, and foreign immigrants, whereas among host nationals, we focused on co-worker relations with co-nationals (i.e. co-culturals) and immigrants. The study was conducted as a survey, of which the response rate was 45%. The participants consisted of immigrant (n = 164) and host national employees (n = 186) in a transport company (in Finland), the majority (90%) of whom were men. Co-worker relations were measured with a composite score, tapping broadly positively experienced relations and their frequency as well as the desire to interact with a defined group of co-workers. The results showed that all kinds of co-worker relations were positively associated with psychological well-being and job satisfaction. However, the co-worker relations between host nationals and immigrants were more strongly associated with job satisfaction than relations between these and other co-workers. Thus, attention should be paid to fostering the development of positive intercultural co-worker relations, as this may positively impact immigrant as well as host national employee well-being; job satisfaction in particular.     

Determinants of attitudes toward foreign countries

This study tests the hypothesis offered by Nincic and Russett (1979) that perceived similarity and perceived commonalities in national interests are strong predictors of overall opinion ratings of foreign countries. Conceptual and operational limitations of the original model are outlined and an elaborated formulation of the factors affecting overall opinion ratings is introduced. Consistent with expectations based on recent findings from studies of intergroup relations and interpersonal attraction, perceived trust, similarity, and shared national interests were found to be significant determinants of opinion. In addition, it was shown that perceptions of recent foreign policy actions in areas apparently high in personal salience play a significant role in opinion ratings. The role of the mass media in the formation of public opinion about foreign countries is also discussed.     

The effect of perceived overqualification on job satisfaction and career satisfaction among immigrants: Does host national identity matter?

Overqualification is a form of person-job misfit that is common among those who reside in a foreign country. It is associated with poor work-related well-being and can inhibit full adjustment to the host society. The goal of our study is to examine the impact of perceived overqualification on job satisfaction and career satisfaction among immigrants. Furthermore, we investigated immigrants’ host national identity as a moderator of the impact of perceived overqualification on job satisfaction and career satisfaction. We analysed longitudinal online survey data from 124 Italian and Spanish immigrants who migrated to Germany between 2000 and 2014. Regression analyses show that perceived overqualification is negatively associated with job satisfaction six months later. Furthermore, host national identity moderates the association between perceived overqualification and job satisfaction: low overqualification is beneficial for job satisfaction whereas high overqualification is a threat for job satisfaction, especially for immigrants who identify strongly with the host society. We do not find corresponding direct and moderating effects on career satisfaction. We conclude that indicators of acculturation, such as host national identity, are worth considering in order to understand the impact of person-job misfit on work-related well-being among immigrants.     

Experiences of Danish Business Expatriates in Russia: Power Distance in Organizational Communication

Rapid globalization of business processes stimulates many companies to dispatch their employees – business expatriates – on overseas assignments. Russia differs markedly from many other cultures in terms of specific communication norms and rules. Understanding such differences in organizational life is crucial for the success of business expatriates working there. This study employs in-depth interviews with eight Danish business expatriates who worked in Russia and examines the differences between the Danes and the Russians in terms of communication characteristics related to Hofstede’s cultural dimension power distance. This work enhances scholars’ empirical knowledge of power distance, which has rarely been investigated qualitatively.     

Pioneers across war zones: The lived acculturation experiences of US female military expatriates

This exploratory study focuses on the lived acculturation experiences of United States (US) female career military expatriates who worked and lived in combat settings across five war zones. Based on an analysis of oral histories that spanned over 60 years, the research revealed that these pioneering women had a strong commitment to their profession, and that this, along with camaraderie, facilitated their adaptation to living conditions characterized by extreme danger, nominal domestic comforts, and unrelenting work requirements in culturally unfamiliar contexts. The research identified the multiple physical and psychological stressors of living and working as a female in a war zone and the variety of coping strategies employed for acculturation, particularly the prominent role of relational support from family and friends, and a combination of personal coping mechanisms (such as crying or compartmentalization) and religious faith. As extant expatriate research has overwhelmingly focused on male executives in multinational corporations, this research is significant in extending the literature to an analysis of the public sector, specifically women deployed overseas in highly dangerous settings and who were pioneering in both their roles in the military and as non-traditional expatriates at a time when few women worked internationally.     

Complex but integrated: Exploring social and cultural identities of women Third Culture Kids (TCK) and factors predicting life satisfaction

The 21 st century, defined by cultural diversity and global mobility, has triggered an unprecedented increase in multicultural individuals, defined as people who internalised more than one culture. Contrasting evidence related to multiculturalism calls for more explorative research to understand cross-cultural identities. The present study explored social and cultural identities of adult female Third Culture Kids (TCKs) (n = 122), multicultural individuals who live mobile lives, and adjustment factors of a global mindset, social inclusiveness and essentialism to find predictors of life satisfaction. We classified social identity into four we-concepts: we-group, we-category, we-attributive and we-axiological, and cultural identity into three configurations: integration, categorisation and compartmentalisation. Our results suggested that TCK define social identity predominantly based on passport country (we-category) and relationships with family and friends (we-group). We indicated that axiological (value-based) social identification and global mindset buffered essentialism and categorisation known to disturb cross-cultural relationships. There was a general tendency for integrated cultural identity, with cultural configurations of categorisation and compartmentalisation correlating positively with essentialism. Hierarchical regression analysis evidenced that integrated multicultural identity, global mindset, and social inclusiveness were significant positive predictors of life satisfaction for female TCK. These results feed into a better understanding of the TCK configurations of collective identities and highlighted new factors related to TCK well-being.     

The political skill and will of expatriates in acculturating to the politics of an organization in a new culture

This paper explores and conceptualizes the process through which expatriates acculturate to the politics of an organization in a new and dominant culture that differs from their origin culture. In addition to an overview of acculturation, we review research on the emergence and perception of political context in organizations, and on political skill and political will. We posit that politically-relevant situational characteristics in organizations and work interact with national culture to affect the intensity with which expatriates perceive politics in their organization. Based on their political skill (operationalized as high versus low) and their political will (operationalized in terms of concern for self versus concern for others), we describe the different political behavior expatriates will use as a means of acculturating to their political context and the effects those strategies have on their acculturative stress and individual effectiveness in the organization.     

Expectations and acculturation: Further unpacking of adjustment mechanisms within the Russian-speaking community in Montreal

Recent years have witnessed a significant growth in the Russian-speaking community in Montreal, Canada. However, little is currently known about the predictors of psychological adjustment in immigrants from the Former Soviet Union (FSU). In this study we explored the expectations that this group of immigrants (N = 271) hoped to fulfill in their adopted society, the extent to which these expectations have been fulfilled, and the impact of fulfilled expectations on psychological adjustment. We found that the degree of fulfilled expectations was significantly associated with better psychological adjustment independent of personality traits, language proficiency, and acculturation. These findings contribute to the literature on cross-cultural adaptation of immigrants from the FSU and highlight the potential importance of expectations for the study of acculturation more generally.     

The role of perceived cultural distance,personal growth initiative,language proficiencies,and tridimensional acculturation orientations for psychological adjustment among international students

We investigated the acculturation process of international students (N = 319, 162 female) from 62 countries who were residing in the Netherlands, using the acculturation framework by Arends-Tóth and Van de Vijver (2007). We applied SEM to test the model that acculturation conditions (perceived cultural distance [PCD], personal growth initiative [PGI], proficiency in English and the host language, and length of residence) in conjunction with acculturation orientations as mediators (host, heritage, expatriate) predict psychological adjustment as acculturation outcome (acculturative stress, satisfaction with life, mental health problems). We found direct and indirect effects of acculturation conditions on adjustment; high PGI, high English and Dutch proficiencies, and low PCD were associated with better adjustment. Host orientation (predicted by high PGI, Dutch proficiency, and low PCD) was positively associated with adjustment. Heritage orientation (predicted by low English proficiency) was negatively associated with adjustment. As a novel aspect, we included expatriate orientation - an orientation towards other expatriates in the host community. Expatriate orientation was predicted by low Dutch proficiency and was positively associated with adjustment. We also observed direct links between acculturation conditions and outcomes: positive associations between PCD and acculturative stress and between length of residence and acculturative stress; and negative associations between PGI and mental health problems and between English proficiency and acculturative stress. We provide evidence that including expatriate orientation is relevant among international students: It is stronger than both host and heritage orientations, thereby underlining the importance of studying acculturation in a contextualized way.