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Article
Publication date: 5 March 2018

Yu-Ping Chen and Margaret Shaffer

Drawing upon Folkman and Lazarus’ (1984) coping framework and interdependence theory (Thibaut and Kelley, 1959), the purpose of this paper is to investigate how expatriate spouses

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Abstract

Purpose

Drawing upon Folkman and Lazarus’ (1984) coping framework and interdependence theory (Thibaut and Kelley, 1959), the purpose of this paper is to investigate how expatriate spouses’ coping strategies (problem-focused and emotion-focused) affect expatriate spouse adjustment and expatriate adjustment. In addition, the authors also examine the mediating effect of expatriate adjustment on the spouse coping strategies-spouse adjustment relationship.

Design/methodology/approach

To test these relationships, the authors collected multi-source data from 191 expatriate spouses and their expatriate partners living in 37 countries.

Findings

The results revealed that problem- and emotion-focused coping strategies positively and negatively, respectively, influenced all types of spouse adjustment: personal, interaction, and cultural. Both forms of spouse coping also influenced expatriate adjustment. The authors also found that expatriate adjustment mediated the relationship between expatriate spouses’ coping strategies and spouse adjustment.

Practical implications

The results suggest that multinational organizations should pay equal attention to the adjustment of both their expatriates and their spouses. Both expatriates and their spouses should be included in the initial selection process and in pre-departure training to get well equipped before the international assignment. Training spouses to adopt problem-focused coping strategies would help to facilitate the effective adjustment of both spouses and expatriates.

Originality/value

The research provides one of the first examinations that investigate expatriate spouses’ coping strategies and their impact on expatriate and expatriate spouse adjustment. This research also highlights the interdependency of expatriates and their spouses.

Details

Journal of Global Mobility: The Home of Expatriate Management Research, vol. 6 no. 1
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 2049-8799

Keywords

Article
Publication date: 21 June 2013

Eric Davoine, Claudio Ravasi, Xavier Salamin and Christel Cudré‐Mauroux

The purpose of this paper is to examine the social role played by expatriate spouses during international assignments, using a dramaturgical approach.

Abstract

Purpose

The purpose of this paper is to examine the social role played by expatriate spouses during international assignments, using a dramaturgical approach.

Design/methodology/approach

Role expectations were investigated on the basis of an exemplary case: the spouses of diplomatic and consular employees of the Swiss Ministry of Foreign Affairs. Qualitative data were collected in interviews with 40 male and female spouses and analyzed with a “goffmanian” dramaturgical role analysis approach.

Findings

The dramaturgical analysis of the accompanying persons’ discourse highlights the different dimensions of the expatriate spouse role and how expatriate spouses construct and personalize their role. Furthermore, this analysis brings new insights into the way male spouses may support female expatriates and reveals gender differences in the enactment of the expatriate spouse role.

Research limitations/implications

This study has been carried out in the diplomatic sector, which might be more structured for the spouses in terms of role expectations than in multinational companies. Further research should be carried out to better understand these expectations in the context of multinational companies.

Originality/value

The dramaturgical approach is a useful conceptual framework to explore the role enactment of the expatriate spouse, especially by considering the spouse role with a new distribution of gender roles. In this context, the role repertoire approach represents a promising field of investigation for research on expatriation and international mobility.

Details

Journal of Global Mobility: The Home of Expatriate Management Research, vol. 1 no. 1
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 2049-8799

Keywords

Article
Publication date: 3 May 2011

Liisa Mäkelä, Marja Känsälä and Vesa Suutari

The purpose of this paper is to identify how dual career expatriates view their spouses' roles during international assignments.

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Abstract

Purpose

The purpose of this paper is to identify how dual career expatriates view their spouses' roles during international assignments.

Design/methodology/approach

In total, 39 interviews were carried out with expatriates who had a working spouse. The interview data were content analysed using replication logic.

Findings

The authors' findings indicate that the importance of spousal support increases among dual career couples during international assignments. Expatriates report their spouses as having supporting, flexible, determining, instrumental, restricting and equal partner spousal roles.

Originality/value

This study provides in‐depth understanding about multiple spousal roles during international assignments among dual career couples and contributes to the previous literature by showing how spousal roles appear in the international context, and by identifying two new spousal roles.

Details

Cross Cultural Management: An International Journal, vol. 18 no. 2
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 1352-7606

Keywords

Article
Publication date: 1 February 2003

Jan Selmer and Alicia S.M. Leung

Male expatriate spouses represent a surprisingly under‐researched area, especially given the crucial importance of spousal support to ensure successful expatriate assignments and…

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Abstract

Male expatriate spouses represent a surprisingly under‐researched area, especially given the crucial importance of spousal support to ensure successful expatriate assignments and the increasing trends of both dual‐career couples and female business expatriates. To somewhat alleviate this deficiency, 46 Western female business expatriates assigned to Hong Kong responded to a mail survey. Almost half of them were married and accompanied by their husbands. The tentative results of this highly exploratory study seem to indicate that, although moderated somewhat by respondents’ perceived adequacy of the extent of corporate support, companies generally failed to support male expatriate spouses. Unfortunately, this main finding does not contradict results of what little previous research there is on the subject. This can be regarded as an early warning sign to international firms trying to globalize, since there is no reason to believe that the escalating trend of women assigned abroad will not continue, given the rising demand for business expatriates. Internationalizing firms need to introduce more corporate support for male expatriate spouses, before reluctance to act in this respect may block their global expansion.

Details

Personnel Review, vol. 32 no. 1
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 0048-3486

Keywords

Article
Publication date: 30 November 2005

Joseph Chwo‐ming Yu, Chin‐Hua Yi, Yu‐Ching Chiao and Yu‐Chen Wei

An investigation into the factors affecting the adaptation of spouses of Taiwan expatriates allowed for their modes of adaptation to be classified into ‘adjustment’, ‘reaction’…

Abstract

An investigation into the factors affecting the adaptation of spouses of Taiwan expatriates allowed for their modes of adaptation to be classified into ‘adjustment’, ‘reaction’ and ‘withdrawal’. Albeit a sample of 15 spouses were interviewed using a semi‐structured questionnaire, the research findings indicate that if an expatriate’s spouse is characterized as having high cultural flexibility, high social orientation, a high degree of willingness to communicate, a high conflict resolution orientation, low ethnocentricity and a high orientation towards knowledge, the overseas adaptation tends to be of the ‘adjustment’ mode. Research propositions based on case findings and relevant literature are derived here for future more in‐depth study.

Details

International Journal of Commerce and Management, vol. 15 no. 3/4
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 1056-9219

Keywords

Article
Publication date: 13 March 2017

Heidi Ellise Collins and Santina Bertone

The purpose of this paper is to explore changes in the identity constructions of expatriate accompanying spouses, as experienced throughout their first year of adjustment to…

Abstract

Purpose

The purpose of this paper is to explore changes in the identity constructions of expatriate accompanying spouses, as experienced throughout their first year of adjustment to living in Sarawak, Malaysia.

Design/methodology/approach

Using interview data collected longitudinally throughout ten participants’ first year of living in Malaysia, changes observed in participants’ adjustment narratives over time form the basis of an analysis of successful and unsuccessful cases of identity adjustment.

Findings

An international relocation presents varying degrees of threat or challenge to expatriate spouses’ central identities. The degree of threat posed will predict the amount of redefinition of social, role, and personal identities required for successful adjustment across social, cultural, and personal domains. Men experienced threats to their career/worker identity, whereas women faced multiple threats to identities such as mother, wife/partner, child, and also their career/worker identity.

Research limitations/implications

Results of this small-n research may not be generalisable, but do offer new interpretations of adjustment processes, including potential gender differences. The usefulness of longitudinal narrative inquiry for exploring experience of change is highlighted.

Practical implications

Conversations about identity constructions should be held with expatriate spouses in order to support relocation decision making, and to customise support programmes. Governments wanting to attract and retain foreign talent should consider policies that address employment options for spouses, which will allow for the continuation of central career identities.

Originality/value

Longitudinal case study analysis results in new interpretations of the adjustment experiences of expatriate spouses over time.

Details

Journal of Global Mobility: The Home of Expatriate Management Research, vol. 5 no. 1
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 2049-8799

Keywords

Article
Publication date: 13 July 2020

Julia Goede

The purpose of this study is to (re-)evaluate the explanatory power of the stressor–stress–strain model and its' current operationalization by examining the influence of general…

Abstract

Purpose

The purpose of this study is to (re-)evaluate the explanatory power of the stressor–stress–strain model and its' current operationalization by examining the influence of general and interaction adjustment and the mediating effect of general satisfaction on expatriates' and spouses' intention to prematurely return from an assignment or overseas location. Though expatriates' premature return intention has been well examined in prior literature, this is the first study to focus on spouses' premature return intention from the expatriate's assignment.

Design/methodology/approach

To evaluate the hypotheses, a sample of 104 expatriates and a sample of 64 spouses were collected and analysed utilizing structural equation modeling.

Findings

The results show that adjustment, as the opposite of distress, is not a direct negative driver of expatriates' nor spouses' premature return intention. Instead, the findings underscore the relevance of the general satisfaction with the international assignment (IA) as a mediator for both expatriates and spouses, which emphasizes the importance of attitudinal factors in the model. Overall, the results indicate that adjustment, in particular interaction adjustment, might not be a timely measure of distress anymore.

Practical implications

In order to reduce expatriates' and spouses' premature return intention multinational corporations should aim at maximizing satisfaction levels during the IA. To achieve this, both should be included in the selection process prior to the IA to tailor support mechanisms to satisfy their expectations.

Originality/value

This study is the first to investigate the premature return intention from the expatriates' and spouses' perspectives, while (re-)evaluating the explanatory power of the stressor–stress–strain model at present.

Details

Journal of Global Mobility: The Home of Expatriate Management Research, vol. 8 no. 2
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 2049-8799

Keywords

Article
Publication date: 8 June 2015

Yvonne McNulty

International relocation is undoubtedly a source of stress for families, and in particular for married couples. Yet, despite familial challenges and the fact that “family…

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Abstract

Purpose

International relocation is undoubtedly a source of stress for families, and in particular for married couples. Yet, despite familial challenges and the fact that “family concerns” remain a top reason for assignment refusal and assignment failure, including a growing body of anecdotal evidence suggesting that many expatriate marriages fail often at huge cost to organizations, there is not one academic study yet published on expatriate divorce. The purpose of this paper is to empirically examine the causes and consequences of expatriate divorce.

Design/methodology/approach

In this exploratory case-based study, the author uses respondent data from 13 face-to-face interviews and 25 online survey participants.

Findings

Findings demonstrate that expatriate marriages end in divorce for two main reasons: first, a core issue in the marriage that exists before going abroad (e.g. alcoholism, mental health problems) and which continues while abroad; and second, when one or both spouses is negatively influenced by an expatriate culture to such an extent that a form of “group think” results in polarizing behavior that is counter to how they might behave “back home” (e.g. infidelity, sexual misconduct). The consequences of divorce for expatriates are immense and include bankruptcy, destitution, homelessness, depression, psychophysiological illness, alienation from children, and suicide.

Research limitations/implications

Data are cross-sectional and findings are limited by single-response bias. Future studies would do well to research matched samples of couples engaging in global work experiences over different points in time in order to track longitudinal changes in marital quality, including why some go on to divorce while others recover from marital breakdown and stay married.

Practical implications

One of the strongest pieces of advice offered by most of the respondents is for spouses, and trailing spouses in particular, to know their legal rights and entitlements in each country where they are living in the event of divorce.

Originality/value

This is the first study to empirically explore the lived experience of expatriate divorce.

Details

Journal of Global Mobility, vol. 3 no. 2
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 2049-8799

Keywords

Article
Publication date: 8 March 2024

Chun-Hsiao Wang and Yu-Ping Chen

The purpose of this study is to develop a conceptual model explicating the development of expatriate social capital and its influence on expatriate effectiveness in terms of…

Abstract

Purpose

The purpose of this study is to develop a conceptual model explicating the development of expatriate social capital and its influence on expatriate effectiveness in terms of knowledge transfer and adjustment. Drawing upon social capital theory and weak tie theory, we elucidate the process through which expatriate social capital facilitates expatriate knowledge transfer and adjustment via greater access of role information and social support.

Design/methodology/approach

This study reviews and distills research on expatriate social capital development and proposes a conceptual model of expatriate effectiveness and suggests potential research avenues for global mobility scholars.

Findings

This study contributes to the understanding of the development of expatriate social capital in the host country and its impacts on expatriate effectiveness as a process. With regard to expatriates’ social capital accumulation, this study also highlights the important but less-known role of accompanying spouse/family members as expatriates’ weak tie enablers. We articulate a framework that outlines the sources of social capital for expatriates and the processes through which social capital transmits (via expatriates’ access to role information and social support) and then enhances expatriate effectiveness. This conceptual model aims to establish a basic “roadmap” for use by practitioners and researchers.

Research limitations/implications

Before the proposed conceptual model can be theoretically refined or extended by future research, its veracity needs to be tested empirically. Although we do not incorporate “time,” “personal characteristics” and “context” in our model, we recognize their potential importance and urge future researchers to incorporate them in studying the role of social capital on expatriate effectiveness.

Practical implications

A conceptual model is presented that enables multinational corporations (MNCs) to map their current (and future) strategies to enhance expatriate effectiveness by further strengthening the expatriate social capital.

Originality/value

Drawing upon social capital theory and weak tie theory, this paper links various sources of expatriate social capital to expatriates’ access to role information and social support in supporting expatriate effectiveness. From this, several avenues of future research are drawn.

Details

Journal of Global Mobility: The Home of Expatriate Management Research, vol. ahead-of-print no. ahead-of-print
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 2049-8799

Keywords

Article
Publication date: 3 April 2019

Svala Gudmundsdottir, Thorhallur Orn Gudlaugsson and Gylfi Dalmann Adalsteinsson

The purpose of this paper is to investigate the relationship between adjustment, social support and satisfaction with life for expatriate spouses. The sample consists of European…

Abstract

Purpose

The purpose of this paper is to investigate the relationship between adjustment, social support and satisfaction with life for expatriate spouses. The sample consists of European diplomatic spouses, residing all over the world.

Design/methodology/approach

This is a quantitative study. The sample consists of European diplomatic spouses, residing all over the world. The sample consists of 268 participants: 231 females and 44 males.

Findings

The findings of this study reveal that there was a significant relationship between adjustment and emotional and instrumental support as well as satisfaction with life. Furthermore, a multiple regression was performed to predict the level of satisfaction with life. Both adjustment and emotional support were statistically significant and they explained nearly 50 percent of the variability in participant’s satisfaction with life.

Research limitations/implications

The limitations of the paper include, for example, method bias, language and geographic location.

Practical implications

Foreign Ministries within the European Union (EU) will be in a better position to improve their expatriate programs and policies. Furthermore, this study indicated that the well-being of diplomatic spouses can be enhanced by considering how social support is provided, the level of adjustment and satisfaction with life.

Social implications

This study highlights the importance for diplomatic spouses to belonging to various groups, and group membership serves as a means to gain access to social networks. Therefore, being part of support groups of other expatriate spouses can aid cross-cultural adjustment.

Originality/value

Little is known about diplomatic spouses. This paper will be an important first step in examining the relationship between adjustment, social support and satisfaction with life for the spouses of diplomats working for the Foreign Ministries within the EU and European Economic Area.

Details

Journal of Global Mobility: The Home of Expatriate Management Research, vol. 7 no. 1
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 2049-8799

Keywords

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