{"title":"Workplace discrimination and overqualification among self-initiated expatriates: The moderating role of organizational legitimacy","authors":"Alexei Koveshnikov , Miikka J. Lehtonen","doi":"10.1016/j.intman.2025.101252","DOIUrl":null,"url":null,"abstract":"<div><div>Drawing on relative deprivation theory, this study develops a model to examine whether perceived overqualification and workplace discrimination negatively influence self-initiated expatriates' (SIE) expatriation satisfaction. Additionally, it investigates whether organizational legitimacy and status moderate these relationships. Analyzing a sample of 379 SIEs living and working in the United Arab Emirates (UAE), we find that workplace discrimination significantly reduces SIEs' overall expatriation satisfaction. However, this negative effect diminishes when SIEs perceive their host organization as having high sociopolitical legitimacy. Conversely, the negative impact of workplace discrimination strengthens when SIEs view their host organization's status as high. In contrast, perceived overqualification has no effect on SIEs' expatriation satisfaction, regardless of the host organization's legitimacy or status. This study contributes to the existing literature by highlighting the effects of workplace discrimination and overqualification on SIEs' expatriation experiences. It also elucidates the crucial role of sociopolitical legitimacy and organizational status in shaping SIEs' s responses to negative expatriation experiences.</div></div>","PeriodicalId":47937,"journal":{"name":"Journal of International Management","volume":"31 3","pages":"Article 101252"},"PeriodicalIF":5.9000,"publicationDate":"2025-06-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":"0","resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":null,"PeriodicalName":"Journal of International Management","FirstCategoryId":"91","ListUrlMain":"https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S1075425325000304","RegionNum":2,"RegionCategory":"管理学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":null,"EPubDate":"","PubModel":"","JCR":"Q1","JCRName":"MANAGEMENT","Score":null,"Total":0}
引用次数: 0
Abstract
Drawing on relative deprivation theory, this study develops a model to examine whether perceived overqualification and workplace discrimination negatively influence self-initiated expatriates' (SIE) expatriation satisfaction. Additionally, it investigates whether organizational legitimacy and status moderate these relationships. Analyzing a sample of 379 SIEs living and working in the United Arab Emirates (UAE), we find that workplace discrimination significantly reduces SIEs' overall expatriation satisfaction. However, this negative effect diminishes when SIEs perceive their host organization as having high sociopolitical legitimacy. Conversely, the negative impact of workplace discrimination strengthens when SIEs view their host organization's status as high. In contrast, perceived overqualification has no effect on SIEs' expatriation satisfaction, regardless of the host organization's legitimacy or status. This study contributes to the existing literature by highlighting the effects of workplace discrimination and overqualification on SIEs' expatriation experiences. It also elucidates the crucial role of sociopolitical legitimacy and organizational status in shaping SIEs' s responses to negative expatriation experiences.
期刊介绍:
The Journal of International Management is devoted to advancing an understanding of issues in the management of global enterprises, global management theory, and practice; and providing theoretical and managerial implications useful for the further development of research. It is designed to serve an audience of academic researchers and educators, as well as business professionals, by publishing both theoretical and empirical research relating to international management and strategy issues. JIM publishes theoretical and empirical research addressing international business strategy, comparative and cross-cultural management, risk management, organizational behavior, and human resource management, among others.