Expatriates' Ethnicity and their Effectiveness: "Similarity Attraction" or "Inverse Resonance"?

Carr, Stuart C.; Ehiobuche, Ihfanyi; Rugimbana, Robert; Munro, Don

doi:10.1177/097133369600800205

Cited by 15 publications

(11 citation statements)

References 41 publications

(43 reference statements)

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“…While I do not aim to provide a direct test here, there is an ample evidence consistent with my conjecture that people are less eager to oppose immigration from rich countries regardless of their characteristics. In addition to the occasional rejection of co‐ethnic migrants, for instance, Carr, Ehiobuche, Rugimbana, and Munro () documents the widespread outgroup favoritism of Western expatriates in Africa. Western foreigners are also viewed more favorably than culturally proximate Chinese immigrants in Hong Kong and, what is especially intriguing, sometimes even more favorably than the natives themselves (Cuddy, Fiske, & Glick, ; Lim & Ward, ).…”

Section: Group Threat Of Immigrationmentioning

confidence: 99%

Is There a Backlash Against Immigration From Richer Countries? International Hierarchy and the Limits of Group Threat

Kustov

2019

Political Psychology

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Why do immigrants from particular countries systematically face more opposition? To resolve inconsistencies of prevailing group‐threat theories, I reintroduce a long‐standing hypothesis stipulating that people have a disposition for maintaining status hierarchy between ethnic groups. Accordingly, independent of perceived economic or cultural threat, natives are more likely to prefer immigrant groups of higher status based on the development level of the group's national origin. To test this argument, I exploit a substantial provincial variation of immigration flows and attitudes in Spain—one of the only countries that has received immigrants from both less and more developed countries. Consistent with my hypothesis, I demonstrate that anti‐immigration attitudes are more widespread in areas with immigrants from less developed countries regardless of their economic and cultural characteristics. I further document that many voters perceive stable group hierarchies and that these preferences are more predictive of anti‐immigration attitudes in lower‐status immigration contexts. Overall, these results suggest that even culturally similar and economically beneficial immigrant groups from poorer countries can face public opposition due to their lower‐status national origin, highlighting the independent role of group‐status perceptions in politics.

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Section: Group Threat Of Immigrationmentioning

confidence: 99%

Is There a Backlash Against Immigration From Richer Countries? International Hierarchy and the Limits of Group Threat

Kustov

2019

Political Psychology

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“…Such &dquo;inverse resonance&dquo; with outgroups may undermine the social psychological principle of &dquo;similarity attraction&dquo; (Byrne, 1971). For example, expatriates sojourning between neighbouring non-Western countries may find it more difficult to earn acceptance than expatriates originating from the West and sojourning in a developing nation (Carr, 1996b;Carr, Ehiobuche, Rugimbana, & Munro, in press). If so, greater similarity may be comparatively unattractive, a general possibility envisaged by Gergen himself (1994).…”

Section: Making Contactmentioning

confidence: 98%

Social Psychology in Malawi: Historical or Developmental?

Carr

1996

Psychology and Developing Societies

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AustraliaIt is now over two decades since Gergen (1973) argued that social psychology is historical, and this paper re-examines his arguments in the light of more recent social changes in Tropical Africa. Malawi has experienced major sociopolitical upheavals and from the outside, with much of the agenda based on foreign historical foundations, Gergen's hypothesis implies that social psychology should be radically inappropriate. From the inside, however, the discipline has garnered substantial student enrolments, sustained by four possible modes of applied research in addition to cross-cultural refutation ( for instance, similarity-attraction), namely, rejuvenation (of observer bias, among aid donors), realisation (that "aid" is transactional), reconstitution (into a principle of incremental improvement), and restatement (of competitive motives, reflecting clashes with collectivist peers and security conscious superiors). In contemporary Malawi, social psychology is "developmental" rather than "historical", casting doubt on the universality of Gergen's historicity hypothesis. Two decades ago, Gergen (1973) published a paper which sparked &dquo;the crisis&dquo; of confidence in social psychology, partly because it implied, in its extreme form, that social psychology was built entirely on sand. The paper contained two main arguments: (a) that most social processes &dquo;...are dependent on acquired dispositions subject to gross modification over time&dquo; (p.318); and (b) that knowledge of social processes &dquo;increases alternatives to action, and previous patterns of behavior are modified * The author was Head of the Psychology Department at the National University of Malawi in Zomba, where he worked from 1989 to 1993. He is grateful to Don Munro and Jack Schumaker of the University of Newcastle for their very helpful reflections.

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“…For example in Nigeria, white Westerners are favoured over black Westerners from the same sending country and over individuals from African nations (Carr et al, 1996). Negative stereotypes regarding education, skilled work capability and specific technical job roles can be applied to expatriates from developing nations (Carr et al, 1996;Fisher and Hartel, 2003;Lauring, 2007). Expatriates of similar racial profiles to their hosts can experience difficulties in gaining local acceptance; shared ethnicity can be a negative characteristic (Zhang et al, 2018) if it leads to identity conflict and adjustment problems (Peltokorpi and Zhang, 2020).…”

Section: Minority Expatriates Intersectionality and Inclusionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Professional capabilities are attributed according to race with white expatriates regarded as experts (Fechter and Walsh, 2010). For example in Nigeria, white Westerners are favoured over black Westerners from the same sending country and over individuals from African nations (Carr et al. , 1996).…”

Section: Literature Reviewmentioning

confidence: 99%

What do we know about diversity, intersectionality and inclusion in organisationally-assigned expatriation? A review of relocation management company/consultancy practitioner research

Shortland

Perkins

2022

CDI

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PurposeThe purpose of this paper is to report on trends in the deployment of minority expatriates, review organisational interventions to increase expatriate diversity and to consider the challenges facing employers in widening expatriate diversity through a review of practitioner publications published by relocation management companies/consultancies.Design/methodology/approachA review of 109 practitioner publications on organisational international assignment policy and practice was conducted to identify trends across three decades in minority expatriation and employer interventions to widen expatriate diversity.FindingsPractitioner publications record percentage female expatriate participation and expatriate age profiles. While expatriate diversity challenges are reported, employer interventions focus on supporting women and LGBTQ+ assignees but with little detail on their outcomes. There is little emphasis on ethnicity/race, religion, disability, pregnancy/maternity, intersectionality of diversity characteristics and inclusion.Research limitations/implicationsPractitioner publications consulted were primarily Western-focused, with access to a “complete” publications record precluded. Academic research that compares employer policy on diversity interventions with how it is implemented is needed.Practical implicationsA stronger focus on supporting the full range of expatriate diversity attributes and intersectionality is required, explaining how challenges have been addressed and inclusion achieved.Social implicationsAnalysis of employer interventions could assist organisations to widen expatriate diversity and inclusion, and minorities to access international careers.Originality/valueThis review of practitioner data reveals trends in the deployment of minority expatriates, interventions taken by employers and challenges they perceive in widening expatriate diversity, providing a unique perspective and enriching our understanding of academic expatriate diversity research. Path-dependent organisational action may hinder employers' future focus on diversity, inclusion and intersectionality.

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Expatriates' Ethnicity and their Effectiveness: "Similarity Attraction" or "Inverse Resonance"?

Cited by 15 publications

References 41 publications

Is There a Backlash Against Immigration From Richer Countries? International Hierarchy and the Limits of Group Threat

Is There a Backlash Against Immigration From Richer Countries? International Hierarchy and the Limits of Group Threat

Social Psychology in Malawi: Historical or Developmental?

What do we know about diversity, intersectionality and inclusion in organisationally-assigned expatriation? A review of relocation management company/consultancy practitioner research

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