Work information and emotional support of self-initiated expatriates: multilevel mediation model

This article explores the immediate network context of self-initiated expatriates and how it influences their work information and emotional support. Building on the information seeking theory and the theory of weak and strong ties, we have created a model connecting specific characteristics of the network members with the type and amount of support they provide. The dataset consisted of 165 expatriates who rated 575 of their network members on the following learned characteristics: host country knowledge, employment status, and host country origin. The ego-centered network that consists of the rated ties is the context in which expatriates are embedded. It was therefore analyzed utilizing a multilevel mediation model. We have hypothesized that all learned characteristics will be determining the frequency of interaction and thus the level and type of support received. Host country knowledge should incentivize interaction; however empirical results did not confirm this. Consistent with the existing research in the field and our expectations, we found that employment status and host country origin are relevant factors that negatively impact interaction. The negative effect of higher employment status is then mediated to work information and emotional support on the other hand; negative effect of host country origin is affecting emotional support only. The effect of status was likely conflated with host country origin in the previously published results, leading to biased conclusions.