TY - JOUR
T1 - Expatriates' multiple fears, from terrorism to working conditions
T2 - Development of a model
AU - Giorgi, Gabriele
AU - Montani, Francesco
AU - Fiz-Perez, Javier
AU - Arcangeli, Giulio
AU - Mucci, Nicola
N1 - Publisher Copyright:
© 2016 Giorgi, Montani, Fiz-Perez, Arcangeli and Mucci.
PY - 2016/10/13
Y1 - 2016/10/13
N2 - Companies' internationalization appears to be fundamental in the current globalized and competitive environment and seems important not only for organizational success, but also for societal development and sustainability. On one hand, global business increases the demand for managers for international assignment. On the other hand, emergent fears, such as terrorism, seem to be developing around the world, enhancing the risk of expatriates' potential health problems. The purpose of this paper is to examine the relationships between the emergent concept of fear of expatriation with further workplace fears (economic crisis and dangerous working conditions) and with mental health problems. The study uses a quantitative design. Self-reported data were collected from 265 Italian expatriate workers assigned to both Italian and worldwide projects. Structural equation model analyses showed that fear of expatriation mediates the relationship of mental health with fear of economic crisis and with perceived dangerous working conditions. As expected, in addition to fear, worries of expatriation are also related to further fears. Although, the study is based on self-reports and the cross-sectional study design limits the possibility of making causal inferences, the new constructs introduced add to previous research.
AB - Companies' internationalization appears to be fundamental in the current globalized and competitive environment and seems important not only for organizational success, but also for societal development and sustainability. On one hand, global business increases the demand for managers for international assignment. On the other hand, emergent fears, such as terrorism, seem to be developing around the world, enhancing the risk of expatriates' potential health problems. The purpose of this paper is to examine the relationships between the emergent concept of fear of expatriation with further workplace fears (economic crisis and dangerous working conditions) and with mental health problems. The study uses a quantitative design. Self-reported data were collected from 265 Italian expatriate workers assigned to both Italian and worldwide projects. Structural equation model analyses showed that fear of expatriation mediates the relationship of mental health with fear of economic crisis and with perceived dangerous working conditions. As expected, in addition to fear, worries of expatriation are also related to further fears. Although, the study is based on self-reports and the cross-sectional study design limits the possibility of making causal inferences, the new constructs introduced add to previous research.
KW - Economic stress
KW - Expatriate workers
KW - Fear in the workplace
KW - Health promotion
KW - Occupational medicine
KW - Stress
KW - Work-related stress
KW - Workplace
UR - http://www.scopus.com/inward/record.url?scp=84995532222&partnerID=8YFLogxK
U2 - 10.3389/fpsyg.2016.01571
DO - 10.3389/fpsyg.2016.01571
M3 - Artículo
AN - SCOPUS:84995532222
SN - 1664-1078
VL - 7
JO - Frontiers in Psychology
JF - Frontiers in Psychology
M1 - 1571
ER -