TY - CHAP

T1 - A Social Network Perspective on International Assignments:

T2 - The Role of Social Support

AU - Schuster, Tassilo

AU - Bader, Benjamin

N1 - ersch. 12.2016, c 2017

PY - 2017/1/4

Y1 - 2017/1/4

N2 - The social environment of expatriates is a crucial factor for various desired outcomes of international assignments such as psychological well-being, cultural adjustment, job satisfaction, and performance. However, literature on expatriates’ social environment either considers social support as a theoretical link to explain the relationship between social network characteristics and performance or measures it on a global scale in contrast to a meaningful latent construct. By applying confirmatory factor analysis using data from 435 expatriates, this book chapter aims at providing guidance on how the construct social support should be employed in future studies. The book chapter contributes to the expatriate literature by developing a sound conceptual model regarding social support, recommending an appropriate measurement of the construct, and showing that social support should not be treated as one global construct. Instead, the results suggest to account for three different dimensions that should be measured separately in order to avoid a misdirected, short-falling application of the construct.

AB - The social environment of expatriates is a crucial factor for various desired outcomes of international assignments such as psychological well-being, cultural adjustment, job satisfaction, and performance. However, literature on expatriates’ social environment either considers social support as a theoretical link to explain the relationship between social network characteristics and performance or measures it on a global scale in contrast to a meaningful latent construct. By applying confirmatory factor analysis using data from 435 expatriates, this book chapter aims at providing guidance on how the construct social support should be employed in future studies. The book chapter contributes to the expatriate literature by developing a sound conceptual model regarding social support, recommending an appropriate measurement of the construct, and showing that social support should not be treated as one global construct. Instead, the results suggest to account for three different dimensions that should be measured separately in order to avoid a misdirected, short-falling application of the construct.

KW - Management studies

KW - Social Support

KW - Standardize Root Mean Square Residual

KW - Informational Support

KW - Instrumental Support

KW - Social Network Characteristic

UR - http://www.scopus.com/inward/record.url?scp=85028859463&partnerID=8YFLogxK

U2 - 10.1057/978-1-137-57406-0_4

DO - 10.1057/978-1-137-57406-0_4

M3 - Chapter

SN - 978-1-137-57405-3

SP - 101

EP - 136

BT - Expatriate Management

A2 - Bader, Benjamin

A2 - Schuster, Tassilo

A2 - Bader, Anna Katharina

PB - Palgrave Macmillan

CY - London

ER -