Adjustment of spouses of self-initiated expatriates: Feeling different vs. Feeling welcome

Abstract

Adjustment of spouses of expatriates is a highly relevant research topic considering the critical importance of this group of accompanying persons for work outcomes of their counterparts. Unfortunately, little is known about the adjustment of spouses of self-initiated expatriates who do not enjoy the support of an assigning organization and who are argued to be particularly exposed to the host culture and thus more dependent on the local context compared to the expatriates themselves as well as other types of expatriate spouses. Therefore, we surveyed 71 spouses of self-initiated expatriates in Denmark regarding two relevant self-perceptions and how they were associated with their adjustment. Our findings showed that feeling different, in terms of perceived cultural distance to the host location, was not associated with neither general adjustment nor interaction adjustment of the respondents. On the other hand, feeling welcome had a positive association with both of the studied dimensions of adjustment. The implications of these findings are discussed in detail.