Business and demographic trends are conflating to bring language issues at work to the forefront. Although language has an inherent capacity for creating interpersonal bonds, it can also serve as a means of exclusion. The construct of linguistic ostracism encapsulates this phenomenon. Drawing on ethnolinguistic identity theory, we identify how linguistic ostracism influences two interpersonal work behaviors: interpersonal citizenship and interpersonal deviance. We conduct a set of studies that uses multisource data, data across time, and data from three countries. Our results reveal that linguistic ostracism was associated with the enactment of lower interpersonal citizenship behaviors and higher interpersonal deviance behaviors. We find that disidentification served as a mechanism to explain why linguistic ostracism resulted in interpersonal citizenship behaviors and interpersonal deviance behaviors. Furthermore, linguistically ostracized employees with low (vs. high) social self-efficacy engage in fewer interpersonal citizenship behaviors and greater interpersonal deviance behaviors. We discuss theoretical implications associated with the phenomenon of linguistic ostracism and the implications for managers working in linguistically diverse organizations.

References

Aichhorn, N., Puck, J. 2017 . Bridging the language gap in multinational companies: Language strategies and the notion of company-speak . Journal of World Business, 52: 386 - 403 .

Google Scholar

Aiken, L. S., West, S. G. 1991 . Multiple regression: Testing and interpreting interactions. Thousand Oaks, CA : Sage .

Google Scholar

Allport, G. W. 1954 . The nature of prejudice. Reading, MA : Addison-Wesley .

Google Scholar

Anderson, S. L., Betz, N. E. 2001 . Sources of social self-efficacy expectations: Their measurement and relation to career development . Journal of Vocational Behavior, 58: 98 - 117 .

Google Scholar ISI

Antonakis, J., Bendahan, S., Jacquart, P., Lalive, R. 2014 . Causality and endogeneity: Problems and solutions . In Day, D. V. (Ed.), The Oxford handbook of leadership and organizations: 93 - 117 . New York : Oxford University Press .

Google Scholar

Bartel, C. A. 2001 . Social comparisons in boundary-spanning work: Effects of community outreach on members’ organizational identity and identification . Administrative Science Quarterly, 46: 379 - 413 .

Google Scholar SAGE Journals | ISI

Bennett, R. J., Robinson, S. L. 2000 . Development of a measure of workplace deviance . Journal of Applied Psychology, 85: 349 - 360 .

Google Scholar Medline | ISI

Bernerth, J. B., Aguinis, H. 2016 . A critical review and best-practice recommendations for control variable usage . Personnel Psychology, 69: 229 - 283 .

Google Scholar ISI

Berry, C. M., Carpenter, N. C., Barratt, C. L. 2012 . Do other reports of counterproductive work behavior provide an incremental contribution over self-reports? A meta-analytic comparison . Journal of Applied Psychology, 97: 613 - 636 .

Google Scholar Medline | ISI

Bhave, D. P., Kramer, A., Glomb, T. M. 2010 . Work-family conflict in work groups: Social information processing, support, and demographic dissimilarity . Journal of Applied Psychology, 95: 145 - 158 .

Google Scholar Medline | ISI

Bonaccio, S., O’Reilly, J., O’Sullivan, S. L., Chiocchio, F. 2016 . Nonverbal behavior and communication in the workplace: A review and an agenda for research . Journal of Management, 42: 1044 - 1074 .

Google Scholar SAGE Journals | ISI

Bonner, J. M., Greenbaum, R. L., Quade, M. J. 2017 . Employee unethical behavior to shame as an indicator of self-image threat and exemplification as a form of self-image protection: The exacerbating role of supervisor bottom-line mentality . Journal of Applied Psychology, 102: 1203 - 1221 .

Google Scholar Crossref | Medline

Bordia, S., Bordia, P. 2015 . Employees’ willingness to adopt a foreign functional language in multilingual organizations: The role of linguistic identity . Journal of International Business Studies, 46: 415 - 428 .

Google Scholar ISI

Brannen, M. Y., Piekkari, R., Tietze, S. 2014 . The multifaceted role of language in international business: Unpacking the forms, functions and features of a critical challenge to MNC theory and performance . Journal of International Business Studies, 45: 495 - 507 .

Google Scholar ISI

Brannick, M. T., Chan, D., Conway, J. M., Lance, C. E., Spector, P. E. 2010 . What is method variance and how can we cope with it? A panel discussion . Organizational Research Methods, 13: 407 - 420 .

Google Scholar SAGE Journals | ISI

Brebels, L., De Cremer, D., van Dijke, M. 2014 . Using self-definition to predict the influence of procedural justice on organizational-, interpersonal-, and job/task-oriented citizenship behavior . Journal of Management, 40: 731 - 763 .

Google Scholar SAGE Journals | ISI

Carpenter, N. C., Berry, C. M., Houston, L. 2014 . A meta-analytic comparison of self-reported and other-reported organizational citizenship behavior . Journal of Organizational Behavior, 35: 547 - 574 .

Google Scholar

Chan, D. 2009 . So why ask me? Are self-report data really that bad? In Lance, C. E., Vandenberg, R. J. (Eds.), Statistical and methodological myths and urban legends: Doctrine, verity and fable in the organizational and social sciences: 309 - 336 . New York : Routledge .

Google Scholar

Charles, M. L. 2007 . Language matters in global communication . Journal of Business Communication, 44: 260 - 282 .

Google Scholar SAGE Journals

Chattopadhyay, P. 1999 . Beyond direct and symmetrical effects: The influence of demographic dissimilarity on organizational citizenship behavior . Academy of Management Journal, 42: 273 - 287 .

Google Scholar ISI

Chrobot-Mason, D., Ruderman, M. N., Weber, T. J., Ernst, C. 2009 . The challenge of leading on unstable ground: Triggers that activate social identity faultlines . Human Relations, 62: 1763 - 1794 .

Google Scholar SAGE Journals | ISI

Cook, T. D., Campbell, D. T. 1979 . Quasi-experimentation: Design and analysis issues for field settings. Boston : Houghton Mifflin .

Google Scholar

Dotan-Eliaz, O., Sommer, K. L., Rubin, Y. S. 2009 . Multilingual groups: Effects of linguistic ostracism on felt rejection and anger, coworker attraction, perceived team potency, and creative performance . Basic and Applied Social Psychology, 31: 363 - 375 .

Google Scholar ISI

Edwards, J. R., Lambert, L. S. 2007 . Methods for integrating moderation and mediation: A general analytical framework using moderated path analysis . Psychological Methods, 12: 1 - 22 .

Google Scholar Medline | ISI

Elsbach, K. D. 1999 . An expanded model of identification . In Sutton, R. I., Staw, B. M. (Eds.), Research in organizational behavior, Vol. 21: 163 - 200 . Greenwich, CT : JAI Press .

Google Scholar

Elsbach, K. D., Bhattacharya, C. B. 2001 . Defining who you are by what you’re not: Organizational disidentification and the National Rifle Association . Organization Science, 12: 393 - 413 .

Google Scholar ISI

Ferris, D. L., Brown, D. J., Berry, J. W., Lian, H. 2008 . The development and validation of the Workplace Ostracism Scale . Journal of Applied Psychology, 93: 1348 - 1366 .

Google Scholar Medline | ISI

Ferris, D. L., Chen, M., Lim, S. 2017 . Comparing and contrasting workplace ostracism and incivility . Annual Review of Organizational Psychology and Organizational Behavior, 4: 315 - 338 .

Google Scholar

Finaccord . 2014 . Global expatriates: Size, segmentation and forecast for the worldwide market. Retrieved from http://finaccord.com/uk/report_global-expatriates_size-segmentation-and-forecast-for-the-worldwide-market.htm.

Google Scholar

Fox, S., Spector, P. E., Goh, A., Bruursema, K. 2007 . Does your coworker know what you’re doing? Convergence of self- and peer-reports of counterproductive work behavior . International Journal of Stress Management, 14: 41 - 60 .

Google Scholar

Fredriksson, R., Barner-Rasmussen, W., Piekkari, R. 2006 . The multinational corporation as a multilingual organization: The notion of a common corporate language . Corporate Communications: An International Journal, 11: 406 - 423 .

Google Scholar

Gaibrois, C. 2018 . “It crosses all the boundaries”: Hybrid language use as empowering resource . European Journal of International Management, 12: 82 - 110 .

Google Scholar

Giacalone, R. A., Rosenfeld, P. 1987 . Reasons for employee sabotage in the workplace . Journal of Business and Psychology, 1: 367 - 378 .

Google Scholar

Giles, H., Johnson, P. 1981 . The role of language in ethnic group relations . In Turner, J. C., Giles, H. (Eds.), Intergroup behavior: 99 - 243 . Oxford, England : Blackwell .

Google Scholar

Giles, H., Johnson, P. 1987 . Ethnolinguistic identity theory: A social psychological approach to language maintenance . International Journal of the Sociology of Language, 68: 69 - 99 .

Google Scholar

Grant, A. M., Mayer, D. M. 2009 . Good soldiers and good actors: Prosocial and impression management motives as interactive predictors of affiliative citizenship behaviors . Journal of Applied Psychology, 94: 900 - 912 .

Google Scholar Medline | ISI

Greguras, G. J., Diefendorff, J. M. 2010 . Why does proactive personality predict employee life satisfaction and behaviors? A field investigation of the mediating role of the self-concordance model . Personnel Psychology, 63: 539 - 560 .

Google Scholar ISI

Gunesch, K. 2003 . Multilingualism and cosmopolitanism . In Tokuhama-Espinosa, T. (Ed.), The multilingual mind: Issues discussed by, for, and about people living with many languages: 213 - 232 . Westport, CT : Praeger .

Google Scholar

Harzing, A. W., Feely, A. J. 2008 . The language barrier and its implications for HQ-subsidiary relationships . Cross Cultural Management: An International Journal, 15: 49 - 61 .

Google Scholar

Harzing, A. W., Pudelko, M. 2013 . Language competencies, policies and practices in multinational corporations: A comprehensive review and comparison of Anglophone, Asian, Continental European and Nordic MNCs . Journal of World Business, 48: 87 - 97 .

Google Scholar ISI

Hayes, A. F. 2013 . Introduction to mediation, moderation, and conditional process analysis: A regression-based approach. New York : Guilford Press .

Google Scholar

Hayes, A. F. 2015 . An index and test of linear moderated mediation . Multivariate Behavioral Research, 50: 1 - 22 .

Google Scholar Medline | ISI

Henderson, J. K. 2005 . Language diversity in international management teams . International Studies of Management & Organization, 35(1): 66 - 82 .

Google Scholar

Hinds, P. J., Neeley, T. B., Cramton, C. D. 2014 . Language as a lightning rod: Power contests, emotion regulation, and subgroup dynamics in global teams . Journal of International Business Studies, 45: 536 - 561 .

Google Scholar ISI

Hogg, M. A., Abrams, D. 1988 . Social identifications: A social psychology of intergroup relations and group processes. London : Routledge .

Google Scholar

Holtz, B. C., Harold, C. M. 2013 . Interpersonal justice and deviance: The moderating effects of interpersonal justice values and justice orientation . Journal of Management, 39: 339 - 365 .

Google Scholar SAGE Journals | ISI

Janssens, M., Steyaert, C. 2014 . Re-considering language within a cosmopolitan understanding: Toward a multilingual franca approach in international business studies . Journal of International Business Studies, 45: 623 - 639 .

Google Scholar ISI

Joshi, A., Roh, H. 2009 . The role of context in work team diversity research: A meta-analytic review . Academy of Management Journal, 52: 599 - 627 .

Google Scholar ISI

Kreiner, G. E., Ashforth, B. E. 2004 . Evidence toward an expanded model of organizational identification . Journal of Organizational Behavior, 25: 1 - 27 .

Google Scholar ISI

Kulkarni, M. 2015 . Language-based diversity and faultlines in organizations . Journal of Organizational Behavior, 36: 128 - 146 .

Google Scholar ISI

Kulkarni, M., Sommer, K. 2015 . Language-based exclusion and prosocial behaviors in organizations . Human Resource Management, 54: 637 - 652 .

Google Scholar

Lauring, J. 2008 . Rethinking social identity theory in international encounters: Language use as a negotiated object for identity making . International Journal of Cross Cultural Management, 8: 343 - 361 .

Google Scholar SAGE Journals

Lauring, J., Klitmøller, A. 2015 . Corporate language-based communication avoidance in MNCs: A multi-sited ethnography approach . Journal of World Business, 50: 46 - 55 .

Google Scholar ISI

Lecomte, P., Tenzer, H., Zhang, L. E. 2018 . Working across language boundaries: New perspectives on language-sensitive international management research . European Journal of International Management, 12: 1 - 7 .

Google Scholar

Lee, K., Allen, N. J. 2002 . Organizational citizenship behavior and workplace deviance: The role of affect and cognitions . Journal of Applied Psychology, 87: 131 - 142 .

Google Scholar Medline | ISI

Lee, K. Y., Kim, E., Bhave, D. P., Duffy, M. K. 2016 . Why victims of undermining at work become perpetrators of undermining: An integrative model . Journal of Applied Psychology, 101: 915 - 924 .

Google Scholar Medline

Liao, H., Joshi, A., Chuang, A. 2004 . Sticking out like a sore thumb: Employee dissimilarity and deviance at work . Personnel Psychology, 57: 969 - 1000 .

Google Scholar ISI

Lykken, D. T. 1968 . Statistical significance in psychological research . Psychological Bulletin, 70: 151 - 159 .

Google Scholar Medline | ISI

Marschan, R., Welch, D. E., Welch, L. S. 1997 . Language: The forgotten factor in multinational management . European Management Journal, 15: 591 - 598 .

Google Scholar

Matschke, C., Sassenberg, K. 2010 . Does rejection lead to disidentification? The role of internal motivation and avoidance strategies . European Journal of Social Psychology, 40: 891 - 900 .

Google Scholar ISI

Morgeson, F. P., Humphrey, S. E. 2006 . The Work Design Questionnaire (WDQ): Developing and validating a comprehensive measure for assessing job design and the nature of work . Journal of Applied Psychology, 91: 1321 - 1339 .

Google Scholar Medline | ISI

Neeley, T. B. 2013 . Language matters: Status loss and achieved status distinctions in global organizations . Organization Science, 24: 476 - 497 .

Google Scholar ISI

Neeley, T. B., Dumas, T. L. 2016 . Unearned status gain: Evidence from a global language mandate . Academy of Management Journal, 59: 14 - 43 .

Google Scholar ISI

Neeley, T. B., Hinds, P. J., Cramton, C. D. 2009 . Walking through jelly: Language proficiency, emotions, and disrupted collaboration in global work. Working paper No. 09-138, Harvard Business School Organizational Behavior Unit, Harvard University , Cambridge, MA .

Google Scholar

Neeley, T. B., Hinds, P. J., Cramton, C. D. 2012 . The (un)hidden turmoil of language in global collaboration . Organizational Dynamics, 41: 236 - 244 .

Google Scholar ISI

Neeley, T. B., Kaplan, R. S. 2014 . What’s your language strategy? Harvard Business Review, 92(9): 70 - 76 .

Google Scholar

Neuman, J. H., Baron, R. A. 2005 . Aggression in the workplace: A social psychological perspective . In Fox, S., Spector, P. E. (Eds.), Counterproductive work behavior: Investigations of actors and targets: 13 - 40 . Washington, DC : American Psychological Association .

Google Scholar

Ng, T. W., Feldman, D. C. 2011 . Affective organizational commitment and citizenship behavior: Linear and non-linear moderating effects of organizational tenure . Journal of Vocational Behavior, 79: 528 - 537 .

Google Scholar ISI

O’Reilly, J., Robinson, S. L., Berdahl, J. L., Banki, S. 2014 . Is negative attention better than no attention? The comparative effects of ostracism and harassment at work . Organization Science, 26: 774 - 793 .

Google Scholar

Otheguy, R., García, O., Reid, W. 2015 . Clarifying translanguaging and deconstructing named languages: A perspective from linguistics . Applied Linguistics Review, 6: 281 - 307 .

Google Scholar ISI

Pagel, M. 2009 . Human language as a culturally transmitted replicator . Nature Reviews Genetics, 10: 405 - 415 .

Google Scholar Crossref | Medline

Pelled, H. L., Ledford, G. E., Mohrman, S. A. 1999 . Demographic dissimilarity and workplace inclusion . Journal of Management Studies, 36: 1013 - 1031 .

Google Scholar ISI

Piekkari, R., Welch, D., Welch, L. S. 2014 . Language in international business: The multilingual reality of global business expansion. Cheltenham, England : Edward Elgar .

Google Scholar

Podsakoff, P. M., MacKenzie, S. B., Podsakoff, N. P. 2012 . Sources of method bias in social science research and recommendations on how to control it . Annual Review of Psychology, 63: 539 - 569 .

Google Scholar Medline | ISI

Pratt, M. G. 2000 . The good, the bad, and the ambivalent: Managing identification among Amway distributors . Administrative Science Quarterly, 45: 456 - 493 .

Google Scholar SAGE Journals | ISI

Quade, M. J., Greenbaum, R. L., Petrenko, O. V. 2017 . “I don’t want to be near you, unless . . .”: The interactive effect of unethical behavior and performance onto relationship conflict and workplace ostracism . Personnel Psychology, 70: 675 - 709 .

Google Scholar

Ridgeway, C. L., Correll, S. J. 2006 . Consensus and the creation of status beliefs . Social Forces, 85: 431 - 453 .

Google Scholar ISI

Roberson, Q., Ryan, A. M., Ragins, B. R. 2017 . The evolution and future of diversity at work . Journal of Applied Psychology, 102: 483 - 499 .

Google Scholar Crossref | Medline

Robinson, S. L., O’Reilly, J., Wang, W. 2013 . Invisible at work: An integrated model of workplace ostracism . Journal of Management, 39: 203 - 231 .

Google Scholar SAGE Journals | ISI

Rotundo, M., Sackett, P. R. 2002 . The relative importance of task, citizenship, and counterproductive performance to global ratings of job performance: A policy-capturing approach . Journal of Applied Psychology, 87: 66 - 80 .

Google Scholar Medline | ISI

Sherer, M., Maddux, J. E., Mercadante, B., Prentice-Dunn, S., Jacobs, B., Rogers, R. W. 1982 . The self-efficacy scale: Construction and validation . Psychological Reports, 51: 663 - 671 .

Google Scholar SAGE Journals | ISI

Sleebos, E., Ellemers, N., de Gilder, D. 2006 . The paradox of the disrespected: Disrespected group members’ engagement in group-serving efforts . Journal of Experimental Social Psychology, 42: 413 - 427 .

Google Scholar ISI

Sluss, D. M., Ashforth, B. E. 2007 . Relational identity and identification: Defining ourselves through work relationships . Academy of Management Review, 32: 9 - 32 .

Google Scholar ISI

Smart Richman, L., Leary, M. R. 2009 . Reactions to discrimination, stigmatization, ostracism, and other forms of interpersonal rejection: A multimotive model . Psychological Review, 116: 365 - 383 .

Google Scholar Medline | ISI

Smith, H. M., Betz, N. E. 2002 . An examination of efficacy and esteem pathways to depression in young adulthood . Journal of Counseling Psychology, 49: 438 - 448 .

Google Scholar ISI

Special Eurobarometer 386 . 2012 . Europeans and their languages. Brussels : European Commission . Retrieved from http://ec.europa.eu/commfrontoffice/publicopinion/archives/ebs/ebs_243_en.pdf

Google Scholar

Spolsky, B. 2009 . Language management. Cambridge, MA : Cambridge University Press .

Google Scholar Crossref

Statistics Canada . 2017 . Linguistic diversity and multilingualism in Canadian homes. Retrieved from http://www12.statcan.gc.ca/census-recensement/2016/as-sa/98-200-x/2016010/98-200-x2016010-eng.cfm.

Google Scholar

Syna Desivilya, H., Eizen, D. 2005 . Conflict management in work teams: The role of social self-efficacy and group identification . International Journal of Conflict Management, 16: 183 - 208 .

Google Scholar

Tajfel, H. 1978 . Social categorization, social identity and social comparison . In Tajfel, H. (Ed.), Differentiation between social groups: Studies in the social psychology of intergroup relations: 77 - 98 . London : Academic Press .

Google Scholar

Tajfel, H., Turner, J. C. 1979 . An integrative theory of intergroup conflict . In Austin, W., Worchel, S. (Eds.), The social psychology of intergroup relations: 33 - 47 . Monterey, CA : Brooks-Cole .

Google Scholar

Tajfel, H., Turner, J. 1986 . The social identity theory of intergroup behavior . In. Worchel, S. (Ed.), Psychology of intergroup relations: 33 - 47 . Chicago : Nelson-Hall .

Google Scholar

Tenzer, H., Pudelko, M. 2015 . Leading across language barriers: Managing language-induced emotions in multinational teams . The Leadership Quarterly, 26: 606 - 625 .

Google Scholar ISI

Tenzer, H., Pudelko, M. 2017 . The influence of language differences on power dynamics in multinational teams . Journal of World Business, 52: 45 - 61 .

Google Scholar ISI

Tenzer, H., Pudelko, M., Harzing, A. W. 2014 . The impact of language barriers on trust formation in multinational teams . Journal of International Business Studies, 45: 508 - 535 .

Google Scholar ISI

Tenzer, H., Terjesen, S., Harzing, A. W. 2017 . Language in international business: A review and agenda for future research . Management International Review, 6: 815 - 854 .

Google Scholar

Thau, S., Aquino, K., Poortvliet, P. M. 2007 . Self-defeating behaviors in organizations: The relationship between thwarted belonging and interpersonal work behaviors . Journal of Applied Psychology, 92: 840 - 847 .

Google Scholar Medline | ISI

Turner, J. C., Hogg, M. A., Oakes, P. J., Reicher, S. D., Wetherell, M. S. 1987 . Rediscovering the social group: A self-categorization theory. Oxford, England : Blackwell .

Google Scholar

Twenge, J. M., Baumeister, R. F., DeWall, C. N., Ciarocco, N. J., Bartels, J. M. 2007 . Social exclusion decreases prosocial behavior . Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 92: 56 - 66 .

Google Scholar Medline | ISI

Tyler, T. R., Blader, S. L. 2003 . The group engagement model: Procedural justice, social identity, and cooperative behavior . Personality and Social Psychology Review, 7: 349 - 361 .

Google Scholar SAGE Journals | ISI

Vaara, E., Tienari, J., Piekkari, R., Säntti, R. 2005 . Language and the circuits of power in a merging multinational corporation . Journal of Management Studies, 42: 595 - 623 .

Google Scholar ISI

Vadera, A. K., Pratt, M. G. 2013 . Love, hate, ambivalence, or indifference? A conceptual examination of workplace crimes and organizational identification . Organization Science, 24: 172 - 188 .

Google Scholar ISI

Vadera, A. K., Pratt, M. G., Mishra, P. 2013 . Constructive deviance in organizations: Integrating and moving forward . Journal of Management, 39: 1221 - 1276 .

Google Scholar SAGE Journals | ISI

Voss, J., Albert, I., Ferring, D. 2014 . Language use and value orientations in multinational work teams in Luxembourg: Conflict or harmony? International Journal of Intercultural Relations, 41: 192 - 196 .

Google Scholar

Wasserman, S., Faust, K. 1994 . Social network analysis: Methods and applications. Cambridge, England : Cambridge University Press .

Google Scholar

Watson, J., Nesdale, D. 2012 . Rejection sensitivity, social withdrawal, and loneliness in young adults . Journal of Applied Social Psychology, 42: 1984 - 2005 .

Google Scholar ISI

Wei, R., Su, J. 2012 . The statistics of English in China: An analysis of the best available data from government sources . English Today, 28: 10 - 14 .

Google Scholar ISI

Welch, D. E., Welch, L. S. 2018 . Developing multilingual capacity: A challenge for the multinational enterprise . Journal of Management, 44: 854 - 869 .

Google Scholar SAGE Journals | ISI

Wells, A. 2018 . Slang, jargon, and more . In Wells, A. (Ed.), The tech professional’s guide to communicating in a global workplace: 89 - 105 . Berkeley, CA : Apress .

Google Scholar

Williams, K. D. 2001 . Ostracism: The power of silence. New York : Guilford Press .

Google Scholar