When more is better. The relationships between perceived deep-level similarity, perceived workplace ethnic diversity, and immigrants’ quality of coworker relationships
| Pages | 507-524 |
| Published date | 09 December 2019 |
| DOI | https://doi.org/10.1108/ER-05-2019-0202 |
| Date | 09 December 2019 |
| Author | Marcus A. Valenzuela,Guowei Jian,Phillip M. Jolly |
| Subject Matter | HR & organizational behaviour,Industrial/labour relations,Employment law |
When more is better
The relationships between perceived deep-level
similarity, perceived workplace ethnic
diversity, and immigrants’quality
of coworker relationships
Marcus A. Valenzuela
California State University Bakersfield, Bakersfield, California, USA
Guowei Jian
Cleveland State University, Cleveland, Ohio, USA, and
Phillip M. Jolly
Pennsylvania State University, University Park, Pennsylvania, USA
Abstract
Purpose –The purpose of this paper is to examine how organizational diversity may be associated with
immigrants’quality of coworker relationships. More specifically, this paper examines how immigrants’
perceived deep-level similarity and perceived workplace ethnic diversity may be associated with their quality
of coworker relationships.
Design/methodology/approach –A final sample of 347 immigrant employees were surveyed. Hierarchical
regression analyses were conducted to test the hypotheses.
Findings –Immigrants’qualityof coworker relationships is positivelyassociatedwith their perceiveddeep-level
similarity with other coworkers. In addition, perceived workplace ethnic diversity moderates this relationship
such that therelation is stronger as perceived workplace ethnic diversity increases.
Research limitations/implications –Thestudy and analysesare based on cross-sectional andsingle-source
data and cannot determine causality. The study is also restricted to immigrants in the USA.
Practical implications –Findings provide evidence that increased levels of ethnic diversity and deep-level
similarity in the workplace may improve immigrants’quality of relationships, helping them integrate more
successfully in organizations. Thus, managers seeking to benefit from diversity should strive for the creation
of truly multicultural organizations or workgroups and focus on fostering similarities in deep-level attributes
to maximize their potential.
Originality/value –Immigrants are an important asset for organizations, but research about their inclusion
in organizations is limited, especially when examining their integration in their workplaces. This study
addresses some of these limitations by looking at the effect of diversity in organizations.
Keywords Immigrants, Ethnic diversity, Perceived workplace ethnic diversity,
Perceived deep-level similarity, Coworker relationships
Paper type Research paper
Increased globalization has led to a growing number of foreign-born employees within
organizations. For example, approximately 17.4 percent of the US labor force was foreign born in
2018 –a number which has been steadily increasing (US Bureau of Labor Statistics, 2019).
Similar patterns are also noted across many western and Asia-Pacific nations (Dietz, 2010;
OECD, 2015). The need to manage social interactions and relational dynamics in such diverse
organizations represents a challenge for both organizations and their members (Guo and Al
Ariss, 2015; Malik and Manroop, 2017). The challenge often manifests in a lack of organizational
integration, which may in turn affect the quality of coworker relationships and ultimately
turnover rates and performance (Bergbom et al., 2015; Guillaume et al., 2012; Williams and
O’Reilly, 1998). More importantly, this challenge is said to be magnified for immigrants (Cerdin
et al., 2014), either first-generation (those born outside the host country) or second-generation
(direct descendants of first-generation immigrants) immigrants (Suro and Passel, 2003).
Employee Relations: The
International Journal
Vol. 42 No. 2, 2020
pp. 507-524
© Emerald PublishingLimited
0142-5455
DOI 10.1108/ER-05-2019-0202
Received 5 May 2019
Revised 8 October 2019
11 November 2019
Accepted 12 November 2019
The current issue and full text archive of this journal is available on Emerald Insight at:
www.emeraldinsight.com/0142-5455.htm
507
Immigrants’
quality of
coworker
relationships
Although previous studies have shown the importance of coworker relationships in
affecting employee attitudinal and behavioral outcomes (Colbert et al., 2016; Li and Liu,
2019; Self and Gordon, 2019), much research on this topic has focused on “native”workers,
neglecting to consider how organizational diversity may affect immigrants’coworker
relationships given their unique characteristics and experiences (Malik et al., 2014). To
extend the literature on coworker relationships to the immigrant context, our study centers
on two important factors from an organizational diversity perspective: one is deep-level
similarity, which is defined as the degree to which an individual’s behavioral and
psychological characteristics, such as work styles, decision-making styles and values, are
perceived to be commonly shared by others in the workplace (Harrison et al., 1998); the
other is workplace ethnic diversity (the degree to which an individual evaluates differences
in ethnicity in the workplace). Previous studies within non-immigrant work contexts
suggest that similarities in deep-level attributes are associated with higher-quality coworker
relationships (Byrne, 1971; Harrison et al., 2002), whereas increased workplace ethnic
diversity, along with other surface-level attributes (e.g. age and sex), has been shown to be
associated with greater conflict (Jehn et al., 1999; King et al., 2009). By drawing on social
categorization and social identity theories (Tajfel and Turner, 1986; Turner et al., 1987), we
examine the association of immigrants’perceived deep-level similarities and perceived
ethnic diversity in the workplace with their quality of coworker relationships.
This papercontributes to the literatureby answering multiple callsfor more attention to be
paid to immigrants’experiencesin the workplace (e.g. Aygören and Wilińska,2013; DelCampo
et al., 2011; Harrison et al., 2019; Shore et al., 2009). Such attention is imperative given the
increasing globalization of labor markets and the need for organizations to recruit and retain
the talent of immigrants to remain competitive (Forde and MacKenzie, 2009; Zikic, 2015). To
address this diversity management challenge, our research investigates the processes
underlying immigrant socializationand integration in organizations. Theoretically, our study
suggests that perceived workplace ethnic diversity plays a significant moderating role that
uniquely impactsthe association between immigrant workers’perceived deep-level similarity
and their relationship quality with coworkers. This finding has important implications for
theoretical development in intergroup relations and immigrants’workplace adaptation.
Conceptually, our findings contrast with the large body of existing work that has uncovered
detrimental effects of diversity (e.g. Guillaume et al., 2012; Joshi and Roh, 2009; Zhan et al.,
2015), indicating that immigrant status may serve as a boundary condition of thesefindings.
Practically,our findings provide much needed guidanceon managing employee relations and
improving employee socialization programs aimed at immigrant workers. Such socialization
programs are increasingly important as many organizations depend on the talent of
immigrant employees to sustain their competitive positions (Zikic, 2015) yet struggle to
effectively integrate them into the workplace (Malik and Manroop, 2017; Malik et al., 2014;
Zikic et al., 2010).
We first review the literature on coworker relationships and present the theoretical
rationale and hypotheses that associate the relational outcome with perceived deep-level
similarities and ethnic diversity. Second, we describe our research design and methods for
data collection and analysis. Finally, we present our results and discuss their theoretical and
practical implications.
Coworker relationships
Coworker relationships are the perceived relationships an individual has with peers in the
organizationwho exert no formal authority among each other (Sias,2009; Colbert et al., 2016).
Coworker relationships play a keyrole in helping to form an employee’sidentity as a member
of the organization (Turner et al., 1987) supporting the importance of organizational
socialization(Ashforth and Mael, 1989). Research has shown that theexistence of high-quality
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