Antecedents and effects of host country nationals negative stereotyping of corporate expatriates. A social identity analysis

• Despite being a traditionally neglected issue within the international HR literature, nationality of international assignees matters.
• We draw on social identity theory to analyse the antecedents and effects of negative stereotyping in the expatriation area.
• The stereotypical perception of the expatriate country of origin influences HCNs’ willingness to include Expatriates in their in-group.
• We present the boundary conditions of our model, which entail suggestions for multinationals to combat negative stereotyping of HCNs.

This paper extends the influential analysis on stereotyping from cultural studies to the realm of international assignments. Drawing on social identity theory, the paper takes the perspective of host country nationals (HCNs) as the basic units of analysis, and develops a theoretical model on the antecedents and effects of HCNs' negative stereotyping of expatriates. The paper also suggests some initiatives that, according to social identity theory, can be used to combat negative stereotyping in multinational corporations and so overcome the cross-cultural interpersonal conflicts that lie at the heart of expatriates' adjustment issues.