"I" AM AFFIRMED, BUT ARE "WE"? SOCIAL IDENTITY PROCESSES INFLUENCING REFUGEES' WORK INITIATIVE AND COMMUNITY EMBEDDEDNESS

Facilitating refugees' transitions to host country society is of interest to their host countries and municipalities, employers within those countries, and the refugees themselves. We develop and test a model of how social identity processes, as outlined in self-categorization theory, influence how perceiving that one is treated as an insider encourages behaviors reflecting social engagement with host country nationals, both within and outside of work. In a sample of 389 Syrian refugee employees in 88 supervisory units, perceived insider status was indirectly related to work initiative and community embeddedness through organizational identification. These indirect effects were moderated by diversity climate and perceived stigmatization of refugees in the broader society. Perceived insider status had its weakest effect on identification, and was not related indirectly to the outcomes when diversity climate was lower and perceived stigma was higher. We discuss the implications for theory development and practice concerning how social identity salience can inhibit personal affirmations at work from encouraging members of marginalized groups to demonstrate a deeper commitment to the organization and society.