Abstract
This study looked at how team-level processes (communication) affected
team-level outcomes (participation in decision making and team creativity)
and individual-level outcomes (stress and satisfaction) for Chinese people
who used either their native language or a foreign language, Japanese, in taskrelated
team settings. An experimental study was conducted with a sample of
54 teams of Chinese students (N = 222) majoring in the Japanese language. All
participants were randomly assigned to either the control group (native language
condition) or the experimental group (foreign language condition). The
results indicated that the use of a foreign language in team situations tended to
lead to lower communication and participation in decision making at the team
level, and higher stress and lower satisfaction at the individual level. Moreover,
we found that communication mediated the relationships between language
and the two team-level outcomes; and member stress mediated the relationship
between language and member satisfaction. Cross-level moderating effects of
team-level participation in decision making on the individual-level relationship
between foreign language and individual outcomes were also found. Specifically,
the positive (negative) effect of using a foreign language on stress (satisfaction)
became more pronounced as the level of participation in decision making
increased.
