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Understanding language barrier: how employee language anxiety impacts employee innovative performance

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Abstract

This study investigates the link between employee language anxiety and innovative performance, with a focus on the mediating role of negative emotions and the moderating role of top management support. Grounded in affective event theory (AET), data was collected from 341 employees working in Chinese multinational corporations (MNCs) using convenience sampling. The study employed Hayes PROCESS models to test the proposed hypotheses. The findings reveal a negative association between employee language anxiety and innovative performance, indicating that higher levels of language anxiety hinder employees' ability to demonstrate innovative performance. Additionally, negative emotions were identified as a mediator in this relationship, suggesting that experiencing negative emotions acts as a pathway through which language anxiety reduces innovative performance. The results highlight the importance of top management support as a critical factor in influencing the indirect association between employee language anxiety and innovative performance via negative emotions. Specifically, when employees perceive strong support from top management, the detrimental impact of language anxiety on innovative performance is mitigated due to reduced emotional strain. These findings provide valuable insights for organizations aiming to enhance employee innovation by addressing language anxiety and fostering a supportive work environment.

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Funding

This work was sponsored in part by the fund of Sichuan Provincial Department of education to research and optimize the innovation and entrepreneurship education system (JG2018-930).

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. The Engineering &Technical College of Chengdu University of Technology, Leshan, 614000, China

    Yulin Xia & Jian Tang

  2. School of Economics and law, University of Science and Technology Liaoning, Anshan, 114051, Liaoning, China

    Xiaoyan Wei

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  1. Yulin Xia
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Correspondence to Xiaoyan Wei.

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The Research Committee of University of Science and Technology Liaoning, Anshan 114051, Liaoning, China, approved this research following the international ethical standards, Helsinki Declaration 1964 and its amendments.

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Xia, Y., Wei, X. & Tang, J. Understanding language barrier: how employee language anxiety impacts employee innovative performance. Curr Psychol 43, 11804–11815 (2024). https://doi.org/10.1007/s12144-023-05292-8

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