Future time perspective and promotion focus as determinants of intraindividual change in work motivation.

Abstract

In the near future, workforces will increasingly consist of older workers. At the same time, research has demonstrated that work-related growth motives decrease with age.Although this finding is consistent with life span theories, such as the Selection Optimization and Compensation model, we know relatively little about the process variables that bring about this change in work motivation. Therefore, we use a four-wave study design to examine the mediating role of future time perspective and promotion focus in the negative association between age and work-related growth motives. Consistent with the SOC model, we found that future time perspective was negatively associated with age, which in turn was associated with lower promotion focus, lower work-related growth motive strength, and lower motivation to continue working. These findings have important theoretical implications for the literature on aging and work motivation and practical implications for how to motivate older workers.

The influence of future time perspective on work engagement and job performance: the role of job crafting

“…Promotion focus refers to a focus on gains and approach as a strategic means. As such, a promotion focus induces growth-related approach behaviour, such as increasing learning experiences (Kooij et al, 2014). Thus, open-ended FTP, which is positively associated with promotion focus, should go hand in hand with proactive behaviours that expand one's knowledge and abilities.…”

“…Because employees with an open-ended FTP focus on long-term knowledge acquisition and attach high importance to growth and challenge at work (Kooij & Van de Voorde, 2011), they are likely to craft their jobs in ways that provide them with opportunities to develop themselves and to expand their breadth of knowledge. Similarly, open-ended FTP has been associated with a promotion focus (Zacher & de Lange, 2011;Kooij et al, 2014). Higgins (1997) distinguished promotion and prevention focus as two distinct types of self-regulation that people use to reach their goals.…”

“…Similarly, Seijts (1998) and Zacher et al (2010) argue that FTP is an important factor in the work setting that influences work motivation and performance. Although Carstensen (1995, Lang & Carstensen, 2002 treats FTP as a unidimensional construct, multiple researchers (e.g., Kooij et al, 2014;Marko & Savickas, 1998;Seijts, 1998) acknowledge that FTP is a multidimensional construct, consisting of open-ended and limited FTP. For example, Cate and John (2007) proposed and found a difference between a focus on opportunities, which is similar to openended FTP, and a focus on limitations, which is similar to limited FTP.…”

“…Second, we contribute to SST (Carstensen, 1995) by examining the potential behavioural consequences of FTP in the work context. Particularly in the literature on ageing at work, many studies focus on the role of FTP in retaining or motivating (older) workers (e.g., Kooij, Bal, & Kanfer, 2014). Although these studies demonstrate the important role of FTP in explaining age-related changes in motivation and performance (Kooij, De Lange, Jansen, & Dikkers, 2013;Zacher, Heusner, Schmitz, Zwierzanska, & Frese, 2010), and in eliciting work engagement (Schmitt, Zacher, & de Lange, 2013), they do not focus on the potential behavioural consequences of FTP.…”

Workplace Flexibility across the Lifespan

“…While people generally experience a loss in fluid intellectual abilities, they also experience growth in crystallized intellectual abilities (i.e., experiential knowledge). In addition to these (classic) changes associated with age, they also pointed towards the role of reorganization of goals, including a shift from knowledge-related goals towards emotional goals when people become older and experience time as running out (Kanfer & Ackerman, 2004;Kooij, Bal, & Kanfer, 2014). Moreover, people also may perceive an exchange of primacy of motives during the aging process, that is, some motives (such as achievement striving) are exchanged for other motives during late adulthood (such as generativity).…”