Precise Conclusions Regarding the Influence of Age Stereotypes Require Precise Operationalizations Thereof

Rudolph, Cort W.; Friedrich, Jack C.; Zacher, Hannes

doi:10.1093/workar/waab035

Cited by 4 publications

(3 citation statements)

References 12 publications

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“…Stronger perceived incongruity at the explicit level might have led to greater discrimination between the two applicants based on their age. This finding is particularly important because few studies to date have explicitly examined the relationship between age stereotypes and age discrimination (see Rudolph et al, 2022). Thus, findings regarding Hypothesis 3b help to address “the urgent need to sort out competing explanations for links between age and employment outcomes” (Murphy and DeNisi, 2022: 4).…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…In doing so, we directly link stereotype endorsement with evaluations of older and younger targets. This is of utmost importance because, so far, most studies in this field have merely inferred age discrimination by observing differences in personnel decisions based on applicant ages, rather than directly examining the potential influence of age stereotypes (see a recent call by Rudolph et al, 2022). Lastly, by investigating contact with older coworkers and contact with MWP, we aim to identify potential ways to reduce the modern-work-is-young stereotype.…”

mentioning

confidence: 99%

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Too old for modern work? An explicit and implicit measure of the modern-work-is-young stereotype

Drazic,

Schermuly

2023

German Journal of Human Resource Management: Zeitschrift für Pe

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With organizational practices such as working from home, agile project management, and shared leadership, the world of work is becoming increasingly dynamic and flexible. Simultaneously, the workforce in most industrialized nations is getting older. We hypothesized that both an explicit and implicit stereotype exists that associates modern work practices (MWP) more strongly with younger workers than with older workers (i.e. modern-work-is-young stereotype). With a focus on other-stereotyping, we surveyed participants who identified as younger or middle-aged workers ( N = 186). Based on the contact hypothesis, we assumed that contact to older coworkers and contact with MWP are negatively related to both explicit and implicit endorsement of the modern-work-is-young stereotype. Furthermore, we examined differences in résumé evaluations for a job involving MWP, presenting an older and a younger hypothetical applicant. The results indicate the existence of a moderate explicit as well as implicit modern-work-is-young stereotype. The proposed contact hypothesis held true for the explicit but not for the implicit modern-work-is-young stereotype. Lastly, the younger applicant received significantly more positive evaluations than the older applicant, and only the explicit modern-work-is-young stereotype predicted the extent of age discrimination. The results suggest that the explicit modern-work-is-young stereotype can harm older employees and hamper intergenerational collaboration. These findings are especially important in times of demographic change, when workforces are becoming increasingly age-heterogeneous and retaining older workers seems more important than ever.

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Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

mentioning

confidence: 99%

Too old for modern work? An explicit and implicit measure of the modern-work-is-young stereotype

Drazic,

Schermuly

2023

German Journal of Human Resource Management: Zeitschrift für Pe

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“…Moreover, Rudolph et al. (2022) have pointed out that few studies have actually measured stereotypes to link them to personnel decisions. Although the existence of conscious (explicit) and unconscious (implicit) stereotypes is well accepted in the social psychology literature, only one laboratory study (Zaniboni et al., 2019) has measured conscious and unconscious stereotypes and tried to link them to hiring decisions.…”

Section: Additional Research Streams On the Aging Workforce In Organi...mentioning

confidence: 99%

What's age got to do with it? A primer and review of the workplace aging literature

Beier

Kanfer

Kooij

et al. 2022

Personnel Psychology

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As populations in the United States and around the world continue to age, it has become increasingly important to understand how organizations can create working conditions that attract, support, and retain workers across the lifespan. In this paper, we provide a primer on current theory and research on age in the workplace. We briefly describe lifespan theories that have guided recent advances in the field, discuss the implications of these theories for an aging workforce, and provide an overview of current research streams that address the work and nonwork factors affecting performance, well-being, and workforce participation among mature workers. Based on this review, we provide recommendations for future research and practice.

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Making Progress in Age Stereotype Research

Murphy

DeNisi

2022

Work, Aging and Retirement

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Murphy and DeNisi’s review suggested that the links between age and personnel decisions in organizations were generally weak and inconsistent and, on this basis, suggested that the effects of age stereotypes on these decisions might not be large. Fourteen papers commented on the evidence and arguments offered by Murphy and DeNisi. In our response, we comment on three broad themes running though this set of papers. First, several papers challenged the description of age effects as small and argued that age stereotypes can have negative effects and that older workers can be disadvantaged in the workplace. We fully agree but note that the size of the effects shown in our review and in the research cited by these commentaries effectively rules out the hypothesis that age stereotypes are consistently and strongly negative and that they have large effects in personnel decisions. Second, both context factors and intersectionality are suggested as potential moderators of age stereotype effects. We believe that progress in this area requires the development of specific models of these effects, and we offer examples. Third, many papers highlighted the challenges in studying age stereotype effects, in particular the failure of many studies to measure the stereotypes held by decision makers or to rule out factors unrelated to age stereotypes. We thus offer suggestions for improving age stereotype research.

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Precise Conclusions Regarding the Influence of Age Stereotypes Require Precise Operationalizations Thereof

Cited by 4 publications

References 12 publications

Too old for modern work? An explicit and implicit measure of the modern-work-is-young stereotype

Too old for modern work? An explicit and implicit measure of the modern-work-is-young stereotype

What's age got to do with it? A primer and review of the workplace aging literature

Making Progress in Age Stereotype Research

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