The Moderating Effects of National Age Stereotyping on the Relationships between Job Satisfaction and its Determinants: A Study of Older Workers across 26 Countries

Abstract

This research explores how national age stereotypes impact older workers' job‐related perceptions by examining probability based samples across 26 countries taken from the European Social Survey. Multilevel data analysis was undertaken. Results show that, at the individual level, both extrinsic rewards and intrinsic rewards directly impact older workers' job satisfaction. At the country level, significant variations are found in the relationships between job satisfaction and related rewards for older workers across the 26 countries. Society's stereotypical views towards older people explained some of these cross‐country variations. This study contributes to extant literature by explicating the process by which society's age stereotypes and the meta‐stereotypes held by older workers affect how these workers make sense and take meaning out of their job‐related circumstances leading to enhanced or diminished job satisfaction. Implications highlight the need for management to be vigilant in identifying and dealing with age stereotypes in the workplace. Furthermore, managers need to be more aware of the potential harmful consequences arising from negative meta‐stereotypes and should implement strategies to tackle workplace stereotypes that would lead to negative meta‐stereotypes held by older workers.

Work Environment and the Origin of Ageism

“…In this perspective, ageism is attributed to cultural norms and attitudes prevalent in societies (Ayalon 2013). Shared values and norms have been shown to manifest themselves through prejudice and discrimination while shaping individual and organizational behaviour regarding ageism (Shiu et al 2015). The third perspective relates to the social sphere of work organizations/companies (meso level) which play a key role in age discrimination.…”

“…The cultural and political contexts or more generally speaking the 'institutional surroundings' in which employers operate (e.g. when hiring an older worker) are linked not only to the major changes in national level policies but also to experiences with and normative assumptions about older workers within their respective sectors/industries (Shiu et al 2015). Employers with a high share of older workers (50+ years) in their respective companies are more likely to report that older workers are less often sick than their younger counterparts, whereas management personnel from 'younger' companies do not share this perception (Stettes 2009).…”

Agisem in the European Region: Finding from the European Social Survey

“…The first described here, explored the extent to which competence and warmth moderate determinants of job satisfaction. Using data from Round 4 and 5 of the ESS, the research conducted by Shiu et al (2015) was primarily interested in exploring how extrinsic rewards (e.g. job security and opportunity for career advancement) and intrinsic rewards (e.g.…”

Age Work in Organizations: Maintaining and Disrupting Institutionalized Understandings of Higher Age

“…They are also portrayed as exceptionally committed to their organization or position, even beyond the work contract (Backes‐Gellner, Schneider and Veen, ; Posthuma and Campion, ). While such age stereotypes are widespread, they vary cross‐nationally with differing consequences on job satisfaction and inclusion of older workers (Shiu, Hassan and Parry, ). Nonetheless, literature on age diversity tends to treat age stereotypes and ageist behaviour as individual and/or interactional phenomena, broadly devoid of an account of their context‐specific embedding (Marcus and Fritzsche, ).…”

“…Age diversity studies provide manifold explanations for persisting age inequalities. Research on age stereotypes explains age discrimination at the workplace through ageist behaviour, yet seldom accounts for the broader context (Shiu, Hassan and Parry, 2015). Discourse-based age research predominantly focuses on identity work and acts of resistance (Riach, 2007;Riach, Rumens and Tyler, 2014) but less frequently on related management practices (Spedale, Coupland and Tempest, 2014).…”