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1 – 10 of 118Eduardo Oliveira and Carlos Cabral-Cardoso
The purpose of this paper is to examine the extent to which negative age-based metastereotypes mediate the relationship between the representation of older workers and two forms…
Abstract
Purpose
The purpose of this paper is to examine the extent to which negative age-based metastereotypes mediate the relationship between the representation of older workers and two forms of stereotype threat in the workplace: own-reputation and group-reputation. Adopting a social identity perspective, this paper also explores whether age diversity beliefs moderate the relationship between negative age-based metastereotypes and stereotype threats.
Design/methodology/approach
A cross-sectional design was adopted with bootstrapped mediation and moderation analyses. The data were collected from 567 older workers working in 15 manufacturing companies.
Findings
The analyses provide support for partial mediation and for a moderation effect of age diversity beliefs in the relationship between negative age-based metastereotypes and own-reputation threat. The results hold while controlling for age, objective organizational age diversity, and organizational tenure.
Research limitations/implications
The limitations of this study include its cross-sectional nature and the need for further work regarding older workers’ metastereotypes about middle-aged workers.
Practical implications
For stereotype threat interventions to be effective they must identify beforehand the target and the source of the threat. Moreover, interventions should aim for the development of a sense of identity on the organization as it may pave the way for members of different age groups to build bonds and for intergenerational boundaries to be blurred.
Originality/value
This paper contributes to the literature by showing the importance of negative age-based metastereotypes in workplace age dynamics. It also provides further support for a multi-threat approach to the experience of age-based stereotype threats in the workplace.
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Eduardo Oliveira and Carlos Cabral Cardoso
Taking a social identity approach, the purpose of this paper is to examine the extent to which age-based stereotype threat mediates the relationships between older workers’…
Abstract
Purpose
Taking a social identity approach, the purpose of this paper is to examine the extent to which age-based stereotype threat mediates the relationships between older workers’ negative age-based metastereotypes and two negative work attitudes: organizational disidentification and work disengagement.
Design/methodology/approach
A two-wave cross-sectional design was adopted to collect data from 423 blue-collar older workers of the Portuguese manufacturing sector. Structural equation modeling was used to test the mediation model.
Findings
The analyses show that age-based stereotype threat partially mediates the relationship between negative age-based metastereotypes and negative work attitudes. Moreover, findings suggest that older workers respond to negative age-based metastereotypes through threat reactions, and undesirable work attitudes.
Originality/value
This paper contributes to the literature by showing the importance of negative age-based metastereotypes and age-based stereotype threat in workplace dynamics. It also provides evidence that age threats impair the relationship older workers keep with their organization and their work.
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Kate Westberg, Mike Reid and Foula Kopanidis
This study aims to use the lens of the stereotype threat theory to explore older consumers’ age identity and experiences with service providers.
Abstract
Purpose
This study aims to use the lens of the stereotype threat theory to explore older consumers’ age identity and experiences with service providers.
Design/methodology/approach
This study used semi-structured interviews with Australian consumers aged between 55 and 69. Data were examined using thematic analysis.
Findings
Older consumers justify a younger cognitive age by distancing themselves from the negative stereotypes associated with ageing and by associating themselves with attitudes and behaviours consistent with a younger age identity. Older consumers are confronted with age-based stereotype threats in a services context through four practices. Exposure to these threats results in service failure and can have a negative impact on both consumers’ ability to function effectively as consumers and their overall well-being.
Research limitations/implications
A more diverse sample is required to identify the extent to which age-based stereotype threats are experienced and which services marketing practices have the most detrimental impact on older consumers.
Practical implications
The findings provide insight for services marketers seeking to effectively cater for older consumers and have implications for service staff training, service technology and communications.
Social implications
The findings have implications for the well-being of older consumers in terms of their self-efficacy and self-esteem as well as their ability to function effectively as consumers.
Originality/value
This study contributes to the nascent understanding of older consumers’ experiences and their expectations of service interactions and advertising communication. The findings also extend the literature on service failure by demonstrating how age-based stereotypes threaten age identity, resulting in a negative customer experience.
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Sharon-Marie Gillooley, Sheilagh Mary Resnick, Tony Woodall and Seamus Allison
This study aims to examine the phenomenon of self-perceived age (SPA) identity for Generation X (GenX) women in the UK. Squeezed between the more ubiquitous “boomer” and…
Abstract
Purpose
This study aims to examine the phenomenon of self-perceived age (SPA) identity for Generation X (GenX) women in the UK. Squeezed between the more ubiquitous “boomer” and “millennial” cohorts, and now with both gender and age stigma-related challenges, this study looks to provide insights for understanding this group for marketing.
Design/methodology/approach
This study adopts an existential phenomenological approach using a hybrid structured/hermeneutic research design. Data is collected using solicited diary research (SDR) that elicits autoethnographic insights into the lived experiences of GenX women, these in the context of SPA.
Findings
For this group, the authors find age a gendered phenomenon represented via seven “age frames”, collectively an “organisation of experience”. Age identity appears not to have unified meaning but is contingent upon individuals and their experiences. These frames then provide further insights into how diarists react to the stigma of gendered ageism.
Research limitations/implications
SDR appeals to participants who like completing diaries and are motivated by the research topic. This limits both diversity of response and sample size, but coincidentally enhances elicitation potential – outweighing, the authors believe, these constraints. The sample comprises UK women only.
Practical implications
This study acknowledges GenX women as socially real, but from an SPA perspective they are heterogeneous, and consequently distributed across many segments. Here, age is a psychographic, not demographic, variable – a subjective rather than chronological condition requiring a nuanced response from marketers.
Originality/value
To the best of the authors’ knowledge, this is the first formal study into how SPA identity is manifested for GenX women. Methodologically, this study uses e-journals/diaries, an approach not yet fully exploited in marketing research.
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Amitabh Anand, Liji James, Aparna Varma and Manoranjan Dhal
Ageism has deleteriously influenced individuals and society for nearly half a century. Despite receiving increased attention, it remains under-researched regarding how it might be…
Abstract
Purpose
Ageism has deleteriously influenced individuals and society for nearly half a century. Despite receiving increased attention, it remains under-researched regarding how it might be reduced in the workplace. Even though its prevalence and allure, review studies on workplace ageism (WA) are also scarce, and thus a review is warranted.
Design/methodology/approach
To fill the preceding void, this study will systematically review the existing literature on WA using data from the past four decades.
Findings
This study identified the various antecedents and the intervention mechanism through which WA may be reduced. Additionally, through reviews, the authors advance the research by offering promising avenues for future research.
Originality/value
This review contributes to human resources managers and will inspire future scholars to delve deeper into combating age discrimination, stereotypes and bias toward employees in workplaces.
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Mohammed El Hazzouri, Sergio W. Carvalho and Kelley Main
This study aims to introduce the concept of dissociative threat, which is the fear of being associated with an undesirable (dissociative) group as a result of demonstrating…
Abstract
Purpose
This study aims to introduce the concept of dissociative threat, which is the fear of being associated with an undesirable (dissociative) group as a result of demonstrating ability in a domain that is stereotypically linked to that group. Consumers experiencing dissociative threats use inability signaling as a self-presentational strategy in which they present themselves as lacking ability in the dissociative domain.
Design/methodology/approach
Five experimental studies were conducted to test whether consumers experience threat in dissociative domains and to examine factors that influence this threat.
Findings
Results showed that dissociative threat adversely affects consumers’ performance at tasks that require using products linked to dissociative groups. Threatened participants reported intentions to perform poorly and train for a longer time in preparation for such tasks, thus signaling low ability in dissociative domains. Additionally, when participants who were experiencing dissociative threats received confirmation that they lacked ability in that domain, their performance at these tasks improved.
Research limitations/implications
This study expands the knowledge on strategies, including inability signaling, that consumers use to avoid being linked to dissociative groups.
Practical implications
The findings suggest to marketers that stereotypes that link their products to certain consumer segments can threaten other consumers. Factors that shape and alleviate this threat are identified, which may help companies who are marketing such products.
Originality/value
This study extends the current understanding of stereotype threat and proposes a new self-presentational strategy, that has not been documented yet in the literature (i.e. inability signaling), that consumers use to deal with the dissociative threat.
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Drawing on social exchange theory and socio-emotional selectivity theory, this paper examines the role of occupational future time perspective (OFTP) in the relationship between…
Abstract
Purpose
Drawing on social exchange theory and socio-emotional selectivity theory, this paper examines the role of occupational future time perspective (OFTP) in the relationship between age-inclusive HR practices (AIHRP) and the thriving of older workers.
Design/methodology/approach
A two-wave cross-sectional design was adopted with bootstrapped parallel multiple mediation analyses. In addition, polynomial regression with response surface analysis was used to examine the extent to which combinations of focus on opportunities and remaining time relate to thriving at work. Data were collected from 310 older workers working in 13 companies located in Portugal.
Findings
AIHRP have direct effects on OFTP dimensions (i.e. focus on opportunities and remaining time), and indirect effects on the two thriving dimensions (i.e. learning and vitality) via focus on opportunities. The positive relationship between AIHRP and learning was mediated by remaining time, while no significant mediating effect on vitality through remaining time was found. Additionally, surface analysis showed that overall thriving and learning increase more sharply when focus on opportunities is higher than remaining time, rather than vice versa.
Originality/value
This paper contributes to the literature by showing the importance of personal resources like OFTP in the relationship between AIHRP and the thriving of older workers. It also provides further support for the distinctiveness of the two OFTP dimensions as remaining time was not linked to vitality, whereas focus on opportunities was linked to both thriving dimensions.
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Thomas George, Michael Toze, Mo Ray and Owen Clayton
To explore the use of fictitious vignettes representing older people and the extent to which they serve as an effective resource in developing service provision and transforming…
Abstract
Purpose
To explore the use of fictitious vignettes representing older people and the extent to which they serve as an effective resource in developing service provision and transforming health and social care.
Design/methodology/approach
Based on a critical review of research and academic discourse.
Findings
Fictitious vignettes or case studies of older adults, such as “Mrs Smith”, may be a useful means to promote communication with and between health and social care colleagues about current services and transforming or re-organising service provision. However, we argue that while there may be a role for vignettes, care should be taken in their use. The potential to “homogenise” older people into the “typical” patient personified by Mrs Smith may do very little to challenge age- based stereotypes and assumptions. Moreover, vignettes cannot match the potential value and importance of older men and women directly participating in the evaluation and development of services.
Practical implications
This article argues that changing the way services are organised and delivered must be underpinned by critical reflection of the assumptions which underpin attitudes towards old age, including our tendency to define older people by chronological age and to homogenise “the elderly” into a single group. The value of participatory methods which meaningfully involve older citizens in both evaluating and planning services could contribute significantly to innovation in service development.
Social implications
This paper highlights the critical importance of challenging age-based stereotypes and ageist policy and practice. Recognising old age as being characterised by diversity and difference could challenge the tendency to see old age, especially advanced old age, as an inevitable problem.
Originality/value
This article offers a critical perspective on the use of vignettes.
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Katherine M. Ryan, Eden B. King and Lisa M. Finkelstein
– The purpose of this paper is to examine the influence of age-related stereotyping processes on younger workers’ mood, attitudes, and impression management behaviors at work.
Abstract
Purpose
The purpose of this paper is to examine the influence of age-related stereotyping processes on younger workers’ mood, attitudes, and impression management behaviors at work.
Design/methodology/approach
Using survey data from 281 younger workers, the hypothesized model was tested using structural equation modeling.
Findings
As younger workers are more self-conscious about being age stereotyped, they are less likely to be satisfied with older co-workers, which is partly explained by negative mood associated with that metastereotype consciousness. Also, chronological age, age-group identification, and age prejudice, were critical influences on the emergence of metastereotype consciousness.
Research limitations/implications
Unexpected findings point to: experiences of younger workers which may not follow the same patterns found with older groups and unique operation of age as a dynamic social category that may not parallel findings regarding other social categories.
Practical implications
There is clearly potential for younger workers to be concerned they are viewed “stereotypically” and this metastereotype consciousness influences how they feel, think, and behave at work. Organizations should be aware of the potential antecedents and consequences, as well as the nature of metastereotypic perceptions, to better facilitate positive and productive interactions across age groups at work.
Originality/value
This research contributes to an understanding of younger workers’ experiences at work, highlights the role of mood in the operation of metastereotypes on attitudes and behaviors in age-diverse contexts, and improves our understanding of social biases and inequality associated with age-based groups.
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Regina Yanson, Jessica M. Doucet and Alysa D. Lambert
The purpose of this study is to explore the relationship between employee age and intimidation in the workplace. Dysfunctional employee behaviors such as harassment and…
Abstract
Purpose
The purpose of this study is to explore the relationship between employee age and intimidation in the workplace. Dysfunctional employee behaviors such as harassment and aggression are harmful to the organizational work environment. Such destructive behaviors have long been viewed as negatively impacting organizational success. Additionally, the age dynamics in organizations are rapidly changing as the “graying of America” progresses, older workers remain in the workforce and younger workers delay employment.
Design/methodology/approach
The study utilizes data from the Federal Bureau of Investigation's National Incident-Based Reporting System (NIBRS), which is a national database containing information on crime in the US.NIBRS was used to measure the occurrence of workplace violence overall, and workplace intimidation specifically, in the restaurant industry, as well as the ages of both victims and perpetrators of work-related violence.
Findings
Results revealed that younger workers are more likely to perpetrate workplace intimidation than their senior counterparts. As victim age increases, employees are more likely to report intimidation than more serious crimes.
Practical implications
Workplace intimidation prevention programs do not typically include age as a factor. This study may be helpful to managers and HR managers charged with developing workplace training programs.
Originality/value
The results of this study contribute to the shared understanding of dysfunctional workplace dynamics. As the workforce collectively ages, organizations should acknowledge the potential impact age may have on violence in the workplace.
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