Stereotype threat and older worker’s attitudes: a mediation model

Published date05 February 2018
DOIhttps://doi.org/10.1108/PR-11-2016-0306
Date05 February 2018
Pages187-205
AuthorEduardo Oliveira,Carlos Cabral Cardoso
Subject MatterHR & organizational behaviour,Global HRM
Stereotype threat and older
workers attitudes: a
mediation model
Eduardo Oliveira
CEDH Centro de Estudos em Desenvolvimento Humano,
Faculdade de Educação e Psicologia, Universidade Católica Portuguesa,
Porto, Portugal, and
Carlos Cabral Cardoso
Faculty of Economics, University of Porto, Porto, Portugal
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 workersnegative 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 showthat age-based stereotype threat partially mediates the relationship between
negativeage-based metastereotypes and negativework attitudes. Moreover,findings suggestthat 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.
Keywords Quantitative, Age-based stereotype threat, Negative age-based metastereotypes,
Organizational disidentification, Work disengagement
Paper type Research paper
Introduction
In recent few years, declining fertility rates and an increased life expectancy are
reversing the EU-28 age pyramid leading to a growing relative weight of older people
(Boehm et al., 2014). As more older people are available to work, older workers become a
relevant segment of todays workforce (Kulik, 2014a), but higher employment participation
rates of older workers take place at a time of increasing competitive and financial pressures
driven by globalization and the growing use of information and communication
technologies. Several studies have found that older workers were particularly hit by this
process and make the most vulnerable group to the effects of obsolescence, the continuous
organizational change and job insecurity (e.g. White and Smeaton, 2016) suggesting that
their work situation is moving in an unfavorable direction (White, 2012). Older workers were
found to be enduring more pressured within working environments and losing out
financially relative to younger employees (Smeaton and White, 2017), a context prone to
older workersdisenchantment and deteriorating social and employment relations
(White, 2012). Moreover, there is evidence of declining organizational commitment and
overall job attitudes of older workers, relative to younger ones (White, 2012; White and
Smeaton, 2016), which is likely to weaken the older workersposition, and challenge their
self-confidence and psychological empowerment, ultimately leading them to consider
retirement (Schermuly et al., 2017) or risk being relegated to lower-quality jobs. On the other
hand, perceived discrimination toward older workers was found to be negatively associated
with the desired retirement age (Schermuly et al., 2014), and positively with the intention to
Personnel Review
Vol. 47 No. 1, 2018
pp. 187-205
© Emerald PublishingLimited
0048-3486
DOI 10.1108/PR-11-2016-0306
Received 22 November 2016
Revised 16 June 2017
31 August 2017
Accepted 9 September 2017
The current issue and full text archive of this journal is available on Emerald Insight at:
www.emeraldinsight.com/0048-3486.htm
187
Older workers
attitudes
retire (Snape and Redman, 2003). In other words, ageist workplaces represent a serious
challenge to human resource management (HRM) efforts to retain older workers and to elicit
their performance and well-being (Kooij et al., 2013), particularly in a context of prevalent
performance-related HRM practices. The shift toward the effort-reward relationship in HRM
does not preclude management discretion in performance assessment. Despite the extensive
provision of performance indicators, performance measures inevitably rely on the managers
own subjective assessments and perceptions of the characteristics of older workers, making
them permeable to their own stereotypes of older workers (Principi et al., 2015).
In the current ageist work environment, negative stereotypes about older workers are
widespread and may present several challenges to their targets (Posthuma and Campion, 2009).
Supervisors, for instance, were foundto often hold stereotypical viewson older workers, which
might lead to discrimination in promotion or training decisions (Maurer et al.,2003),andthereis
evidence that the managersagemoderatestheagestereotypesthatmanagersholdabout
workers, in that managers have a more positive attitude toward workers of similar age,
concludedPrincipi et al. (2015, p. 816). Yet, despite these recent contributions, it is apparent that
much of the literature on HR policies and practices for older workers remains atheoretical and
prescriptive in nature(Kooij et al., 2014, p. 2195) and not much is known about the way
HR managers cope with an aging workforce and the actual policies and practices adopted to
tackle this problem.
Negative workplace stereotypes about older workers may not only prevent older workers
from getting fully engaged at work and identified with the organization but also foster
intergenerational tensions (North and Fiske, 2015). Those tensions are likely to be intensified in
ageist work settings marked by negative beliefs about what other age groups think of ones
ingroup, a belief best described as negative age-based metastereotypes (Finkelstein et al., 2015).
Moreover, older workers awareness of negative beliefs about their age group may raise concerns
of being stigmatized nurturing their stereotype threat experience (Kulik et al., 2016; Roberson
and Kulik, 2007; Walton et al., 2015). When that is the case, age threats in the organizational
environment are more likely to be perceived by older workers as a work stressor rather than a
challenge (Dijkstra and Homan, 2016), and thus these workerswell-being and performance may
be at risk. Taking into consideration the wide range of negative age stereotypes about older
workers (Posthuma and Campion, 2009) and the graying of the workforce (Kulik, 2014a), it is
admitted that age-based stereotype threat is likely to be part of many olderworkersexperiences
(Kalokerinos et al., 2014). Stereotype threat is best understood as the concern that others might
judge oneself on the basis of a negative stereotype about onesingroup(Steeleet al., 2002).
The mainstream stereotype threat research has mainly examined performance decrements in
the lab context, but some field-based studies conducted in workplace settings have examined the
relationship between stereotype threat and job attitudes such as job satisfaction and
organizational commitment, turnover intentions (von Hippel et al., 2013), as well as workers
burnout and engagement (Bedyńska and Żołnierczyk-Zreda, 2015). Stereotype threat theory has
also suggested that threat is associated with the arousal of individual coping mechanisms, like
disengagement and disidentification from the stereotyped domain (Steele et al., 2002). Given that
job withdrawal behaviors (e.g. absenteeism) arise on the basis of psychological withdrawal
responses, understanding the work disengagement process is particularly important
(Block et al.,2011).Furthermore,prolonged stereotype threat experience may cause chronic
disengagement from threatening activities, and given its recursive nature, it may pave the way
for long-term consequences such as disidentification as stereotyped workers are likely to feel
that their organization does not value their contribution. Briefly, work disengagement and
organizational disidentification are relevant issues for researchers and managers who strive to
include identity-based approaches in their age diversity management strategy. It is ther efore
imperative to analyze antecedents and attitudinal outcomes of age-based stereotype threat in the
workplace, as it may affect older workers well-being.
188
PR
47,1

To continue reading

Request your trial

VLEX uses login cookies to provide you with a better browsing experience. If you click on 'Accept' or continue browsing this site we consider that you accept our cookie policy. ACCEPT