Age Diversity Climate Affecting Individual-Level Work-Related Outcomes.

Sara Zaniboni,Stefano Toderi,Cristian Balducci,Lara Bellotti,Luca Menghini,David M Cadiz

doi:10.3390/ijerph19053041

Abstract

The present study answers the call for more studies to investigate the age diversity climate’s effect on individual-level outcomes. Building on the social identity approach and social exchange theory, we surveyed 110 Italian employees aged between 18 and 61 years old (M = 46.10, SD = 10.02) and investigated the role of age diversity climate in predicting intentions to quit (H1), job-related wellbeing (H2), and work engagement (H3). Our findings confirmed the hypotheses (H1 and H2), showing the added effect of age diversity climate over and above age, job tenure, role clarity, job demands, job control, perceived support, and perceived job and organizational fit. In fact, age diversity climate accounted for a significant increase in the variance explained for two of the three hypothesized models (i.e., intentions to quit and job-related wellbeing, but not work engagement). To conclude, this study contributes to the existing literature by showing the age diversity climate’s predictive value for turnover intentions and job-related wellbeing, and corroborating the importance of supporting age diversity through a variety of Human Resources Management strategies.

Highlights

Based on the social identity approach and on the social exchange theory, the present study aims to evaluate the role of age diversity climate as a key predictor of workers’ wellbeing, engagement, and turnover intentions
Hypothesis 1 (H1) was supported because we observed a significant negative relationship between age diversity climate and intentions to quit (β = −0.38, p = 0.03), and there was a 4% change in R2 associated with the inclusion of age diversity climate in the model, F (9, 100) = 2.05
The purpose of this study was to evaluate the role of age diversity climate as a predictor of individuals’ job-related wellbeing, turnover intentions, and work engagement, compared to other individual and contextual variables

Summary

Introduction

A significant factor of the increasing age diversity is that more people are working later into their lives. Most Western industrialized societies have been increasing the retirement age to qualify for pensions, extending people’s working life [1]. Diversity refers to those visible (e.g., age, gender) or invisible (e.g., sexual orientation) characteristics of employees that can either be a resource or an obstacle to the achievement of today’s organizational goals of competitiveness and performance [3,4]. Accumulating research in the field of age at work indicate that a potential obstacle stemming from increased age diversity within the workplace is the rise of age prejudice and age discrimination [1,5–8]. Research supports that the emergence of positive or negative effects of diversity largely depends on the workplace practices that encourage or devalue certain personal characteristics (e.g., age) [4,9]

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Conclusion