Abstract
In this study we aim to analyze the combined effect of age-based and gender stereotype threat on work identity processes (and in particular on authenticity and organizational identification) and on work performance (self-rating performance). The research utilizes an ample sample of over fifty-year-old workers from diverse organizations in Italy. Using a person-centered approach four clusters of workers were identified: low in both age-based and gender stereotype threat (N = 4,689), high in gender and low in age-based stereotype threat (N = 1,735), high in age-based and low in gender stereotype threat (N = 2,013) and high in both gender and age-based stereotype threat (N = 758). Gender was significantly associated with these clusters and women were more frequently present in those groups with high gender stereotype threat. ANOVA results show that workers in the last two clusters score significantly lower in authenticity, organizational identification and self-rate performance. All in all, if ageism is undoubtedly problematic for older workers’ identity processes, ageism and gender-stereotypes represent a double risk for women over fifty in the workplace. The analysis of the results can be beneficial both for the theoretical advancement and for the practical insights offered in the organizational and management field, where new policies of HR management can be elaborated, in order to value and to improve the workers experience.
Highlights
Stereotypes are beliefs about the characteristics, attributes, and behaviors of members of certain groups that simplify cognitive processes and help people cope with the complexity of the world (Hilton and von Hippel, 1996)
From a theoretical point of view, our study aims to contribute to the understanding of the intertwined effects of age and gender stereotype threats in organizational contexts
We focused our attention on another dimension related to identity: authenticity
Summary
Stereotypes are beliefs about the characteristics, attributes, and behaviors of members of certain groups that simplify cognitive processes and help people cope with the complexity of the world (Hilton and von Hippel, 1996). These oversimplifications often affect how specific social groups are perceived, especially in the workplace. Discrimination is not the only negative effect of stereotype; a wealth of literature on the subject has shown that negative stereotypes are the basis of an insidious phenomenon, the so-called “stereotype threat.”.
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