The Longitudinal Effects of Perceived Age Discrimination on the Job Satisfaction and Work Withdrawal of Older Employees

Abstract

Age discrimination directed at older employees is likely to become a more salient issue in the face of aging workforces across the globe. To date, the only evidence of a negative effect of age discrimination perceived by older workers on important work attitudes and behavior has been cross-sectional. We present results from two 3-wave longitudinal studies of differing time lags demonstrating the direct negative effect of perceived discrimination directed at older workers on both job satisfaction and actual job withdrawal but not on actual retirement. This effect was not different for time lags of 3 weeks and 1 year, although over the short time lag there was evidence of a significant reciprocal effect between job satisfaction and perceived age discrimination that was not evident over longer periods. The theoretical, empirical, and practical implications of these findings are discussed.