Older workers and poor performance: Examining the association of age stereotypes with expected work performance quality.
We investigated how age‐based worker stereotypes correspond with attributes of expected work performance. Participants (N = 220) rated 86 stereotypical descriptors of older (e.g., ‘resistant to change’) and younger workers (e.g., ‘savvy with technology’). Each descriptor was rated on both the extent...
| Main Authors: | , , , |
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| Format: | Journal Article |
| Published: |
Wiley-Blackwell
2020
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| Online Access: | http://purl.org/au-research/grants/arc/CE170100005 http://hdl.handle.net/20.500.11937/81221 |
| Summary: | We investigated how age‐based worker stereotypes correspond with attributes of expected work performance. Participants (N = 220) rated 86 stereotypical descriptors of older (e.g., ‘resistant to change’) and younger workers (e.g., ‘savvy with technology’). Each descriptor was rated on both the extent that it was a common stereotype about younger (vs. older) workers, and characteristic of good (vs. poor) expected work performance. Ratings revealed stereotypes that were strongly associated with both a worker age group and with work performance quality, offering an explanatory mechanism for how candidates’ ages might influence judgments around personnel selection. A table of the paired age/performance ratings is provided to encourage the development of less age‐biased recruitment and selection materials. |
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