Was That Meant to be Personal? The Effects of Age Metastereotypes on Workability and Job Search Self-Efficacy.

Abstract

As today’s workplaces become increasingly age diverse (Page et al., 2024), interactions across different age groups have become more prevalent, leading to the emergence of age-related challenges such as ageism. Experiencing ageism may lead people to internalize age-related stereotypes, which can result in concerns about how others perceive their age group (Rothermund & de Paula Couto, 2024). This phenomenon is referred to as age metastereotypes (Vorauer et al., 1998; Finkelstein et al., 2015). Previous theorizing conducted by Finkelstein et al. (2015) indicates that people who possess age metastereotypes may experience a range of interpersonal outcomes, including feelings of threat or fear, and at other times, periods of increased confidence. Despite these findings, there is limited understanding of how holding certain age metastereotypes may influence intrapersonal outcomes. Accordingly, the present survey study examined the effects of age metastereotypes on intrapersonal outcomes, specifically a person’s perceived ability to fulfill their current job demands (i.e., workability) and their perceived capability in searching for a new job (i.e., job search self-efficacy) on a sample of 445 workers across various industries. Results revealed that negative age metastereotypes decreased job search self-efficacy while positive age metastereotypes lead to increases in job search self-efficacy and perceived workability. Additionally, workers of all ages who felt negatively age metastereotyped experienced stereotype threat, but especially older workers. However, spontaneous self-affirmation coping did not impact any of the stereotype threat relationships.