Broadening the View of Workplace Ageism

Details

• Journal Article:
  Work, Aging and Retirement
• Personal Author:
  Petery, Gretchen A. ; Grosch, James W.
• Description:
  In their thought-provoking commentary, Murphy and DeNisi (2021) stated "the available evidence provides little support for the proposition that age stereotypes substantially affect high-stakes decisions made about individuals in organizations". Their narrow literature focus could leave the impression that age stereotypes are not complicit in actual personnel decisions. We respectfully disagree and contend there is ample evidence that a host of ageist beliefs operating at the societal, organizational, and individual levels are instrumental in actual workplace ageism (i.e., stereotyping, prejudice, or discrimination; Finkelstein et al., 2018), including personnel decisions. Moreover, the detrimental impact extends beyond the workplace. In this commentary, we argue for a need to expand beyond Murphy and DeNisi's (2021) narrow perspective and use a wider-angled lens to examine workplace ageism and its insidious effects. First, we provide evidence of a broader range of ageist beliefs that likely bias personnel decisions, and of actors involved in those decisions. Second, perceptions of the targets of workplace ageism are presented, providing a more comprehensive picture of the real-world impact workplace ageism has on workers. Third, we offer evidence of the harm workplace ageism inflicts at multiple levels (societal, organizational, and individual), beyond personnel decisions. Finally, we outline recommendations for future research. [Description provided by NIOSH]
• Subjects:
  Age Factors Ageism Aging Occupational Health Safety Workplace
• Keywords:
  Work organization; Age factors; Aging workforce; Psychological factors; Discrimination; Work environment
• Source:
  Work Aging Retire 2022 Oct; 8(4):379-382
• ISSN:
  2054-4650
• Pubmed ID:
  35923432
• Pubmed Central ID:
  PMC9344552
• Document Type:
  Text
• Funding:
  CC999999/ImCDC/Intramural CDC HHSUnited States/
• Genre:
  Journal Article
• Place as Subject:
  Ohio ; OSHA Region 5
• CIO:
  National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health (NIOSH)
• Division:
  DSI - Division of Science Integration
• Topic:
  Workplace Safety & Health
• Location:
  North America
• Pages in Document:
  8 pdf pages
• Volume:
  8
• Issue:
  4
• NIOSHTIC Number:
  nn:20065915
• Contact Point Address:
  Gretchen A. Petery, National Center for Productive Aging and Work, National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health, Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, 1090 Tusculum Ave., MS C-24, Cincinnati, OH 45226, USA
• Email:
  gpetery@cdc.gov
• Federal Fiscal Year:
  2023
• Peer Reviewed:
  True
• Collection(s):
  National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health CDC Public Access
• Main Document Checksum:
  urn:sha-512:c63bb07c6fb1a27c193533905c21afed021396ee0457297684b1f8bf264555dd82ab2fbabfb59cf61afd60e972d961a2c3284c6b3f019eb7c73b3f71eab0ca8f
• Download URL:
  https://stacks.cdc.gov/view/cdc/119959/cdc_119959_DS1.pdf
• File Type:
  [PDF - 301.49 KB ]