Explaining Chronological and Subjective Age Differences in Job Satisfaction

Understanding the relationship between age and work attitudes is widely recognized as crucial for organizational success (Glass, 2007; Greller & Stroh, 1995; Kanfer & Ackerman, 2004). Our need for this information is emphasized by recent demographic trends. Workers over 40 years of age currently dominate the North American workforce (Bureau of Labor Statistics, 2002; Fullerton, 1999) and labor force participation among workers over 50 is reported to be up 32% from the previous decade (Conlin, 2003). Although it is widely recognized that aging workers are valuable human capital (Fullerton, 1999), concerns about how to manage aging workers are widespread (Cloutier, Lefebvre, Ledoux, Chatigny, & St-Jacques, 2002; Crampton, Hodge, & Mishra, 1996; Critchley, 2004; DeLong, 2004). Starting from the premise that age provides temporal and social benchmarks for self-assessment (Lawrence, 1987, 1988), empirical studies have demonstrated that age measures account for significant variance in important work outcomes such as job satisfaction and organizational commitment (Cleveland & Shore, 1992). Generally, past studies of the relationship between age and job satisfaction report that older workers are more satisfied with their jobs than are younger workers (e.g., Kalleberg & Loscocco, 1983; Rhodes, 1983; Wright & Hamilton, 1978). However, work attitudes evolve over time and current workplace demographics call for more research to update and increase our knowledge about the relationship between age and important work attitudes.