1. Age, psychological contracts and job attitudes
Matthijs Bal
Management & Organization
VU University Amsterdam
The Netherlands
Annet de Lange (RUG) PhD
Paul Jansen (VU) PhD
Mandy van der Velde (UU) PhD
EAWOP 2007
Stockholm

2. Outline Psychological contracts
Age and relation with psychological contracts
Hypotheses
Study
Results and discussion

3. B A C K G R O U N D

4. Psychological contracts
Rousseau (1989): “The individual beliefs regarding the terms and conditions of a reciprocal exchange agreement between that focal person and another party.”
Perceived obligations
Obligation fulfillment

5. Age (1) Age is a proxy; not a causal variable
Loss: Health, cognitive abilities
Growth: Knowledge and experience

6. Age (2)
Lifespan theory (Baltes & Baltes, 1990; Carstensen et al., 1999):
maximizing gains (through knowledge) vs. minimizing losses (through prevention).
H1: Older workers perceive less obligations concerning knowledge than younger workers

7. Moderation of age
Older people better emotion regulation: quicker return to positive moods after negative events
Older people less negative affectivity
No differences in positive affectivity
H2: Age moderates relations fulfillment – attitudes. Younger employees stronger correlations for negative events, no differences in positive events.

8. Descriptives Study N=727 Insurance company 42% female
M age: years
Org. Tenure: 10.56; job tenure: 5.51
4 psychological contract factors measured:
Rewards
job content
job conditions
development

9. Note: N= 727;* p <.05; ** p <.01; *** p<.001
Results (1)
Variable
Rewards
Job content
Job conditions
Development
Age
.01
.02
-.00
-.17***
Control for job tenure, gender, work status, education
Adjusted R2
.03
.10
.00
.04
Note: N= 727;* p <.05; ** p <.01; *** p<.001

10. Results (2) Work engagement Affective commitment Turnover Intention
Control for age, job tenure, gender, work status, education
Psychological contract fulfillment
.42***
.34***
-.43***
Interactions:
Contract fulfillment * age
-.08*
-.02
.09*
Adjusted R2
.20
.16
Note: N= 727;* p <.05; ** p <.01; *** p<.001

11. Results: interactions

12. Discussion
Older workers see less organizational obligations concerning development.
Cognitive dissonance: not offered, thus not expected?

13. Discussion
Age plays a role in how psychological contracts shape attitudes and behavior: younger people respond with lower engagement, and higher turnover intention when psychological contracts are not fulfilled.
But not affective commitment…

14. Limitations Cross-sectional data: cohort differences Self-reports
Healthy worker effects and early retirement:
Few people >60
Thus:
Follow up study
Older samples

15. Older workers have lower expectations concerning development
Conclusions
Older workers have lower expectations concerning development
and
Older workers respond differently to organizational inducements compared to younger workers.

16. Questions? For more information: Matthijs Bal pbal@feweb.vu.nl