Hostname: page-component-f554764f5-nwwvg Total loading time: 0 Render date: 2025-04-19T03:01:50.181Z Has data issue: false hasContentIssue false
  • English
  • Français

Worker-related ageism: a systematic review of empirical research

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  25 October 2021

Maria Manuela Jacob Cebola Open the ORCID record for Maria Manuela Jacob Cebola [Opens in a new window] ,
Nuno Rebelo dos Santos Open the ORCID record for Nuno Rebelo dos Santos [Opens in a new window]  and
Andreia Dionísio Open the ORCID record for Andreia Dionísio [Opens in a new window]
Maria Manuela Jacob Cebola*
Affiliation:
CEFAGE, Escola de Ciências Sociais, Universidade de Évora, Évora, Portugal
Nuno Rebelo dos Santos
Affiliation:
Departamento de Psicologia, Escola de Ciências Sociais, Universidade de Évora, Évora, Portugal
Andreia Dionísio
Affiliation:
CEFAGE, Escola de Ciências Sociais, Universidade de Évora, Évora, Portugal
*
*Corresponding author. Email: [email protected]
Get access Rights & Permissions [Opens in a new window]

Abstract

With the demographic and workforce ageing, ageism has been reflected in the work context. Ageism can be defined as stereotypes, prejudice and/or age-based discrimination. It is a form of devaluation and non-inclusion of workers, which materialises in a decent work deficit. It affects workers and organisations. The present literature review aims to provide a comprehensive and accurate picture of empirical research on worker-related ageism. We searched the word ageism in the title or abstract of articles indexed in the EBSCOhost and Web of Science. Fifty-eight peer-reviewed articles were retrieved (March 2020). Some of these articles report more than one empirical study. Thirty-two articles include quantitative design studies, 20 qualitative design, three mixed methods, two experimental and three instrument development and/or validation. The focus of the studies is mostly about negative ageism on older workers. The main findings present several facets of ageism and show different experiences, whether implicit or explicit. Ageism acts in a plurality of aspects, such as obstacles in the hiring process, employability and performance evaluation of older workers. We found research gaps such as determinants and interventions aiming at ageism prevention and proposed corresponding future research.

Keywords

ageismworkersemployeesworkplaceworkforcelabour market
Type
Article
Information
Ageing & Society , Volume 43 , Issue 8 , August 2023 , pp. 1882 - 1914
Copyright
Copyright © The Author(s), 2021. Published by Cambridge University Press

Access options

Get access to the full version of this content by using one of the access options below. (Log in options will check for institutional or personal access. Content may require purchase if you do not have access.)

Article purchase

Temporarily unavailable

References

Ahmed, AM, Andersson, L and Hammarstedt, M (2012) Does age matter for employability? A field experiment on ageism in the Swedish labour market. Applied Economics Letters 19, 403–406.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Allen, MW, Armstrong, DJ, Riemenschneider, CK and Reid, MF (2006) Making sense of the barriers women face in the information technology work force: standpoint theory, self-disclosure, and causal maps. Sex Roles 54, 831–844.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Amorim, W, Fischer, A and Fevorini, FB (2019) Workers age 50 and over in the Brazilian labor market: is there ageism? Revista de Gestão 26, 161–179.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Bowman, D, McGann, M, Kimberley, H and Biggs, S (2017) ‘Rusty, invisible and threatening’: ageing, capital and employability. Work, Employment and Society 31, 465–482.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Bratt, C, Abrams, D, Swift, HJ, Vauclair, CM and Marques, S (2018) Perceived age discrimination across age in Europe: from an ageing society to a society for all ages. Developmental Psychology 54, 167–180.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Brodmerkel, S and Barker, R (2019) Hitting the ‘glass wall’: investigating everyday ageism in the advertising industry. The Sociological Review, 1–17. doi: 10.1177/0038026119837147.Google Scholar
Butler, RN (1969) Age-ism: another form of bigotry. The Gerontologist 9, 243–246.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Butler, RN (1980) Ageism: a foreword. Journal of Social Issues 36, 8–11.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Butler, RN (2005) Ageism: looking back over my shoulder. Generations 3, 84–86.Google Scholar
Carral, P and Alcover, CM (2019) Measuring age discrimination at work: Spanish adaptation and preliminary validation of the Nordic Age Discrimination Scale (NADS). International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health 16, 1431.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Cebola, MMJ (2016) O Idadismo e as diferentes gerações presentes no mercado de trabalho: um estudo comparativo entre Portugal e Espanha (Master's thesis). ISLA Santarém, Santarém, Portugal. Available at https://www.academia.edu/27362486/O_Idadismo_e_as_diferentes_gerações_presentes_no_mercado_de_trabalho_Um_estudo_comparativo_entre_Portugal_e_Espanha.Google Scholar
Centre for Reviews and Dissemination (CRD) (2009) Systematic Reviews – CRD's Guidance for Undertaking Reviews in Health Care. York, UK: CRD, University of York.Google Scholar
Challe, L (2017) Ageism and the business cycle: an exploratory approach. European Journal of Comparative Economics 14, 221–264.Google Scholar
Chonody, JM (2016) Positive and negative ageism: the role of benevolent and hostile sexism. Affilia: Journal of Women and Social Work 31, 207–218.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Clendon, J and Walker, L (2016) The juxtaposition of ageing and nursing: the challenges and enablers of continuing to work in the latter stages of a nursing career. Journal of Advanced Nursing 72, 1065–1074.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Cortina, LM, Kabat-Farr, D, Leskinen, EA, Huerta, M and Magley, VJ (2013) Selective incivility as modern discrimination in organizations: evidence and impact. Journal of Management 39, 1579–1605.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Desmette, D and Gaillard, M (2008) When a ‘worker’ becomes an ‘older worker’. Career Development International 13, 168–185.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Di Fabio, A (2017) Positive healthy organizations: promoting well-being, meaningfulness, and sustainability in organizations. Frontiers in Psychology 8, 1938.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Dixon, J (2012) Communicating (st)ageism: exploring stereotypes of age and sexuality in the workplace. Research on Aging 34, 654–669.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Drydakis, N, MacDonald, P, Chiotis, V and Somers, L (2017) Age discrimination in the UK labour market. Does race moderate ageism? An experimental investigation. Applied Economics Letters, 1–4. Available online at https://doi.org/10.1080/13504851.2017.1290763 [Accessed 12 December 2019].Google Scholar
Duncan, C and Loretto, W (2004) Never the right age? Gender and age-based discrimination in employment. Gender, Work and Organization 11, 95–115.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Eichhorst, W, Boeri, T, De Coen, A, Galasso, V, Kendzia, M and Steiber, N (2014) How to combine the entry of young people in the labour market with the retention of older workers? IZA Journal of European Labor Studies 3, 1–23.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
European Commission (2015a) Innovation for Active & Healthy Ageing. European Summit on Innovation for Active and Healthy Ageing, Brussels – Final Report. Available at https://doi.org/10.2759/472427.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
European Commission (2015 b) The 2015 Ageing Report – Underlying Assumptions and Projection Methodologies. Brussels: European Commission, Directorate-General for Economic and Financial Affairs, Unit Communication and Interinstitutional Relations. Available at https://doi.org/10.2765/76255.Google Scholar
European Social Survey (2012) Experiences and Expressions of Ageism: Topline Results (UK) from Round 4 of the European Social Survey (ESS Country Specific Topline Results). Available at http://www.europeansocialsurvey.org.Google Scholar
Ferraro, T, Pais, L, Santos, NR dos and Moreira, JM (2018) The Decent Work Questionnaire: development and validation in two samples of knowledge workers. International Labour Review 157, 243–265.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Furunes, T and Mykletun, RJ (2010) Age discrimination in the workplace: validation of the Nordic Age Discrimination Scale (NADS). Scandinavian Journal of Psychology 51, 23–30.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Gahan, P, Harbridge, R, Healy, J and Williams, R (2017) The ageing workforce: policy dilemmas and choices. Australian Journal of Public Administration 76, 511–523.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Garcia, MTM, Fontainha, E and Passos, J (2017) Hiring older workers: the case of Portugal. Journal of the Economics of Ageing 9, 71–77.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Gibson, J, Jones, J, Cella, J, Clark, C, Epstein, A and Haselberger, J (2010) Ageism and the baby boomers: issues, challenges and the TEAM approach. Contemporary Issues in Education Research 3, 53–60.Google Scholar
Gringart, E, Jones, B, Helmes, E, Jansz, J, Monterosso, L and Edwards, M (2012) Negative stereotyping of older nurses despite contact and mere exposure: the case of nursing recruiters in Western Australia. Journal of Aging and Social Policy 24, 400–416.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Handy, J and Davy, D (2007) Gendered ageism: older women's experiences of employment agency practices. Asia Pacific Journal of Human Resources 45, 85–99.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Harnois, CE and Bastos, JL (2018) Discrimination, harassment, and gendered health inequalities: do perceptions of workplace mistreatment contribute to the gender gap in self-reported health? Journal of Health and Social Behavior 59, 283–299.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Hooyman, NR (2003) Ageism: stereotyping and prejudice against older persons. Journal of Sociology & Social Welfare 30, 185–187.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
International Labour Office (1998) Declaration on Fundamental Principles and Rights at Work. Available at http://www.ilo.org/declaration/thedeclaration/textdeclaration/lang--en/index.htm.Google Scholar
International Labour Office (2001) Reducing the Decent Work Deficit: A Global Challenge. International Labour Conference. 89th Session 2001. Available at http://www.ilo.org/public/libdoc/ilo/P/09383/09383(2001-89)76.pdf.Google Scholar
International Labour Office (2011) Age discrimination: older than 50, so what? World of Work: The Magazine of the ILO. Available at https://www.ilo.org/global/publications/world-of-work-magazine/articles/WCMS_165356/lang--en/index.htmode=ALFS_SUMTAB.Google Scholar
International Labour Organization (nd) Decent Work and the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development. Available at http://cite.gov.pt/pt/destaques/complementosDestqs2/Decent_work.pdf.Google Scholar
International Longevity Center USA (2005) Ageism in America. Available at https://aging.columbia.edu/sites/default/files/Ageism_in_America.pdf.Google Scholar
Iversen, TN, Larsen, L and Solem, PE (2009) A conceptual analysis of ageism. Nordic Psychology 61, 4–22.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Iweins, C, Desmette, D and Yzerbyt, V (2012) Ageism at work: what happens to older workers who benefit from preferential treatment? Psychologica Belgica 52, 327–349.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Iweins, C, Desmette, D, Yzerbyt, V and Stinglhamber, F (2013) Ageism at work: the impact of intergenerational contact and organizational multi-age perspective. European Journal of Work and Organizational Psychology 22, 331–346.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Jones, KP, Sabat, IE, King, EB, Ahmad, A, McCausland, TC and Chen, T (2017) Isms and schisms: a meta-analysis of the prejudice–discrimination relationship across racism, sexism, and ageism. Journal of Organizational Behavior 38, 1076–1110.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Jost, JT and Hamilton, DL (2005) Stereotypes in our culture. In Dovidio, JF, Glick, P and Rudman, LA (eds), On the Nature of Prejudice: Fifty Years after Allport, 1st ed. Oxford: Blackwell Publishing Ltd, pp. 208–224.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Jyrkinen, M (2014) Women managers, careers and gendered ageism. Scandinavian Journal of Management 30, 175–185.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Jyrkinen, M and McKie, L (2012) Gender, age and ageism: experiences of women managers in Finland and Scotland. Work, Employment and Society 26, 61–77.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Kanagasabai, N (2016) In the silences of a newsroom: age, generation, and sexism in the Indian television newsroom. Feminist Media Studies 16, 663–677.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Kaye, LW and Alexander, LB (1995) Perceptions of job discrimination among lower- income, elderly part-timers. Journal of Gerontological Social Work 23, 99–120.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Kenny, GP, Groeller, H, McGinn, R and Flouris, AD (2016) Age, human performance, and physical employment standards. Applied Physiology, Nutrition & Metabolism 41, S92–S107.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
King, SP and Bryant, FB (2017) The Workplace Intergenerational Climate Scale (WICS): a self-report instrument measuring ageism in the workplace. Journal of Organizational Behavior 38, 124–151.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Krekula, C (2019) Time, precarisation and age normality: on internal job mobility among men in manual work. Ageing & Society 39, 2290–2307.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Lagacé, M, Nahon-Serfaty, I and Laplante, J (2015) Canadian government's framing of ageing at work and older workers: echoing positive ageing models. Work 52, 597–604.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Lagacé, M, Van de Beeck, L and Firzly, N (2019) Building on intergenerational climate to counter ageism in the workplace? A cross-organizational study. Journal of Intergenerational Relationships 17, 201–219.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Lev, S, Wurm, S and Ayalon, L (2019) Origins of ageism at the individual level. In Ayalon, L and Tesch-Römer, C (eds), Contemporary Perspectives on Ageism. Cham, Switzerland: Springer Open, pp. 51–72.Google Scholar
Levy, SR and Macdonald, JL (2016) Progress on understanding ageism. Journal of Social Issues 72, 5–25.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Loretto, W, Duncan, C and White, PJ (2000) Ageism and employment: controversies, ambiguities and younger people's perceptions. Ageing & Society 20, 279–302.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Lössbroek, J and Radl, J (2019) Teaching older workers new tricks: workplace practices and gender training differences in nine European countries. Ageing & Society 39, 2170–2193.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Lucas, RE (1993) Ageism and the UK hospitality industry. Employee Relations 15, 33–41.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Macdonald, JL and Levy, SR (2016) Ageism in the workplace: the role of psychosocial factors in predicting job satisfaction, commitment, and engagement. Journal of Social Issues 72, 169–190.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Malinen, S and Johnston, L (2013) Workplace ageism: discovering hidden bias. Experimental Aging Research 39, 445–465.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
McGann, M, Ong, R, Bowman, D, Duncan, A, Kimberley, H and Biggs, S (2016) Gendered ageism in Australia: changing perceptions of age discrimination among older men and women. Economic Papers 35, 375–388.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
McMullin, JA and Marshall, VW (2001) Ageism, age relations, and garment industry work in Montreal. The Gerontologist 41, 111–122.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
McVittie, C, McKinlay, A and Widdicombe, S (2003) Committed to (un)equal opportunities? ‘New ageism’ and the older worker. British Journal of Social Psychology 42, 595–612.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Meinich, J and Sang, K (2018) ‘It does not help to look young and dumb…’. Equality, Diversity and Inclusion 37, 202–218.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Moher, D, Liberati, A, Tetzlaff, J and Altman, DG (2009) Preferred Reporting Items for Systematic Reviews and Meta-Analyses: the PRISMA Statement. Annals of Internal Medicine 151, 264–269.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Nelson, TD (2016) Promoting healthy aging by confronting ageism. American Psychologist 71, 276–282.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
North, MS and Fiske, ST (2013) Act your (old) age: prescriptive, ageist biases over succession, consumption, and identity. Personality and Social Psychology Bulletin 39, 720–734.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Ojala, H, Pietilä, I and Nikander, P (2016) Immune to ageism? Men's perceptions of age-based discrimination in everyday contexts. Journal of Aging Studies 39, 44–53.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Paleari, FG, Brambilla, M and Fincham, FD (2019) When prejudice against you hurts others and me: the case of ageism at work. Journal of Applied Social Psychology 49, 704–720.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Palmore, EB (1999) Ageism: Negative and Positive, 2nd Edn. New York, NY: Springer.Google Scholar
Palmore, EB (2001) The Ageism Survey: first findings. The Gerontologist 41, 572–575.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Palmore, EB (2004) Research note: ageism in Canada and the United States. Journal of Cross-cultural Gerontology 19, 41–46.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Raymer, M, Reed, M, Spiegel, M and Purvanova, RK (2017) An examination of generational stereotypes as a path towards reverse ageism. The Psychologist-Manager Journal 20, 148–175.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Redman, T and Snape, E (2002) Ageism in teaching: stereotypical beliefs and discriminatory attitudes towards the over-50s. Work, Employment and Society 16, 355–371.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Rego, A, Vitória, A, Tupinambá, A, Júnior, DR, Reis, D, Cunha, MPe and Lourenço-Gil, R (2018) Brazilian managers’ ageism: a multiplex perspective. International Journal of Manpower 39, 414–433.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Riach, K (2007) ‘Othering’ older worker identity in recruitment. Human Relations 60, 1701–1726.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Riach, K and Kelly, S (2015) The need for fresh blood: understanding organizational age inequality through a vampiric lens. Organization 22, 287–305.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Rouzet, D, Sánchez, AC, Renault, T and Roehn, O (2019) Fiscal Challenges and Inclusive Growth in Ageing Societies. Paris: OECD Publishing. Available at https://doi.org/10.1787/c553d8d2-en.Google Scholar
Rupp, DE, Vodanovich, SJ and Credé, M (2006) Age bias in the workplace: the impact of ageism and causal attributions. Journal of Applied Social Psychology 36, 1337–1364.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Shippee, TP, Wilkinson, LR, Schafer, MH and Shippee, ND (2019) Long-term effects of age discrimination on mental health: the role of perceived financial strain. Journals of Gerontology: Psychological Sciences and Social Sciences 74B, 664–674.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Soidre, T (2005) Retirement-age preferences of women and men aged 55–64 years in Sweden. Ageing & Society 25, 943–963.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Solem, PE (2016) Ageism and age discrimination in working life. Nordic Psychology 68, 160–175.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Spedale, S, Coupland, C and Tempest, S (2014) Gendered ageism and organizational routines at work: the case of day-parting in television broadcasting. Organization Studies 35, 1585–1604.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Stevens, RH (2010) Managing human capital: how to use knowledge management to transfer knowledge in today's multi-generational workforce. International Business Research 3, 77–83.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Stypinska, J and Turek, K (2017) Hard and soft age discrimination: the dual nature of workplace discrimination. European Journal of Ageing 14, 49–61.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Thorsen, S, Rugulies, R, Løngaard, K, Borg, V, Thielen, K and Bjorner, JB (2012) The association between psychosocial work environment, attitudes towards older workers (ageism) and planned retirement. International Archives of Occupational and Environmental Health 85, 437–445.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
United Nations Economic Commission for Europe (UNECE) (2019) Combating Ageism in the World of Work (UNECE Policy Brief on Ageing). Available at www.unece.org/pau/welcome.html.Google Scholar
United Nations (UN) (2015) The 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development. Available at https://sustainabledevelopment.un.org/post2015/transformingourworld.Google Scholar
United Nations (UN) (2019 a) World Population Ageing 2019. New York, NY: UN Department of Economic and Social Affairs, Population Division.Google Scholar
United Nations (UN) (2019 b) World Population Prospects 2019. New York, NY: UN Department of Economic and Social Affairs, Population Division.Google Scholar
Unson, C and Richardson, M (2013) Insights into the experiences of older workers and change: through the lens of selection, optimization, and compensation. The Gerontologist 53, 484–494.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Urbancová, H and Fejfarová, M (2017) Factors influencing age management in organisations in the Czech Republic. Acta Universitatis Agriculturae et Silviculturae Mendelianae Brunensis 65, 347–356.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
van der Horst, M (2019) Internalised ageism and self-exclusion: does feeling old and health pessimism make individuals want to retire early? Social Inclusion 7, 27–43.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Wainwright, D, Crawford, J, Loretto, W, Phillipson, C, Robinson, M, Shepherd, S, Vickerstaff, S and Weyman, A (2019) Extending working life and the management of change. Is the workplace ready for the ageing worker? Ageing & Society 39, 2397–2419.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Wanner, RA and McDonald, L (1983) Ageism in the labor market: estimating earnings discrimination against older workers. Journal of Gerontology 38, 738–744.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Wilson, G and Roscigno, VJ (2017) Race, ageism and the slide from privileged occupations. Social Science Research 69, 1–39.Google ScholarPubMed
Wolfram, HJ (2017) Modern prejudice and strength of conjunction error: overestimating proportions of minority employees. Equality, Diversity and Inclusion 36, 417–436.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Worth, N (2016) Who we are at work: millennial women, everyday inequalities and insecure work. Gender, Place and Culture 23, 1302–1314.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Yamada, Y, Sugisawa, H, Sugihara, Y and Shibata, H (2005) Factors relating to organizational commitment of older male employees in Japan. Journal of Cross-cultural Gerontology 20, 181–190.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Supplementary material: File

Cebola et al. supplementary material

Cebola et al. supplementary material

Download Cebola et al. supplementary material(File)
File 85.8 KB