Hostname: page-component-cd9895bd7-fscjk Total loading time: 0 Render date: 2024-12-24T16:19:22.118Z Has data issue: false hasContentIssue false
  • English
  • Français

Generationally Based Differences in the Workplace: Is There a There There?

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  17 July 2015

David P. Costanza  and
Lisa M. Finkelstein
David P. Costanza*
Affiliation:
Department of Organizational Sciences and Communication, The George Washington University
Lisa M. Finkelstein
Affiliation:
Department of Psychology, Northern Illinois University
*
Correspondence concerning this article should be addressed to David P. Costanza, Department of Organizational Sciences and Communication, The George Washington University, 600 21st Street NW, Washington, DC 20052. E-mail: [email protected]
Get access Rights & Permissions [Opens in a new window]

Abstract

Stereotypes about generational differences in the workplace abound, and interventions for helping organizations and managers to deal with these supposed differences are increasing. In addition to popular press articles describing the differences and extolling the practices and strategies to deal with them, there are a growing number of researchers who are attempting to establish that there are such differences. Overall, however, there is little solid empirical evidence supporting generationally based differences and almost no theory behind why such differences should even exist. The purposes of this focal article are to explore the myths surrounding generations, to review the risks in using generations in organizational decisions, and to make recommendations for practitioners and researchers on how to proceed in this area.

Keywords

generationsworkplacestereotypesmyths
Type
Focal Article
Information
Industrial and Organizational Psychology , Volume 8 , Issue 3 , September 2015 , pp. 308 - 323
Copyright
Copyright © Society for Industrial and Organizational Psychology 2015 

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.)

References

Badger, J. M., Costanza, D. P., Blacksmith, N., & Severt, J. B. (2014). The role of shared experiences in generational differences: Putting generations theory to the test. Unpublished manuscript.Google Scholar
Baron, R. A., & Branscombe, N. R. (2013). Social psychology (13th ed.). Boston, MA: Allyn & Bacon.Google Scholar
Bodenhausen, G. V., & Hugenberg, K. (2009). Attention, perception, and social cognition. In Strack, F. & Forster, J. (Eds.), Social cognition: The basis of human interaction (pp. 1–22). Philadelphia, PA: Psychology Press.Google Scholar
Bors, M. (2013, July 9). The generation we love to dump on. CNN. Retrieved from http://www.cnn.com/2013/07/09/opinion/bors-millenial-comic-strip/index.htmlGoogle Scholar
Costanza, D. P., Fraser, R. L., Badger, J. M., Severt, J. B., & Gade, P. A. (2012). Generational differences in work-related variables: A meta-analysis. Journal of Business Psychology, 27, 375–394. doi:10.1007/s10869-012-9259-4CrossRefGoogle Scholar
D’Amato, A., & Herzfeldt, R. (2008). Learning orientation, organizational commitment and talent retention across generations: A study of European managers. Journal of Managerial Psychology, 23, 929–953. doi:10.1108/02683940810904402CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Elder, G. H. Jr. (1994). Time, human agency, and social change: Perspectives on the life course. Social Psychology Quarterly, 57, 4–15.Google Scholar
Elder, G. H. Jr. (1998). The life course as developmental theory. Child Development, 69, 1–12. doi:10.1111/j.1467-8624.1998.tb06128.xCrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Fiske, S. T. (2004). Social beings: A core motives approach to social psychology. Hoboken, NJ: Wiley.Google Scholar
Giancola, F. (2006). The generation gap: More myth than reality. Human Resource Planning, 29 (4), 32–37.Google Scholar
Jorgensen, B. (2003). Baby boomers, generation X and generation Y? Policy implications for defence forces in the modern era. Foresight, 5 (4), 41–49.Google Scholar
Kacmar, K. M., & Ferris, G. R. (1989). Theoretical and methodological considerations in the age-job satisfaction relationship. Journal of Applied Psychology, 74, 201–207. doi:10.1037/0021-9010.74.2.201Google Scholar
Kowske, B. J., Rasch, R., & Wiley, J. (2010). Millennials’ (lack of) attitude problem: An empirical examination of generational effects on work attitudes. Journal of Business and Psychology, 25, 265–279.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Kupperschmidt, B. R. (2000). Multigeneration employees: Strategies for effective management. The Health Care Manager, 19, 65–76.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Macky, K., Gardner, D., & Forsyth, S. (2008). Generational differences at work: Introduction and overview. Journal of Managerial Psychology, 23, 857–861. doi:10.1108/02683940810904358CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Meyer, J. P., Stanley, D. J., Herscovitch, L., & Topolnytsky, L. (2002). Affective, continuance, and normative commitment to the organization: A meta-analysis of antecedents, correlates, and consequences. Journal of Vocational Behavior, 61, 20–52. doi:10.1006/jvbe.2001.1842Google Scholar
Ng, T. W. H., & Feldman, D. C. (2008). The relationship of age to ten dimensions of job performance. Journal of Applied Psychology, 93, 392–422. doi:10.1037/0021-9010.93.2.392Google Scholar
Ng, T. W. H., & Feldman, D. C. (2009). Re-examining the relationship between age and voluntary turnover. Journal of Vocational Behavior, 74, 283–294. doi:10.1016/j.jvb.2009.01.004CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Ng, T. W. H., & Feldman, D. C. (2010). The relationships of age with job attitudes: A meta-analysis. Personnel Psychology, 63, 677–718. doi:10.1111/j.1744-6570.2010.01184.xCrossRefGoogle Scholar
Park, B., Wolsko, C., & Judd, C. M. (2001). Measurement of subtyping in stereotype change. Journal of Experimental Social Psychology, 37, 325–332.Google Scholar
Parry, E., & Urwin, P. (2010). Generational differences in work values: A review of theory and evidence. International Journal of Management Reviews, 13, 79–96. doi:10.1111/j.1468-2370.2010.00285.xGoogle Scholar
Queller, S., & Smith, E. R. (2002). Subtyping versus bookkeeping in stereotype learning and change: Connectionist simulations and empirical findings. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 82, 300–313.Google Scholar
Rhodes, S. R. (1983). Age-related differences in work attitudes and behavior: A review and conceptual analysis. Psychological Bulletin, 93, 328–367.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Roberts, B. W., Walton, K. E., & Veichtbauer, W. (2006). Patterns of mean-level change in personality traits across the life course: A meta-analysis of longitudinal studies. Psychological Bulletin, 132, 1–25. doi:10.1037/0033-2909.132.1.1Google Scholar
Sackett, P. R. (2002, March 5). Letter report. Washington, DC: The National Academies, Division of Behavioral and Social Sciences and Education.Google Scholar
Sanders, L. H. (1943, July). Eleven tips on getting more efficiency out of women employees. Mass Transportation, 233.Google Scholar
Shapira, I. (2009, July 9). Business coach Anne Loehr tries to bridge diverse generations: X, Y, baby boomer. The Washington Post. Retrieved from http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2009/07/08/AR2009070803986.htmlGoogle Scholar
Smola, K. W., & Sutton, C. D. (2002). Generational differences: Revisiting generational work values for the new millennium. Journal of Organizational Behavior, 23, 363–382. doi:10.1002/job.147Google Scholar
Stein, J., & Sanburn, J. (2013, May 20). The new greatest generation. Time. http://nation.time.com/2013/05/09/millennials-the-next-greatest-generation/Google Scholar
Strauss, W., & Howe, N. (1991). Generations: The history of America's future, 1584 to 2069. New York, NY: William Morrow.Google Scholar
Trzesniewski, K. H., & Donnellan, M. B. (2010). Rethinking “generation me”: A study of cohort effects from 1976–2006. Perspectives on Psychological Science, 5 (1), 58–75. doi:10.1177/1745691609356789Google Scholar
Twenge, J. M. (2000). The age of anxiety? Birth cohort change in anxiety and neuroticism, 1952–1993. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 79, 1007–1021. doi:10.1037/0022-3514.79.6.1007Google Scholar
Twenge, J. M., Campbell, S. M., Hoffman, B. J., & Lance, C. E. (2010). Generational differences in work values: Leisure and extrinsic values increasing, social and intrinsic values decreasing. Journal of Management, 36, 1117–1142. doi:10.1177/0149206309352246Google Scholar
Twenge, J. M., Konrath, S., Foster, J. D., Campbell, W. K., & Bushman, B. J. (2008). Egos inflating over time: A cross-temporal meta-analysis of the Narcissistic Personality Inventory. Journal of Personality, 76, 875–902. doi:10.1111/j.1467-6494.2008.00507.xGoogle Scholar
Wax, E. (2013, July 28). After the whistle: Revealers of government secrets share how their lives have changed. The Washington Post. Retrieved from http://www.washingtonpost.com/lifestyle/style/after-the-whistle-revealers-of-government-secrets-share-how-their-lives-have-changed/2013/07/28/23d82596-f613-11e2-9434-60440856fadf_story.htmlGoogle Scholar
Yang, Y. (2008). Age, period, cohort effects. In Carr, D. (Ed.), Encyclopedia of the life course and human development (Vol. 3, pp. 6–10). Detroit, MI: Macmillan Reference USA.Google Scholar
Yang, Y., & Land, K. C. (2006). A mixed models approach to the age-period-cohort analysis of repeated cross-section surveys, with an application to data on trends in verbal test scores. Sociological Methodology, 36, 75–97. doi:10.1111/j.1467-9531.2006.00175.xCrossRefGoogle Scholar
Zaslow, J. (2007, April 20). The most-praised generation goes to work. The Wall Street Journal. http://www.wsj.com/articles/SB117702894815776259Google Scholar