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Age Stereotypes in the Workplace

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Encyclopedia of Geropsychology

Synonyms

Age bias; Ageism

Definition

Age stereotypes refer to overgeneralized expectations and beliefs about the characteristics and traits of individuals on the basis of age. In the workplace, age stereotypes often take the form of distorted and usually inaccurate perceptions of worker characteristics on the basis of age.

As the workforce becomes more age diverse, interpersonal exchanges between members of this multigenerational workforce will become more frequent. Considering this, understanding the mechanisms that contribute to positive and negative interpersonal interactions between individuals at different stages of the work-life span is essential (Rudolph and Zacher 2015). In this vein, a great deal of scholarship has focused on how work-related age stereotypes affect the success of the interpersonal interactions between different age groups and the treatment of individuals across the work-life span. Understanding the nature, function, and effects of age stereotypes in the...

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Correspondence to Eileen C. Toomey .

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Toomey, E.C., Rudolph, C.W. (2015). Age Stereotypes in the Workplace. In: Pachana, N. (eds) Encyclopedia of Geropsychology. Springer, Singapore. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-981-287-080-3_30-1

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-981-287-080-3_30-1

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