The senior discount: biases against older career changers

    Authors

    B. Fritzsche;J. Marcus

    Comments

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    Abbreviated Journal Title

    J. Appl. Soc. Psychol.

    Keywords

    AGE-DISCRIMINATION; STEREOTYPE ACTIVATION; TERROR MANAGEMENT; DECISIONS; ATTITUDES; PREJUDICE; PERFORMANCE; PSYCHOLOGY; WORKPLACE; SETTINGS; Psychology, Social

    Abstract

    This study examined age discrimination in between-vs. within-career job transitions. We expected that older workers transitioning into a new field would experience greater age discrimination than those who change jobs within the same field, particularly when amount of prior job experience is not made salient, and particularly when decision-makers were highly prejudiced. Results suggested that younger job applicants received higher suitability ratings than older job applicants, and job applicants making a within-career transition were rated higher than those making a between-career transition. As hypothesized, older job applicants making between-career transitions would receive the lowest ratings of suitability for hire when no information regarding experience was presented, and when decision-makers were highly prejudiced. Implications for the aging workforce are discussed.

    Journal Title

    Journal of Applied Social Psychology

    Volume

    43

    Issue/Number

    2

    Publication Date

    1-1-2013

    Document Type

    Article

    Language

    English

    First Page

    350

    Last Page

    362

    WOS Identifier

    WOS:000315028100010

    ISSN

    0021-9029

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