Title

The senior discount: biases against older career changers

Authors

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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