Age differences in the importance of interpersonal justice in the workplace

Abstract

The aging workforce is a major societal challenge that will affect managerial practices worldwide. Understanding how to better manage older employees is therefore of utmost importance for managers and organizations. By integrating the lifespan developmental perspective to adult development with organizational justice, the current research investigates employee age differences in the importance of interpersonal justice in the workplace. In Study 1, we used interviews (N=56) to explore employee age differences in the salience of interpersonal justice concerns. In Study 2, we used a scenario-based experiment (N=418) to investigate employee age differences in the relationship between interpersonal justice perceptions and trust in supervisor. In Study 3, we used a three-wave survey (N=454) to test one age-related psychological mechanism responsible for such differences. The results showed that interpersonal justice concerns are more salient among older versus younger workers, and that interpersonal justice predicts trust in one’s supervisor to a greater extent among older versus younger workers. Results also suggest that these age-related differences could be explained by older workers’ greater present temporal focus. These findings provide important theoretical implications for the study of aging and work and offer practical applications for how to motivate an increasingly older and age-diverse workforce.