Generational Perceptions & Their Impact on Behavior
Studies have shown that the workplace is full of age stereotypes and meta-stereotypes, and these beliefs are not always accurate or aligned. In one survey of 247 young (18-29), middle-aged (33-50), and older employees (51-84), people described the qualities of people in other age groups (their stereotypes).
They also described the qualities that other people might perceive about their age group (their meta-stereotypes).
The pattern of their responses varied by age group was as follows1;
- People’s perspective of older employees was largely positive and included words like “responsible,” “hard-working”, and “mature”.
- While older employees themselves worried that others might see them as “boring”, “stubborn”, and “grumpy”.
- The stereotypes of middle-aged employees were highly positive “ethical”, and they believed the other age groups would see them as positive “energetic”.
- Stereotypes about younger workers were somewhat less positive, however, resulting in a wider range of stereotypes from positive “enthusiastic” to negative “inexperienced”.
- Even so, younger workers believed that others would see them more negatively than they are “unmotivated” and “irresponsible”.
Broadly, these results demonstrate that older and younger employees believe others view them more negatively than they actually are. These cases confirm that neither age-related stereotypes nor meta-stereotypes are accurate.
People’s beliefs about age have critical implications for workplace interactions. In one laboratory experiment performed, undergraduate students were asked to train another person on a computer task using Google’s chat function. Another undergraduate was assigned to listen to the training and then do the task. The experiment varied where each person whether a trainer or trainee appeared to be old (approximately 53) or young (approximately 23) using photographs and voice-modifying software.
It was found that stereotypes about older people’s ability to learn new tasks interfered with the training they received. When trainers thought they were teaching the elderly how to do homework on the computer, compared to teaching young people, their expectations and learning abilities were lower.
These results indicate that lower-level training is a direct consequence of age-related stereotypes. The potential impact of these results is shocking because poor learning can lead to reduced learning and ultimately affect employee productivity.
Moreover, people’s beliefs about what others think about their age group — their meta-stereotypes — can also inhibit their work behavior. A recently published study examined how people react to meta-stereotypes over the course of a workweek. Unsurprisingly, people sometimes react with contempt (“Oh yeah? I’ll show them!”) and sometimes they feel more threatened (“Oh no, what if I prove this negative expectation true?”).
Importantly, these reactions can also affect workplace interpersonal interactions. Both threats and challenges led to conflict at work (such as arguments or discord with coworkers) and avoidance behaviors (things like keeping to oneself and avoiding interaction with others).
We also considered the connotations of meta-stereotypes on mentoring relationships in law and medicine in another study. Surveys of mentor-protégé pairs suggested that protégé’s attempts to overcome meta-stereotypes sometimes had a negative effect on their relationships. Specifically, mentors were less supportive of protégés who attempted to downplay their youth by seeming or acting older2.
1 Eden King, Lisa Finkelstein, Courtney Thomas & Abby Corrington – Harvard Business Review, Generational Differences at Work are Small. Thinking They’re Big Affects Our Behavior, Accessed 10 Jun 2021 https://hbr.org/2019/08/generational-differences-at-work-are-small-thinking-theyre-big-affects-our-behavior
2Eden King, Lisa Finkelstein, Courtney Thomas & Abby Corrington – Harvard Business Review, Generational Differences at Work are Small. Thinking They’re Big, Affects Our Behavior, Accessed 10 Jun 2021, https://hbr.org/2019/08/generational-differences-at-work-are-small-thinking-theyre-big-affects-our-behavior
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