When I'm 64: Psychological contract breach, work motivation and the moderating roles of future time perspective and regulatory focus

Optimizing EFL learning: exploring the role of learner background factors and the nuances of their effects on intrinsic and extrinsic motivation among university students in a mixed-methods study

INTRODUCTION

Motivation is a driving force behind man's behavior which has led to many psychological studies throughout the world. Moreover, it is the fuel for successful learning. While intrinsic motives provide the internal rewards, extrinsic motivation supplies the required external rewards to keep the engine of learning running. Knowing the factors which impact intrinsic/extrinsic motivation helps educators target their efforts at a higher level and make more informed decisions.

METHOD

This study intends to examine how intrinsic vs. extrinsic motivation may be influenced by demographics including learners' background factors of major, age, and occupation and to determine the relationships that may exist between intrinsic and extrinsic motivation. To this end, an explanatory sequential mixed-methods research was conducted at one of the public universities in Shiraz on the majors of Elementary Education, Educational Affairs, Social Studies and Theology, and the Arabic language which were selected through cluster sampling. These students were having their English courses at the university. Based on Krejcie and Morgan's formula for sample size, a questionnaire was administered to 100 participants to collect quantitative data. Moreover, semi-structured interview sessions were conducted with one fourth of the participants.

RESULTS

Using Multiple Analysis of Variance (MANOVA) and Pearson correlation, we found that learners' background factors of age, field of study and professional status did not affect intrinsic nor extrinsic motivation. However, significant and positive relationships were found between intrinsic motivation and total motivation index, and between extrinsic motivation and total motivation index. Qualitative data obtained from the interviews were analyzed using a thematic analysis. The results of the interviews showed some new illuminating trends as revealed from the participants' responses and it was found that most interviewees followed intrinsic motives and considered motivation as a factor of great significance.

CONCLUSION

In the English as a Foreign Language (EFL) context in which our study was conducted, instructors can follow more similar classroom motivational techniques and strategies since neither type of motivation was influenced by the variables of different major, age and occupation. Though many studies have shown that EFL learners are more extrinsically motivated in comparison with ESL ones, our study revealed that participants were more intrinsically motivated. Thus, this study may be replicated in other educational contexts such as an ESL context. The study can also be repeated in some universities in which other educational systems such as coed education is used to see the possible similarities and differences. Motivation is the important stimulant to impel the learners to achieve their learning goals; thus, it should receive sufficient attention in various educational settings.

With a little help from my friends: adopting a P-E fit perspective in understanding the value of organizational learning climate for sustainable employability

Purpose

The objective of our study was to investigate how organizational learning climate (measured as developmental opportunities and team support for learning), career commitment, and age are related to employees' self-perceived employability, vitality and work ability (e.g., their sustainable employability). Our study adopted a P-E fit perspective building upon the notion that sustainable employability is a function of both the person (P) and the environment (E) and tests a three-way interaction between organizational learning climate, career commitment, and age.

Design

In total, 211 members of the support staff of a Dutch university completed a survey. Hierarchical stepwise regression analysis was used to analyze the data.

Findings

Only one of the two dimensions of organizational learning climate that we measured, namely the developmental opportunities, appeared to be associated with all indicators of sustainable employability. Career commitment only had a direct positive relationship with vitality. Age was negatively related to self-perceived employability and to work ability, but not to vitality. The relationship between developmental opportunities and vitality was negatively influenced by career commitment (a negative two-way interaction effect), while a positive three-way interaction effect was found between career commitment, age, and development opportunities, and with self-perceived employability as the outcome.

Theoretical and practical implications

Our findings confirmed the relevance of adopting a P-E fit perspective on sustainable employability, and of considering the possible role of age in this. It requires more detailed analyses in future research to unravel the role of age in the shared responsibility for sustainable employability. In practice, the results of our study imply that organizations should provide all employees with a working context that facilitates learning, however, with a special focus on older employees, for whom it is a particular challenge to protect their sustainable employability, possibly due to age-related stereotyping.

Originality

Our study adopted a P-E fit perspective on sustainable employability and examined the association between organizational learning climate and all three components of sustainable employability: self-perceived employability, vitality and work ability. Moreover, it investigated whether and how the employee's career commitment and age influence this relationship.

You Can Leave the Younger Workers Out of It! Toward a Centered Paradigm for Studying Older Workers’ Employment Relationships and Late-Career Dynamics

Are late careers worth studying in their own right? The way we think and reason about older workers and late careers—in scholarship and in practice—has been disproportionately informed by a research paradigm that focuses on age differences among employees, which captures how older workers on average differ from younger workers on average. While this contrastive paradigm has been generative, it can also inaccurately portray older workers as a static, homogenous group. In contrast, older workers show considerable heterogeneity (older workers vary), meaningful dynamics (older workers change), and dynamic heterogeneity (older workers vary in how they change). In this paper, we propose that the contrastive paradigm be complemented with a centered paradigm that centers on how older workers vary and change. We develop a theoretical model of how older worker dynamics and older worker heterogeneity shape the quality of their employment relationship—in terms of psychological contracts—which in turn shape their career trajectories and work role enactment. By centering this line of research on older workers, we gain a higher-resolution view of these late careers as unfolding over time and varying among older workers.

The Relationship between Work, Health and Job Performance for a Sustainable Working Life: A Case Study on Older Manual Employees in an Italian Steel Factory

BACKGROUND

Supporting and retaining older workers has become a strategic management goal for companies, considering the ageing of the workforce and the prolongation of working lives. The relationship between health and work is especially crucial for older workers with manual tasks, considering the impact of long-standing health impairments in older age. Although different studies investigated the relationship between work ability and job performance, few studies have analysed the impact of workers' capability to balance between health and work demands, including managerial and organisational support (work-health balance). Considering health as a dynamic balance between work and health demands influenced by both individual and environmental factors, we assess the mediator role of work-health balance in the relation between work ability and job performance, both self-reported and assessed by the supervisor.

METHODS

The study utilises data from a case study of 156 manual workers, who were 50 years old or older and employed in a steel company in Italy. Data were collected inside the company as an organiational initiative to support age diversity.

RESULTS

The findings show that work-health balance partially mediates the relationship between work ability and self-rated job performance, while it does not mediate the relationship with job performance as rated by the supervisor. Supervisor-rated job performance is positively associated with work ability, while it decreases with the increasing perceived incompatibility between work and health.

CONCLUSION

A perceived balance between health and work is a strategic factor in increasing manual older workers' job performance. For older workers, not only the perceived capability to work is important but also the organisational health climate and supervisor's support. More studies are needed to verify if managers overlook the importance of health climate and support, as strategic elements that can foster performance for older employees.

Impacts of psychological contract fulfillment on work attitudes and behaviors during the COVID-19 pandemic: mediating role of perceived organizational support

The paradigm shifts in HRM during the outbreak of COVID-19 involve new challenges for organizations, whereas it remains unclear how psychological contract fulfillment works on employees' attitudes and behaviors in the new working settings from organizations. This paper explores the impacts of psychological contract fulfillment on employees' work attitudes and behaviors (work engagement, intrinsic motivation, and affective commitment) during the COVID-19 outbreak, and examines the mediating mechanism of perceived organizational support between psychological contract fulfillment and these work-related variables. For the research, a cross-sectional research design and quantitative analysis were adopted. Data were collected via survey questionnaires and from 405 respondents working remotely during the COVID-19 outbreak. The findings revealed that psychological contract fulfillment positively impacted employees' work engagement, intrinsic motivation, and affective commitment during the COVID-19 outbreak, and indicated that perceived organizational support significantly but partially mediates the positive associations between PCF and these work-related variables.

Compulsory Citizenship Behavior and Facades of Conformity: A Moderated Mediation Model of Neuroticism and Citizenship Pressure

Drawing on the social exchange theory, this study investigates how compulsory citizenship behavior (CCB) produces facades of conformity through citizenship pressure, and whether neuroticism moderates the relationship among them. This study surveyed 356 employees (259 males, 97 females; average age 37.7 years) of a northern Taiwanese corporation to investigate the relationship among CCB, citizenship pressure, and facades of conformity. The study found that neuroticism moderates the strength of the indirect effect of CCB and facades of conformity through citizenship pressure, such that the mediated relationship is stronger under high neuroticism than under low neuroticism. It also suggests that a relationship among CCB, citizenship pressure, and facades of conformity exists, in which a negative response leads to generalized pressure in organizations. Finally, this study proposes that managers and employers should consider that CCB may result in false conformity by employees and introduce negative citizenship pressure into the work domain. In addition, employers should encourage employees to build social relations to avoid CCB. Organizations and leaders need to generate environments within which employees support extra-role activities in the workplace.

Employable as We Age? A Systematic Review of Relationships Between Age Conceptualizations and Employability

This systematic review aimed to provide an overview of earlier research on the relationships between age conceptualizations (i.e., calendar age, organizational age, lifespan age, psychosocial age, and functional age) and indicators of employability. We have conducted a systematic literature search using PsycINFO, Academic Search Premier, Business Source Complete, CINAHL, ERIC, MEDLINE, and Science Direct. Two raters evaluated the articles and subsequently distinguished k = 41 studies that met the inclusion criteria for this systematic review. Our review revealed that many researchers adopted different operationalizations to measure employability (15 studies were based on an input- or competence-based measure of employability, 23 studies included an output- or labor market-based measure of employability, and three studies included a combination of both measures). Moreover, most studies included calendar age (40 studies, 97.6%) as indicator of aging at work, and were based on a cross-sectional design (34 studies, 82.9%; 17.1% a longitudinal design). Based on the Standardized Index of Convergence (SIC) method, different types of evidence were found for the relationships between age and the employability measures. For relationships between psychosocial age and lifespan age, on the one hand, and employability measures, on the other hand, too few studies were found to draw conclusions. Yet, for relationships between calendar age and labor market-based measures strong consistent negative relationships were found across the studies, and moderately strong positive relationships were found for functional age and labor market- based measures. For organizational age and both competence-based as well as labor market-based measures moderately strong negative relationships were found. We discuss the implications of these results and propose a research agenda for future studies.

Does Workplace Bullying Produce Employee Voice and Physical Health Issues? Testing the Mediating Role of Emotional Exhaustion

Workplace bullying is a reality in organizations. Employees’ experiences of workplace bullying can produce their voice that intends to challenge the status quo at work and can damage their physical health. This study examines the effects of workplace bullying on employee voice and physical health issues and considers individuals’ emotional reactions as a critical mechanism operating between workplace bullying and its consequences in workplace situations. Emotional exhaustion mediates the influence of workplace bullying on employee voice and damaged health. Data for 694 employees from a large Taiwanese retail organization revealed that workplace bullying relates to its outcomes at work. The findings of this study show that emotional exhaustion is a critical mechanism between workplace bullying and its consequences, i.e., employee voice and health issues. A time-lag study design is applied to reduce common method bias.

The Importance of Intra-Organizational Networking for Younger Versus Older Workers: Examining a Multi-Group Mediation Model of Individual Task Performance Enhancement

The purpose of this paper is to investigate the effect of intra-organizational networking on individual task performance, via employability. Moreover, this study also examines whether this relationship differs for younger (<40 years) versus older employees (≥40 years). A self-report questionnaire was distributed among a sample of employees working in a range of different types of organizations (n = 374). We conclude that employability fully mediates the relationship between intra-organizational networking and individual task performance. However, this mediation effect did not vary between younger and older employees. This study extends past research by applying a human capital perspective (in particular, social capital) and life-span development frameworks for explaining employability and task performance enhancement across one's working life. It provides useful insights for stimulating career development and individual performance growth, by means of social capital, herewith increasing the individual employee's chance to survive in nowadays' labor markets.

Generational differences in workplace motivation

Orientation: Despite increasing age diversity in the workforce, organisations still know relatively little about how potentially diverging motivational needs of the various generations might influence motivational strategies and organisational performance.Research purpose: To explore the relationship between multigenerational workforces and employee motivation within a South African workplace setting from a self-determination theory perspective.Motivation for the study: The pursuit of performance excellence requires an understanding of the enablers of optimal performance. In South Africa, the workplace landscape is changing fast as younger generations are joining the workforce in rapidly growing numbers. These younger employees are often believed to differ quite drastically from the older generations in terms of their values and priorities, which necessitates a deeper understanding of the motivational drivers of the different cohorts as these manifest within a workplace environment.Research approach/design and method: A cross-sectional survey approach and a quantitative research design were used (N = 164). Two questionnaires founded on self-determination theory were administered, namely the Work-Related Basic Need Satisfaction Scale and the Work Extrinsic and Intrinsic Motivation Scale.Main findings: Findings contradict the popular notion that generational cohorts differ significantly from each other in terms of diverging intrinsic and extrinsic motivational preferences that may influence their behaviour at work. With regard to the degrees of satisfaction of the basic psychological needs that drive autonomous, intrinsically motivated behaviour specifically, no practically significant differences were found either. There was, however, one notable difference, namely in the indicated degree of satisfaction of the psychological need for autonomy between Generation Y and Generation X cohorts.Practical/managerial implications: Management is advised to cultivate a motivational climate that promotes autonomously motivated behaviour in general and to focus on specific known individual motivational preferences that may exist within groups rather than approaching generational cohorts as homogenous groups.Contribution/value-add: This study contributes to the limited research regarding similarities and differences in the intrinsic versus extrinsic motivational stance of three different generations as these manifest within a workplace setting in an emerging economy country. Findings afford management insight into motivational processes that are most influential among generational cohorts and assist them in adapting suitable motivational strategies that can ultimately improve retention of valued employees.

Protecting older workers’ employability: A survey study of the role of transformational leadership

Demographic and labour market changes increase the need to enhance the employability of employees across all ages. The purpose of this study is to explore the role of transformational leadership in employees’ employability. While we hypothesised that age is negatively related to perceived internal and external employability, we expected a positive relationship for transformational leadership, and that transformational leadership would moderate the relationship between age and employability. Hypotheses were tested using a sample of 1006 employees in the German automotive industry. Results show age to be negatively related to internal and external employability, with both relationships being comparably strong. Transformational leadership was positively related to internal and external employability, with the relationship with internal employability being stronger. Moreover, transformational leadership buffered the negative relationship between age and internal employability. These results suggest that transformational leadership is crucial in protecting lifetime employability and that it should be promoted.

"I WILL SURVIVE" A Construct Validation Study on the Measurement of Sustainable Employability Using Different Age Conceptualizations

Though the importance of sustainable employability throughout people's working life is undisputed, up till now only one attempt for a conceptual definition has been made (van der Klink et al., 2016). Following the suggestions to further refine and improve this definition recently put forward by Fleuren et al. (2016), we propose an approach to sustainable employability that is based on the Ability-Motivation-Opportunity (AMO) framework, and incorporates three indicators: the ability, the motivation, and the opportunity to continue working, respectively. As sustainable employability is considered to be an important aspect of successful aging at work, this study used four different conceptualizations of aging at work to set up convergent and divergent validity of our operationalization of sustainable employability: calendar age, organizational age (job and organizational tenure), functional age (work ability), and life-span age (partner and children). We formulated several hypotheses that were tested by analyzing data from an online survey among 180 employees from Dutch public service organizations who filled out a questionnaire on different age concepts, and their ability, motivation, and opportunity to continue working. Multiple regression analyses were performed, and results showed that the four conceptualizations of aging were differently related to the three indicators of sustainable employability. Life-span age, in terms of having children, had the strongest negative relationship with the ability to continue working, organizational age (i.e., organizational tenure) had the strongest negative relationship with the motivation to continue working, and functional age had the strongest negative relationship with the opportunity to continue working. Moreover, functional age was significantly negatively related to the other two indicators of sustainable employability too, while life-span age appeared to enhance the ability and motivation to continue working (in terms of having children) and the perceived opportunity to continue working (in terms of having a partner). Calendar age was only important for the opportunity to continue working and appeared to have a negative association with this outcome variable. These results lend support to our proposed operationalization of sustainable employability by showing that the three indicators are differently related to different age conceptualizations thus expanding previous research on the conceptualization of sustainable employability.

Future Time Perspective in the Work Context: A Systematic Review of Quantitative Studies

A core construct in the lifespan theory of socioemotional selectivity, future time perspective (FTP) refers to individuals’ perceptions of their remaining time in life. Its adaptation to the work context, occupational future time perspective (OFTP), entails workers’ perceptions of remaining time and opportunities in their careers. Over the past decade, several quantitative studies have investigated antecedents and consequences of general FTP and OFTP in the work context (i.e., FTP at work). We systematically review and critically discuss this literature on general FTP (k = 17 studies) and OFTP (k = 16 studies) and highlight implications for future research and practice. Results of our systematic review show that, in addition to its strong negative relationship with age, FTP at work is also associated with other individual (e.g., personality traits) and contextual variables (e.g., job characteristics). Moreover, FTP at work has been shown to mediate and moderate relationships of individual and contextual antecedents with occupational well-being, as well as motivational and behavioral outcomes. As a whole, findings suggest that FTP at work is an important variable in the field of work and aging, and that future research should improve the ways in which FTP at work is measured and results on FTP at work are reported.

Developmental trajectory of time perspective: From children to older adults

Time perspective is a fundamental dimension of the psychological time construct, with a pervasive and powerful influence on human behavior. However, the developmental trajectory of time perspective across a human lifespan remains unclear. The current study aimed to portray the developmental trajectory of all dimensions of time perspectives from children to older adults in a large sample. A total of 1,901 individuals (aged 9-84 years) completed measures of time perspective. They were then divided into five age groups: children, teenagers, young adults, middle-aged adults, and older adults. Results suggested that each time perspective showed a unique developmental pattern across the lifespan. Moreover, perceived economic situation and education were related to some dimensions of time perspective.

Aging and the motivation to stay employable

Purpose

– The demographic shift and the rapid rate of innovations put age and employability high on policy makers’ and human resource managers’ agenda. However, the authors do not sufficiently understand the link between these concepts. The authors set out to investigate the relationship between age and employability and aim to identify motivational mediators of this relationship. Therefore, the purpose of this paper is to investigate the roles of future time perspective and goal orientation.

Design/methodology/approach

– The authors conducted quantitative, cross-sectional survey research (n=282) in three Dutch and Austrian organizations. The authors used structural equation modeling to investigate the relationships between chronological age, future time perspective, goal orientations, and employability.

Findings

– Future time perspective and goal orientation strongly relate to employability. The authors found indirect relationships between age and employability via perceived remaining opportunities.

Research limitations/implications

– The results question the often simplistic use of chronological age in employability and human resource management research. Therefore, the authors call for more research to investigate the relationship between age and employability more deeply.

Practical implications

– The findings contribute new insights for the career development issues of an increasingly older workforce. This shifts the focus from age, a factor outside our control, to motivation.

Originality/value

– This study contributes evidence for the relationships of chronological age, future time perspective, and goal orientation with employability. It extends literature by criticizing the prevalent use of chronological age and investigating mediation effects.

Proactive personality and training motivation among older workers

Purpose

– This paper aims at examining the relationship between proactive personality and training motivation among older workers (aged over 55 years) in a context characterized by the growing ageing of the global population. First, the authors hypothesized that proactive personality predicts the motivation to learn among older workers and that this relationship is mediated by goal orientation. In particular, the authors hypothesized that learning goal orientation may mediate the relationship between proactive personality and learning motivation.

Design/methodology/approach

– The employees of an Italian bank completed an online questionnaire. AMOS 17 was used to carry out confirmatory factor analysis, and the SPSS macro was used to test the meditational model.

Findings

– The results confirmed both the hypotheses, demonstrating the influence of proactive personality on training motivation of older workers, as mediated by goal orientation and, in particular, by learning goal orientation.

Practical implications

– From an applicative point of view, this study may have implications for organizations that aim to increase the employability of older people by encouraging them to undertake more training. In particular, interventions aimed at increasing learning goal orientation could contribute in strengthening proactive personality that, in turn, may affect levels of training motivation.

Originality/value

– Even if proactive personality has already been found as a predictor of learning motivation, to the best of the authors’ knowledge, the present study demonstrates that the relationship between proactive personality and training motivation is mediated by goal orientation among older workers.

Gender Discrimination and Work Engagement: Moderating Role of Future Time Perspective

This article examines the contribution of perceived gender discrimination to work engagement; the contribution of future time perspective (FTP) to work engagement and more importantly, the moderating role of FTP on the relationship between perceived gender discrimination and work engagement. Based on a social cognitive frame work, it was hypothesized that FTP is positively related to work engagement. Further, it was also expected that FTP would work as a compensatory motivational resource and weaken the negative relationship between gender discrimination and work engagement. These questions were examined using a sample of female employees working in textile and apparel companies in the Chennai and Puducherry regions of India ( N = 234). Results indicate that FTP has a positive relationship with physical, cognitive as well as emotional engagement of the respondents. It also moderates significantly the relationship between perceived gender discrimination and cognitive as well as emotional dimensions of work engagement. However, no significant moderating effect appears for the relationship between gender discrimination and physical engagement of these employees.

Age differences in the perception of new co-worker benevolence

Purpose

– Large numbers of older workers are remaining in the global workforce, raising questions concerning age-related differences in perception and behavior. The purpose of this paper is to examine the interplay between employee age, gender and ethnicity on benevolence perceptions of new co-workers.

Design/methodology/approach

– Data were obtained through scenario methods from a sample of 215 full-time, team-based employees across nine North American business organizations. Participants evaluated three provocative scenarios depicting initial meetings with new colleagues.

Findings

– Workers of greater age perceived significantly less benevolence in all three scenarios. In evaluating a new boss, women perceived lower benevolence than men, and gender moderated the relationship between age and perceived benevolence, where aging was associated with significantly lower levels of perceived benevolence only among men.

Research limitations/implications

– Deeper understandings are needed concerning the behavioral and cognitive mechanisms related to age and workplace perceptions.

Practical implications

– Older employees, guided by experience, are skeptical of the intentions of a wide variety of newly acquainted colleagues, signaling organizational leaders to customize behaviors and develop programs to encourage awareness and positive relationships across age- and gender-diverse employee groups.

Originality/value

– This research uniquely explores age influences, and interactions with gender and ethnicity, on benevolence perceptions of diverse new coworkers. The results are robust, considering that age was related to lower benevolence perception across three disparate scenario interpretations.

Tailoring professional development for teachers in primary education

Purpose

– The aim of this survey study among N=180 Dutch teachers was to examine the moderating role of calendar age and proactive personality in the relationships between developmental opportunities, on the one hand, and work engagement and self-perceived employability, on the other. The paper aims to discuss these issues.

Design/methodology/approach

– Hierarchical regression analyses have been used, illustrated by means of quotes – gathered through open questions in the survey – to support the quantitative findings.

Findings

– A significant interaction effect between calendar age and developmental opportunities in relation to self-perceived employability, but not to work engagement, has been found, revealing stronger positive effects for developmental opportunities among older workers than among younger ones.

Research limitations/implications

– The present study provides a starting-point for further research on professional development in other occupational settings.

Practical implications

– The use of age-conscious developmental opportunities is a powerful tool in encouraging life-long learning.

Social implications

– Improvement in teachers’ engagement and employability will enhance their performance, will consequently lead to better pupil performance, and will contribute to the wider status of the profession, meaning that more young talented people will seriously consider working in the field and thereby helping to address the urgent need for more teaching staff.

Originality/value

– This study increases the knowledge of professional development among teachers and examines to what extent age and proactivity play a role in this regard. The results of the empirical work challenge dominant views on age-related declines and losses, and invite the authors to continue scholarly work in this field focussing upon long-term intra-individual development.

Understanding retirement: the promise of life-span developmental frameworks

The impending retirement of large population cohorts creates a pressing need for practical interventions to optimize outcomes at the individual and societal level. This necessitates comprehensive theoretical models that acknowledge the multi-layered nature of the retirement process and shed light on the dynamic mechanisms that drive longitudinal patterns of adjustment. The present commentary highlights ways in which contemporary life-span developmental frameworks can inform retirement research, drawing on the specific examples of Bronfenbrenner's Ecological Model, Baltes and Baltes Selective Optimization with Compensation Framework, Schulz and Heckhausen's Motivational Theory of Life-Span Development, and Carstensen's Socioemotional Selectivity Theory. Ultimately, a life-span developmental perspective on retirement offers not only new interpretations of known phenomena but may also help to identify novel directions for future research as well as promising pathways for interventions.