Do people become more proactive at work as they grow older? Examining the mediating roles of intrinsic motivation, emotional exhaustion, and career aspiration
Today, there is an increasingly aging workforce. Previous studies have examined whether aged people exhibit more positive attitudes, better health, and better performance. However, the relationship between age and proactive work behavior has seldom been examined, which is unfortunate since organizat...
| Main Authors: | , , , , |
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| Format: | Article |
| Language: | English |
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Frontiers Media S.A.
2023-04-01
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| Series: | Frontiers in Psychology |
| Subjects: | |
| Online Access: | https://www.frontiersin.org/articles/10.3389/fpsyg.2023.1154861/full |
| _version_ | 1797838563013820416 |
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| author | Wei Shi Jean Fan Yang Tianyi Sun Yizhi Zeng Zijun Cai |
| author_facet | Wei Shi Jean Fan Yang Tianyi Sun Yizhi Zeng Zijun Cai |
| author_sort | Wei Shi |
| collection | DOAJ |
| description | Today, there is an increasingly aging workforce. Previous studies have examined whether aged people exhibit more positive attitudes, better health, and better performance. However, the relationship between age and proactive work behavior has seldom been examined, which is unfortunate since organizations need employee proactivity to deal with uncertainty and unpredictability. Based on socioemotional selectivity theory, we propose that age might be positively related to proactive work behavior through intrinsic motivation and emotional exhaustion because older people tend to manage their emotions and obtain intrinsic enjoyment. But age might be negatively related to proactive work behavior through career aspiration because older people focus less on future development. With a sample of 393 people, we revealed intrinsic motivation and career aspiration. The findings could help us better understand how age is related to organizational outcomes and individual differences in proactive work behavior. They could also further reduce age-related discrimination and encourage organizations to manage older people in wise and better ways. |
| first_indexed | 2024-04-09T15:43:58Z |
| format | Article |
| id | doaj.art-33c9c20617ec4942a07573e6daa7a263 |
| institution | Directory Open Access Journal |
| issn | 1664-1078 |
| language | English |
| last_indexed | 2024-04-09T15:43:58Z |
| publishDate | 2023-04-01 |
| publisher | Frontiers Media S.A. |
| record_format | Article |
| series | Frontiers in Psychology |
| spelling | doaj.art-33c9c20617ec4942a07573e6daa7a2632023-04-27T05:31:22ZengFrontiers Media S.A.Frontiers in Psychology1664-10782023-04-011410.3389/fpsyg.2023.11548611154861Do people become more proactive at work as they grow older? Examining the mediating roles of intrinsic motivation, emotional exhaustion, and career aspirationWei Shi0Jean Fan Yang1Tianyi Sun2Yizhi Zeng3Zijun Cai4School of Labor and Human Resources, Renmin University of China, Beijing, ChinaSchool of Labor and Human Resources, Renmin University of China, Beijing, ChinaBusiness School, Beijing Normal University, Beijing, ChinaBusiness School, Beijing Normal University, Beijing, ChinaBusiness School, Beijing Normal University, Beijing, ChinaToday, there is an increasingly aging workforce. Previous studies have examined whether aged people exhibit more positive attitudes, better health, and better performance. However, the relationship between age and proactive work behavior has seldom been examined, which is unfortunate since organizations need employee proactivity to deal with uncertainty and unpredictability. Based on socioemotional selectivity theory, we propose that age might be positively related to proactive work behavior through intrinsic motivation and emotional exhaustion because older people tend to manage their emotions and obtain intrinsic enjoyment. But age might be negatively related to proactive work behavior through career aspiration because older people focus less on future development. With a sample of 393 people, we revealed intrinsic motivation and career aspiration. The findings could help us better understand how age is related to organizational outcomes and individual differences in proactive work behavior. They could also further reduce age-related discrimination and encourage organizations to manage older people in wise and better ways.https://www.frontiersin.org/articles/10.3389/fpsyg.2023.1154861/fullageproactive work behaviorintrinsic motivationcareer aspirationemotional exhaustion |
| spellingShingle | Wei Shi Jean Fan Yang Tianyi Sun Yizhi Zeng Zijun Cai Do people become more proactive at work as they grow older? Examining the mediating roles of intrinsic motivation, emotional exhaustion, and career aspiration Frontiers in Psychology age proactive work behavior intrinsic motivation career aspiration emotional exhaustion |
| title | Do people become more proactive at work as they grow older? Examining the mediating roles of intrinsic motivation, emotional exhaustion, and career aspiration |
| title_full | Do people become more proactive at work as they grow older? Examining the mediating roles of intrinsic motivation, emotional exhaustion, and career aspiration |
| title_fullStr | Do people become more proactive at work as they grow older? Examining the mediating roles of intrinsic motivation, emotional exhaustion, and career aspiration |
| title_full_unstemmed | Do people become more proactive at work as they grow older? Examining the mediating roles of intrinsic motivation, emotional exhaustion, and career aspiration |
| title_short | Do people become more proactive at work as they grow older? Examining the mediating roles of intrinsic motivation, emotional exhaustion, and career aspiration |
| title_sort | do people become more proactive at work as they grow older examining the mediating roles of intrinsic motivation emotional exhaustion and career aspiration |
| topic | age proactive work behavior intrinsic motivation career aspiration emotional exhaustion |
| url | https://www.frontiersin.org/articles/10.3389/fpsyg.2023.1154861/full |
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