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ERIC Number: EJ842451
Record Type: Journal
Publication Date: 2009
Pages: 17
Abstractor: As Provided
ISBN: N/A
ISSN: ISSN-0091-4150
EISSN: N/A
Age Differences in Responses to Conflict in the Workplace
Davis, Mark H.; Kraus, Linda A.; Capobianco, Sal
International Journal of Aging and Human Development, v68 n4 p339-355 2009
Socioemotional selectivity theory (SST) has been used successfully to explain age differences in interpersonal conflict behavior: older adults are generally less likely to engage in destructive responses, and more likely to employ nonconfrontational ones. However, this research has focused almost exclusively on conflict with intimates (spouses, family, friends), and has typically not examined conflict in the workplace. The present investigation uses behavior ratings made by bosses, peers, and subordinates of 2513 working adults to examine the association between age and workplace conflict behavior; more specifically, it tests three hypotheses generated from socioemotional selectivity theory. Consistent with predictions, raters generally agreed that older working adults were more likely to engage in nonconfrontational responses (yielding, delaying responding); also as expected, older and younger respondents did not consistently differ in their efforts to constructively solve conflict. Unexpectedly, little evidence was found that older adults engage in less active destructive behavior. (Contains 4 tables.)
Baywood Publishing Company, Inc. 26 Austin Avenue, P.O. Box 337, Amityville, NY 11701. Tel: 800-638-7819; Tel: 631-691-1270; Fax: 631-691-1770; e-mail: info@baywood.com; Web site: http://baywood.com
Publication Type: Journal Articles; Reports - Research
Education Level: N/A
Audience: N/A
Language: English
Sponsor: N/A
Authoring Institution: N/A
Grant or Contract Numbers: N/A