Age pressure

Lecture



There is a set of circumstances that encourage the employee to make a decision about leaving the job. There are three aspects to this aggregate:
(1) changing needs, interests and abilities of a person,
(2) social expectations and (3) objective opportunities offered by organizations.

Do people change with age? If we talk about a career, the main changes concern the personality (i.e., needs and interests) and abilities (i.e. retaining the ability to perform work). Regarding the first, there is evidence that the basic personality traits persist until old age. Many abilities associated with work are retained from 55 to 70 years.

The “stage models” of career development show that a person’s needs are changing. Hall and Nauheim believe that this can be linked to more fundamental theories of human development.
Some aging researchers describe adaptation as an increasing acceptance of the end of life, expressed in a decrease in activity. This may be a way to prepare for the approaching death, but this is hardly the best metaphor for describing the experience of people aged 55 to 70 years. In this age group, there is no noticeable decline in physical and mental abilities, and what seems to be a decrease depends on a wide range of individual differences.

However, people older than 55 may think that they are not as able-bodied as before. They begin to believe that the funds invested in their personal development (this is necessary for the continuation of successful activities in a technologically changing working environment) will not pay off. They worry that their fellow workers will treat them worse and less interested in their ideas. This in turn can lead to the fact that a person becomes less inclined to put forward new ideas and contribute to the work of the group. However, an employee who is unsure of himself, when he needs to learn new skills, and is not committed to the work of the group, is likely to be unsuccessful regardless of age. Thus, changes in the consciousness of an elderly person are caused by the actions (occurring or expected) of the people around them.

In culture, explicit evaluative definitions are developed of what a person needs to be and how to behave at different ages. However, no one really knows what to be at this or that age. (For example, when American feminist Gloria Steinem turned 40, someone said she doesn't look forty. Steinem replied: “That's exactly how forty years old look.”) In most ambiguous situations, we look at how people behave, to understand what is expected and socially safe. As for aging, we evaluate it in accordance with social influence, since there are too few objective data that you need to be at a certain age.

This is especially true of work. We hear stories about ninety-year-olds, starting a new career, and about thirty-year-olds, leaving work. There is considerable variation in what people can actually do as they age. However, society imposes restrictions. People around ask an older worker if he is going to retire.
In the United States, retailers and property planners working with retirees are beginning to pester those people. In organizations, there are clearly defined standards of activity. These standards affect the assessment of people's work and the degree of their suitability to their position. These rules are expressed in policies and practices towards people of retirement age and the associated consequences in such diverse societies as Japan, Malaysia, Russia, Sweden, the United States.
Thus, most 55-year-old workers view their careers as being completed largely due to the social definition of their role. They refuse to be able to learn, because, like everyone around them, they believe that they will not have time to recoup the costs (money or effort) in the remaining, supposedly limited, period. At the age of fifty, professionals view their careers as unpredictable and time limited.
Therefore, they begin to prepare to leave work.
Organizations are inherently social, so it is not surprising that they embody social norms in their rules, policies, and procedures. In most cases, this happens hidden. Administrators are not aware of the fact that their organization is pursuing a social policy that promotes aging. Their organizational decisions create limitations within which people have to make choices related to personal careers.
It happens that older workers are offered training on conditions that are unattractive to them or do not offer to pass it at all. The problems and events in the lives of older workers are without much sympathy. Hints that retirement is expected from older employees are barely noticeable. They can be felt in retirement programs, in incentives for retired employees. The practice of remuneration and promotion, limiting the opportunities of the elderly, also pushes them to retire.
For a cold attitude to the continuation of the career of older workers, an organization can be blamed for age discrimination. In some cases, this charge is fair. However, the career of older workers is given so little time and attention that many employers may simply not realize the impact that they have on their employees.

created: 2015-12-25
updated: 2022-01-29
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Developmental Psychology and Developmental Psychology

Terms: Developmental Psychology and Developmental Psychology