scholarly journals It’s All about the Attitudes, not the Age: The Role of Future Time Perspective and Goal Orientation for Older Employees’ Employability

2018 ◽  
Author(s):  
Dominik Emanuel Froehlich
Keyword(s):  
Goal Orientation ◽  
Time Perspective ◽  
Emergency Services ◽  
Critical Issue ◽  
Future Time Perspective ◽  
Future Time ◽  
Positive Effects ◽  
Older Employees ◽  
Business Goals ◽  
The Difference

Adult learning is high on the international policy and research agenda. One major reason is the increasing share of older employees – especially in Western societies. However, older employees are often poorly integrated into the workplace and viewed as inflexible, as unwilling to learn, and as having obsolete knowledge, and therefore as not contributing to business goals. Stereotypes in the workplace often ignore the positive effects of age and amplify the severity of negative attributions and in turn might have adverse effects on older employees’ employability. In this study, we draw from socioemotional selectivity theory and goal orientation theory to investigate how older white-collar employees' attitudes relate to their employability. We hypothesize that attitudes about the future time and goal orientation affect employability while age does not.Data were gathered from 117 employees of a Dutch emergency services organization. While a direct relationship of chronological age on employability is often assumed (e.g. stereotypes that propose increasing inflexibility with age), our results show no such effects. Instead, attitudes about future time and goal orientation are what make the difference. This study addresses a critical issue and extends our knowledge of what role age and attitudes play for staying employable.

scholarly journals Old and Out? A social network approach towards age, self-responsibility, and their effects on employability

2018 ◽  
Author(s):  
Dominik Emanuel Froehlich
Keyword(s):  
Social Network ◽  
Older People ◽  
Goal Orientation ◽  
Time Perspective ◽  
Fluid Intelligence ◽  
Future Time Perspective ◽  
Future Perspective ◽  
Future Time ◽  
Negative Stereotypes ◽  
Older Employees

The share of older people on the workplace is increasing and thereby also the dependence of organizations on older employees rises. However, at the moment, older people are in general not well integrated into the workforce. This stresses the need for continuous learning in order to stay employable also in higher ages.Unfortunately, several factors limit the learning potential of older people in practice. Next to a decline in fluid intelligence, several negative stereotypes about old people exist on the workplace, especially in connection with learning and change. Empirical findings about age and learning on the workplace are inconsistent and give little guidance. We therefore aim to take a fresh look on the learning of older employees and focus especially on personal antecedents (goal orientation and future perspective) and the feedback exchange behavior of employees employing a social network analysis approach. Specifically, we hypothesize an effect of chronological age on goal orientation, which is partially mediated by future time perspective. A learning goal orientation and a open future time perspective are in turn hypothesized to be positively related to formal and informal learning (feedback seeking), which will eventually increase employability.After the basic model has been validated in different sectors and countries, a longitudinal field-study will be conducted in order to get a even more detailed look on the learning processes at the workplace.

Future Events Test: Equivalent Forms and Criminality

1981 ◽  
Vol 52 (1) ◽  
pp. 277-278
Author(s):  
W. A. M. Black ◽  
Paula Bennett ◽  
A. R. Wards
Keyword(s):  
Undergraduate Students ◽  
Time Perspective ◽  
Future Time Perspective ◽  
Future Time ◽  
The Future ◽  
Future Events ◽  
The Difference ◽  
Male Prisoners

In a study with 48 undergraduate students (24 male, 24 female) two forms of the Future Events Test correlated only moderately ( r = 0.43). In a further study, with offenders, using Form II of the test 40 male prisoners (25 Europeans, 15 Maoris) had a lower mean score than did 40 male parolees (25 Europeans, 15 Maoris) but the difference was significant for Maoris only. This suggests that the effects of imprisonment may be greater for Maoris than Europeans by inducing a foreshortening of future time perspective.

Aging and the motivation to stay employable

2016 ◽  
Vol 31 (3) ◽  
pp. 756-770 ◽  
Author(s):  
Dominik Emanuel Froehlich ◽  
Simon Beausaert ◽  
Mien Segers
Keyword(s):  
Goal Orientation ◽  
Human Resource ◽  
Time Perspective ◽  
Future Time Perspective ◽  
Equation Modeling ◽  
Chronological Age ◽  
Future Time ◽  
Mediation Effects ◽  
Content Type ◽  
The Relationship

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.

scholarly journals Obstacles open the door — Negative shocks can motivate individuals to focus on opportunities

2019 ◽  
Vol 13 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Jin Feng ◽  
Wenxia Zhou ◽  
Shuoyu Li ◽  
Mengyi Li
Keyword(s):  
Social Capital ◽  
Time Perspective ◽  
Future Time Perspective ◽  
Mediation Effect ◽  
Mediation Model ◽  
Future Time ◽  
Positive Dimension ◽  
Positive Effects ◽  
Moderated Mediation Model ◽  
The Relationship

AbstractBy responding to the call for research on negative career shocks and future time perspective, this study regarded internal social capital as a tool of resource retention which shifts attention to negative career shocks’ positive effects. We test a moderated mediation model which illustrates the effect of negative career shocks on focus on opportunities—positive dimension of occupational future time perspective. Results revealed that internal social capital acts as the mediator between negative career shocks and focus on opportunities, and organizational embeddedness moderats the mediation effect. The relationship is stronger when individuals are highly embedded in organizations.

Different Future Time Perspectives Interplay in Predicting Life Satisfaction

GeroPsych ◽  
2018 ◽  
Vol 31 (3) ◽  
pp. 103-113 ◽  
Author(s):  
Minjie Lu ◽  
Angel Y. Li ◽  
Helene H. Fung ◽  
Klaus Rothermund ◽  
Frieder R. Lang
Keyword(s):  
Life Satisfaction ◽  
Time Perspective ◽  
Well Being ◽  
Future Time Perspective ◽  
Hong Kong Chinese ◽  
Future Time ◽  
Time Perspectives ◽  
Time Extension ◽  
Future Self ◽  
The Relationship

Abstract. This study addresses prior mixed findings on the relationship between future time perspective (FTP) and well-being as well as examines the associations between three aspects of FTP and life satisfaction in the health and friendship domains. 159 Germans, 97 US Americans, and 240 Hong Kong Chinese, aged 19–86 years, completed a survey on future self-views (valence) and life satisfaction. They also reported the extent to which they perceived future time as expanded vs. limited (time extension) and meaningful (openness). Findings revealed that individuals with more positive future self-views had higher satisfaction. However, those who perceived their future as more meaningful or perceived more time in their future reported higher satisfaction even when future self-views were less positive.

Sign in / Sign up

Export Citation Format

Share Document