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A closer look at the effects of subordinate–supervisor age differences
Author(s) -
Perry Elissa L.,
Kulik Carol T.,
Zhou Jing
Publication year - 1999
Publication title -
journal of organizational behavior
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 3.938
H-Index - 177
eISSN - 1099-1379
pISSN - 0894-3796
DOI - 10.1002/(sici)1099-1379(199905)20:3<341::aid-job915>3.0.co;2-d
Subject(s) - psychology , similarity (geometry) , organizational citizenship behavior , social psychology , attraction , work (physics) , significant difference , demography , organizational commitment , sociology , statistics , mechanical engineering , linguistics , philosophy , mathematics , artificial intelligence , computer science , engineering , image (mathematics)
Relational demography research has emphasized a similarity–attraction paradigm in explaining employees' reactions to demographic differences from other organizational members. This study examined similarity–attraction (nondirectional age differences) and status incongruence (directional age differences) predictions of age difference effects. The nondirectional and directional differences between the age of a subordinate and the ages of his or her immediate and higher‐level supervisors were used to predict employee absenteeism, citizenship, and work change behaviors. Results revealed that there were more significant and marginally significant directional age difference effects than nondirectional age difference effects on work outcomes. The implications of these results for organizations are discussed. Copyright © 1999 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.