Gray, Idiosyncratic, and Generative: Fathoming the New Old Workforce

Abstract

We investigated the organizational implications of the relationship between the pro-social behavior of generativity and an aging workforce under assumptions of increasing mortality awareness. The study involved secondary analysis of data from an existing nationally representative random-digit-dial sample of non-institutionalized English-speaking adults, aged 25 to 74. The results provided empirical evidence of a direct path between employee self-acceptance and a potential for generativity, as well as an indirect path mediated by a desire for idiosyncratic social contribution. The respondents’ age moderated the direct path and the indirect path, but moderation of the indirect path was not as originally anticipated.