One threat, two paths: A social identity model of age discrimination's asymmetric impact on older workers' knowledge seeking and sharing.

Organizations risk losing invaluable expertise as the workforce ages, a problem exacerbated when age discrimination discourages older workers from sharing and seeking knowledge. Drawing on the workplace inclusion framework and work design theory, this study investigates a moderated mediation model w...

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Publicado en:Journal of Occupational & Organizational Psychology Vol. 99; no. 2; pp. 1 - 25
Autores principales: Zhang, Fangfang, Iles, Lucinda, Andrei, Daniela, Zoszak, Leah, Parker, Sharon K.
Formato: research tables/charts Journal Article
Publicado: Wiley-Blackwell Jun2026
Acceso en línea:Ver este registro en EBSCOhost
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      dt: Jun2026
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      pub: Wiley-Blackwell
      place: Malden, Massachusetts
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        atl: One threat, two paths: A social identity model of age discrimination's asymmetric impact on older workers' knowledge seeking and sharing.
      aug:
        au:
          Zhang, Fangfang
          Iles, Lucinda
          Andrei, Daniela
          Zoszak, Leah
          Parker, Sharon K.
        affil: Centre for Transformative Work Design, Future of Work Institute, Faculty of Business and Law, Curtin University, Perth Western Australia,, Australia
      sug:
        subj:
          Ageism
          Discrimination, Employment
          Learning Evaluation
          Professional Knowledge Evaluation
          Communication Evaluation
          Task Performance and Analysis
          White Collar Workers Psychosocial Factors
          Employee Attitudes Evaluation
          Human
          Middle Age
          Aged
          Funding Source
          Australia
          Quota Sample
          Summated Rating Scaling
          Social Inclusion
          Structural Equation Modeling
          Factor Analysis
          Data Analysis Software
          Descriptive Statistics
          Confidence Intervals
          Prediction Models
          Social Identity
          Sociological Theory
          Association (Research)
          Middle Aged: 45-64 years
          Aged: 65+ years
      ab: Organizations risk losing invaluable expertise as the workforce ages, a problem exacerbated when age discrimination discourages older workers from sharing and seeking knowledge. Drawing on the workplace inclusion framework and work design theory, this study investigates a moderated mediation model where perceived age discrimination hinders knowledge transfer by diminishing older workers' sense of belongingness and uniqueness. We further propose that task significance, a core work design feature, buffers these negative effects by making the broader impacts of older workers' efforts more salient and enhancing feelings of social embeddedness and contribution. A three‐wave time‐lagged survey of 296 older Australian workers supported our hypotheses. The results showed that age discrimination indirectly hindered knowledge sharing via diminished belongingness and uniqueness, but hindered knowledge seeking only via belongingness. Importantly, task significance buffered the negative impact of discrimination on both belongingness and uniqueness, thereby mitigating the negative indirect effects on knowledge transfer. These findings contribute to theory by distinguishing the distinct pathways through which age discrimination impairs knowledge transfer and by demonstrating that meaningful work can serve as a critical resource to protect older workers from age‐discriminatory environments.
      pubtype: Academic Journal
      doctype:
        research
        tables/charts
        Journal Article
      ougenre: Article
    language: English
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