The Effect of Job Involvement on the Relation between Age Discrimination at Work and Job Satisfaction of Young Female and Male Employees

Abstract

Age discrimination is one of the most common forms of discrimination in the workplace and negatively impacts essential aspects of employees' work life, such as job satisfaction. It is mainly associated with older employees, although young employees are experiencing more age discrimination (Marchiondo et al., 2016). Therefore, the current study will focus on young employees. One aspect of work that can buffer against this negative effect on job satisfaction is job involvement. It is an important factor to increase job satisfaction and therefore, has a strong positive influence on it. Previous research found that women were more discriminated against because of their age in the workplace compared to men (Stypinska & Turek, 2017). Surprisingly, women had higher job satisfaction and involvement than men (Bender et al., 2005; Reid et al., 2008). Therefore, this study hypothesizes that age discrimination at work is negatively associated with low job satisfaction. This association will be moderated by job involvement. Further, this moderation will be moderated by gender, to determine gender differences in young employees for the impact of job involvement on the relation between age discrimination at work and job satisfaction. The sample consisted of 308 respondents, 192 female and 116 male employees between 18 and 30. The outcomes revealed that the first hypothesis was supported, while the second and third were not supported. The implications of this study are that organizations should offer educational workshops about age discrimination and create a positive work climate. The study showed that age discrimination also affects young employees, and not just older employees.