Work Across the Lifespan - University of La Verne · 2019. 3. 5. · Chapter 9 Lifespan...
Transcript of Work Across the Lifespan - University of La Verne · 2019. 3. 5. · Chapter 9 Lifespan...
Work Across theLifespan
Edited by
Boris B. BaltesDepartment of Psychology, Wayne State University,
Detroit, MI, United States
Cort W. RudolphDepartment of Psychology, Saint Louis University,
St. Louis, MO, United States
Hannes ZacherInstitute of Psychology, Leipzig University, Leipzig, Germany
Academic Press is an imprint of Elsevier
125 London Wall, London EC2Y 5AS, United Kingdom
525 B Street, Suite 1650, San Diego, CA 92101, United States
50 Hampshire Street, 5th Floor, Cambridge, MA 02139, United States
The Boulevard, Langford Lane, Kidlington, Oxford OX5 1GB, United Kingdom
Copyright r 2019 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.
No part of this publication may be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic
or mechanical, including photocopying, recording, or any information storage and retrieval system,
without permission in writing from the publisher. Details on how to seek permission, further
information about the Publisher’s permissions policies and our arrangements with organizations such
as the Copyright Clearance Center and the Copyright Licensing Agency, can be found at our website:
www.elsevier.com/permissions.
This book and the individual contributions contained in it are protected under copyright by the
Publisher (other than as may be noted herein).
Notices
Knowledge and best practice in this field are constantly changing. As new research and experience
broaden our understanding, changes in research methods, professional practices, or medical treatment
may become necessary.
Practitioners and researchers must always rely on their own experience and knowledge in evaluating
and using any information, methods, compounds, or experiments described herein. In using such
information or methods they should be mindful of their own safety and the safety of others, including
parties for whom they have a professional responsibility.
To the fullest extent of the law, neither the Publisher nor the authors, contributors, or editors, assume
any liability for any injury and/or damage to persons or property as a matter of products liability,
negligence or otherwise, or from any use or operation of any methods, products, instructions, or ideas
contained in the material herein.
British Library Cataloguing-in-Publication Data
A catalogue record for this book is available from the British Library
Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data
A catalog record for this book is available from the Library of Congress
ISBN: 978-0-12-812756-8
For Information on all Academic Press publications
visit our website at https://www.elsevier.com/books-and-journals
Publisher: Nikki Levy
Acquisition Editor: Emily Ekle
Editorial Project Manager: Barbara Makinster
Production Project Manager: Anusha Sambamoorthy
Cover Designer: Mark Rogers
Typeset by MPS Limited, Chennai, India
Chapter 9
Lifespan Perspectives onSuccessful Aging at Work
Deborah A. Olson1 and Kenneth S. Shultz21Department of Management and Leadership, College of Business and Public Management,
University of La Verne, La Verne, CA, United States, 2Department of Psychology, California
State University, San Bernardino, CA, United States
The concept of successful aging was initially proposed in the gerontological
literature in the 1960s (e.g., Atchley, 1971; Cumming & Henry, 1961;
Havighurst, 1961; Neugarten, 1972). However, it wasn’t until Rowe and
Kahn (1987) published their paper on the MacArthur Model of successful
aging in Science that the focus shifted from defining successful aging as an
absence of disease and decline to asserting the importance of health and
growth as the basis for aging successfully (Pruncho & Carr, 2017). The origi-
nal MacArthur Model has three primary components: low risk of disease and
disease-related disability; maintenance of strong mental and physical func-
tion; and continued engagement with life, including both paid and unpaid
(volunteer) productive activities. However, successful aging in the original
MacArthur Model has been criticized for focusing primarily at the individual
level of personal agency (e.g., the need to engage in health promoting beha-
viors), while ignoring macro-level influences on successful aging which are
often out of the control of the individual, such as societal norms and policies
related to gender, race, and socioeconomic status differences (c.f., Katz &
Calasanti, 2015).
More recently, Rowe and Kahn (2015) discussed an extension of the orig-
inal McArthur Model of successful aging, labeling it “Successful Aging 2.0:
Conceptual expansions for the 21st century”. The interdisciplinary
MacArthur Research Network on an Aging Society came together in 2007 to
identify both the problems and potentialities of societal aging. The network
identified four key criteria related to successful aging at the societal level:
productivity and engagement; cohesion among generations; balancing the
215Work Across the Lifespan. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1016/B978-0-12-812756-8.00009-8
© 2019 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.
risks and benefits of an aging society; as well as resilience to stress, and sus-
tainability of functioning over time. Thus, to the extent that society can cre-
ate a context in which all four of these criteria can be optimized, the
individual’s ability to age successfully will be enhanced.
In that vein, Rowe and Kahn (2015) discussed three main goals for scho-
lars and policy makers who wish to optimize the context for successful aging
at both the societal and individual levels. First, core societal institutions
including schools, colleges, workplaces, hospitals, and families need to be
reengineered to serve an increasingly age diverse society better. Second,
there is the need to adopt a life course perspective to redistribute life’s major
activities (e.g., education, work, retirement, childrearing, leisure) across the
lifespan better to match the 21st century reality of an aging society. And,
third, Rowe and Kahn discuss the need to focus on human capital and the
productivity gains that are created by the “longevity dividend” provided by
extended lifespans.
One will notice immediately that all three of the goals touch upon the
areas of work and employment. The first goal of reengineering societal insti-
tutions, for example, prominently emphasizes the significant role of work-
places and successful aging. Meanwhile, the second goal of redistributing
major life activities includes realizing that learning does not end after one
completes high school or college, but rather continuous learning will need to
occur throughout our lifetimes. This need directly impacts our job opportu-
nities and ultimately how our careers unfold in the 21st century. The third
goal of focusing on human capital speaks directly to longer work lives,
whether individuals continue in their careers or engage in bridge employ-
ment or volunteer work as they transition from their career pursuits toward
retirement (Wang, Adams, Beehr, & Shultz, 2009). However, before we
explore successful aging at work more in depth, we will first discuss lifespan
perspectives on successful aging more broadly.
LIFESPAN PERSPECTIVES ON SUCCESSFUL AGING
While Successful Aging 2.0 takes a broad, macro approach to studying suc-
cessful aging (i.e., a societal level view), it is not technically a lifespan per-
spectives on successful aging. The lifespan perspective, as the name implies,
examines the entire life course from childhood to old age. However, as
Zacher and Rudolph (2017) recently noted, in practice most empirical
research using the lifespan approach focuses on older adults (e.g., age 60
years and older) who are often already outside the workplace. Below we
briefly discuss two, broad-based lifespan perspectives that have been applied
to, and are particularly relevant to our understanding of successful aging at
work. See Zacher and Rudolph (2017), as well as other related chapters in
this volume, for a full discussion of other relevant lifespan theories.
216 PART | II Lifespan Perspectives on Working and Careers
Baltes and Baltes (1990); Baltes (1997) selection, optimization, and com-
pensation model is a meta-theoretical perspectives on development across
the lifespan that focuses primarily on older individuals (age 60 years and
older) and approaches used to maintain basic functions of daily activities. In
the model, selection refers to the process individuals use to bring focus and
prioritize goals as they age. Whereas, optimization is about maximizing the
resources individuals currently possess (e.g., focusing more on crystalized
versus fluid intelligence as we age), while compensation is about bringing in
additional resources (e.g., using hearing aids to compensate for age-related
degradation in auditory capacity). While the model was initially applied to
gerontological issues of advanced aging, in the past few decades it has also
been applied to a multitude of organizational topics.
For example, in a recent summary of the research applying the selection,
optimization, and compensation framework to organizational issues,
Moghimi, Zacher, Scheibe, and Von Yperen (2017) found that implementa-
tion of the three strategies positively influences a variety of organizational
outcomes, including job satisfaction, employee engagement, and job perfor-
mance. Thus, the model clearly has had a significant influence on how orga-
nizational scientists have examined successful aging at work.
Another prominent theory of successful aging is the motivational theory
of lifespan development (Heckhausen, 2006). The theory proposes two con-
trol mechanisms that can be used to promote successful aging. The first, pri-
mary control mechanism involves attempts to control or influence one’s
environment. For example, seeking a new job that that has more supportive
leaders and coworkers would be a form of primary control whereby indivi-
duals take the initiative to change their environment to foster successful
aging. The secondary control mechanism involves attempts to adapt to one’s
existing environment rather than control or influence it directly. For exam-
ple, if an individual seeks social support from family or coworkers as an
adaptive mechanism to an unsupportive work environment, then the individ-
ual is not working to control the environment, but rather adapting to it via
relying on secondary control mechanisms. In many instances, it is not possi-
ble for the individual directly to influence or control the environment itself,
and so, as a result, secondary, adaptive mechanisms are a logical way to
facilitate successful aging. As the example above suggests, the motivational
theory of lifespan development, like the selection, optimization, and compen-
sation model, has direct applications to successful aging at work as well.
While lifespan theories of successful aging have been popular and well-
studied in the gerontological literature, they are not without their critics.
Most notably, lifespan theories often fail to integrate context into their expla-
nations of developmental change. Said another way, lifespan theories tend to
focus on the processes of intraindividual development (i.e., ontogenesis),
while often neglecting extraindividual influences of context on development
(i.e., sociogenesis). As a result, person-by-context interactions are typically
Lifespan Perspectives on Successful Aging at Work Chapter | 9 217
not examined (Zacher & Rudolph, 2017). Therefore, below we briefly dis-
cuss three perspectives on successful aging at work that take a broader
systems-based, multiactor (e.g., employees, organizations, families, govern-
ments) perspective, thus accounting for broader contextual factors.
SUCCESSFUL AGING AT WORK
As noted earlier, all three goals listed by Rowe and Kahn (2015) (i.e., reengi-
neering core societal institutions, adopting a life course perspective, and
focusing on human capital) speak conspicuously to the workplace. While
theorizing on successful aging in gerontology has traditionally focused on
individuals in the 60-years-old and older age range, focusing on successful
aging at work requires that we focus on a somewhat younger cohort, often in
the 40 to 60-year-old age range or what gerontologists often refer to as mid-
life. Although with labor force participation continuing to climb at older
ages (Toossi, 2013), an upper age limit closer to 70 or older is becoming
more appropriate when studying successful aging at work.
Some two decades ago, Abraham and Hansson (1995), as well as
Hansson, DeKoekkoek, Neece, and Patterson (1997), helped to bring the
concept of successful aging at work into the mainstream. In the former study,
Abraham and Hansson surveyed 224 working adults ranging in age from 40
to 69 and examined their use of selection, optimization, and compensation
strategies to maintain their levels of job performance despite age related
declines. Their results “suggest that the SOC model of successful aging may
be useful in explaining how older workers can maintain important job com-
petencies. Correlational evidence also suggests, however, that characteristics
of the job, workplace, and individuals may mediate the initiation and effec-
tiveness of SOC behaviors” (p. 94). Thus, the Abraham and Hansson study
served two formative purposes. First, it was one of the first studies to apply
the broadly defined selection, optimization, and compensation model of suc-
cessful aging specifically to the workplace. Second, the authors took a
systems-based, multiactor perspective regarding successful aging at work,
thus setting the stage for future researchers to integrate contextual factors,
such as the workplace policies toward older workers, when studying success-
ful aging at work.
Meanwhile, in a review paper two years later, Hansson et al. (1997) pro-
vided an examination and integration of the successful aging-at-work litera-
ture. While the timeframe of the review was somewhat limited (i.e.,
1992�6), it was the first comprehensive review of the literature on success-
ful aging specifically in the work context. In addition, while successful aging
in the workplace was only one of seven related areas reviewed (e.g., retire-
ment, careers, older worker health, age discrimination), it also served as an
overarching theme or organizing framework for the review. Thus, successful
218 PART | II Lifespan Perspectives on Working and Careers
aging at work became the meta-theoretical framework for reviewing a wide
variety of work-related issues particularly important for older workers (e.g.,
age discrimination).
In later empirical studies, Robson, Hansson, Abalos, and Booth (2006)
examined “criteria older workers use to evaluate their success in aging in the
workplace” (p. 156). Based on a survey of over 200 older workers, Robson
et al. identified five distinct self-reported criteria for successful aging at
work. These criteria included: (1) adaptability and health, (2) positive rela-
tionships, (3) occupational growth, (4) personal security, and (5) continued
focus and achievement of personal goals. Each of the five dimensions was
positively correlated to workers’ self-perceptions of successful aging (i.e.,
ratings of how well they had aged compared to their same-aged peers), with
adaptability and health having the strongest relationship and personal secu-
rity having the weakest relationship with workers’ self-perceptions of suc-
cessful aging at work.
In a follow-up article, Robson and Hansson (2007) focused on behavioral
strategies (i.e., proactive behaviors) in which older workers engaged to age
successfully at work. In a two-part study of over 250 workers, Robson and
Hansson identified seven dimensions of behavioral strategies related to suc-
cessful aging at work via factor analyses: (1) relationship development, (2)
ensuring security, (3) continuous learning, (4) stress relief, (5) skill exten-
sion, (6) career management, and (7) conscientiousness. All seven of these
behavioral strategies were positively correlated with workers’ self-
perceptions of successful aging at work identified in their 2006 study. In
addition, the worker’s age moderated the relationships between the behav-
ioral strategies of relationship development and skill extension with per-
ceived success, where the strategies were less strongly related to perceived
success among older compared to younger workers.
More recently, Zacher (2015a,b) provided a working definition, and a
theoretical framework, for investigating successful aging at work. Zacher
and his colleagues (e.g., Zacher, 2015a,b; Zacher & Rudolph, 2017) have
recently provided comprehensive reviews of the successful aging-at-work lit-
erature. For example, Zacher (2015a) offers one of the first explicit, clear,
and concrete definitions of successful aging at work. Namely,
Successful aging at work involves a comparison of employees’ intraindividual
age-related trajectories of a work outcome over time and across working
lifespan with other employees’ age-related trajectories of the same outcome.
Employees whose trajectories deviate positively from the average trajectory
are aging successfully at work (p. 9).
Zacher then goes on to outline four key themes of successful aging at
work. First, he examines the criteria associated with successful aging at
work. That is, both the objective and subjective work outcomes that are
Lifespan Perspectives on Successful Aging at Work Chapter | 9 219
valued by both employees and organizations. Next, he tackles the need to
focus on explanatory mechanism behind successful aging at work, such as
investigating age as a potential moderator. He then moves on to discuss the
potential constraining and facilitating factors that help to explain differences
in successful aging outcomes across different ages. Finally, he emphasizes
the need to look at temporal patterns that can be operationalized by examin-
ing intraindividual age-related changes in criteria over time and across the
lifespan.
In laying out these four key themes, Zacher (2015a) provides one of the
first comprehensive theoretical frameworks for fully investigating and under-
standing successful aging at work. He then provides a series of figures that
would allow researchers to compare their findings to see if, in fact, their
results support his definition of successful aging at work. In addition, Zacher
summarizes his theoretical framework of successful aging at work in a
figure that has employee age as the key antecedent, a variety of personal
(e.g., knowledge, skills) and contextual (e.g., work characteristics) modera-
tors and mediators, and a variety of work outcomes (e.g., work motivation,
job performance, turnover, and occupational health and wellbeing) (see
Zacher, 2015a, Fig. 2, p. 11).
Kooij (2015a,b) also recently outlined her own theoretical perspectives
on successful aging at work. The focus of her theoretical model was on employ-
ees’ proactive behaviors, the maintenance of the fit between employees and their
jobs, and sustainable management of personal resources (i.e., work ability). As a
result, in Kooij’s model of successful aging at work, employees need to play a
proactive role in maintaining their physical and mental health, work motivation,
and work ability in order to sustain performance in their present and future
work lives. That is, they need to engage in both proactive person-job fit and
proactive career behaviors to maintain person-job fit. In addition, Kooij argues
that the effect of a continuous person-job fit on the maintenance of health,
motivation, and work ability is mediated by employees’ effective management
of their personal resources. Thus, just as with the selection, optimization, and
compensation model discussed earlier, engaging in maintenance behaviors may
require a tradeoff between depletion of resources by engaging in such proactive
behaviors and the gains obtained in person-job and career fit by engaging in
those same behaviors.
In the remainder of our chapter, we will use Kooij’s (2015a,b) model as
our meta-theoretical framework that emphasizes the employee’s active role
in promoting successful aging at work (see also, Zacher & Kooij, 2017).
Engaging in proactive behaviors, in Kooij’s model, leads to maintaining
person�job fit throughout the life course, which, in turn, leads to key
successful aging at work outcomes such as maintaining one’s health, motivation,
and work ability. Therefore, we next incorporate several prominent theories that
speak directly to engaging in proactive work behaviors that promote successful
aging at work.
220 PART | II Lifespan Perspectives on Working and Careers
PROACTIVE BEHAVIORS: ACTIVELY SHAPING WORK ANDRELATIONSHIPS
Adapting and responding to changes and opportunities positively contributes
to successful development over the course of one’s lifespan. Active adapta-
tion to both internal and external changes is essential for successful adapta-
tion. Changes can be imposed externally (i.e., through market and consumer
shifts that impact products, services, and jobs), but also emerge naturally as
part of experiences as we age (i.e., graduations, marriages, children, aging
parents). The decisions and choices that individuals make in response to the
changes they face impact the outcomes they experience both personally and
professionally. Proactive behaviors focused on approaches that optimize per-
formance and eliminating and/or reducing obstacles that interfere with prog-
ress toward desired outcomes impacts successful aging at work.
Over the life course, individuals who make choices to use their strengths
at work and prioritize tasks to invest time working on tasks they find most
interesting and engaging tend to optimize their performance overall
(Cleveland, Fisher, & Walters, 2017). To respond effectively to changes,
tasks that are unattainable or unrealistic considering available resources or
the prevailing political environment in the organization (i.e., understanding
what can be done within the culture of the organization) need to be aban-
doned. Kooji (2015a) provides a comprehensive review of the proactive
behaviors in which individuals can engage to facilitate successful aging at
work, including seeking additional training and mentoring, as well as goal
setting and emotion regulation. In addition, the lifespan development litera-
ture supports the contention that as individuals age, they take an active role
in responding to and shaping the environment in ways that optimize the out-
comes they value given the resources that are available to them (Rudolph,
2016).
In addition, the literature focused on person-environment fit and proactive
behavior in organizational psychology delineates a wide range of behaviors
that are related to successful aging at work. Job crafting serves as a linchpin
integrating the proactive approach individuals use to optimize the fit between
the strengths they possess and the targeted results desired by the organization
to optimize person�environment fit (Kira, Van Eijnatten, & Balkin, 2010;
Wrzesniewski & Dutton, 2001). Personal strengths are unique combinations
of characteristics and behaviors that impact how individuals approach work
to optimize relationships and performance (Wood, Linley, Maltby, Kashdan,
& Hurling, 2011). Strengths are not static, however. Over time, individuals
proactively create opportunities to use their strengths at work and expand
their knowledge and skills that contribute to the development of their
strengths (Buckingham & Clifton, 2001; Lang & Carstensen, 2002; Wang,
Olson, & Shultz, 2013). The job demands-resources model of job crafting
delineated by Tims and Bakker (2010) increased the research and focus on
Lifespan Perspectives on Successful Aging at Work Chapter | 9 221
the importance of job crafting as a process that optimizes individual well-
being and performance.
OPTIMIZING PERSON�JOB FIT: CRAFTING TO STRENGTHS
Strategies to optimize person-job fit have been found to predict performance,
engagement, and satisfaction at work (Hartner, Schmidt, & Hayes, 2002;
Kristof-Brown, Zimmerman, & Johnson, 2005). The concept and practices
related to job crafting have been utilized to optimize person-job fit since the
late 1980s. Considering the continuous internal and external changes that
impact organizations today, job crafting offers a more adaptive and timely
response to rapidly changing conditions than the traditional process used by
organizations to redesign jobs.
Berg, Dutton, and Wrzesniewski (2013) asserted that individual’s
strengths, motives, and interests serve as a unique lens through which to
develop strategies to adapt job tasks and processes to improve job perfor-
mance. Job crafting can take multiple forms and thus contributes to success-
ful aging at work through the actions individuals take to create and sustain a
clear and evolving definition of their work, as well as who they are in rela-
tionship to their work. In addition, job crafting is an active process through
which individuals take the initiative to sustain meaning and engagement in
their work. This process impacts individual motivation, engagement, and
well-being through fostering the development of strengths and skills that
increase person-job fit. More specifically, job crafting specifically focuses on
changing the perceived characteristics of the job that differentiates it from
other proactive work behaviors, such as taking personal initiative (Demerouti
& Bakker, 2014).
Wrzesniewski and Dutton (2001) identified three primary dimensions of
job crafting behaviors: task, cognitive, and relational. With task crafting,
individuals focus on changing the boundaries of their work and the
approaches they use to complete tasks. This form of crafting allows indivi-
duals to adapt to changes in performance requirements in response to outside
pressures (i.e., to increase performance related to new competitors in the
market, implementation of technology that changes the approaches and pro-
cesses used to complete tasks) and also develop new ways to improve task
performance and increase efficiency by applying knowledge and experience
in new ways. Changes associated with task crafting benefit the organization
and team by increasing performance and efficiency related to achieving key
goals set by the organization. Task crafting also benefits individuals by
maintaining interesting and challenging work that provides opportunities for
continuous learning and developing new approaches to complete tasks.
Cognitive crafting is the process of reframing how one views one’s role.
Individuals may reframe the tasks they need to complete by focusing on the
overall purpose of their work and view their work as an integrated whole.
222 PART | II Lifespan Perspectives on Working and Careers
For example, teachers may focus on the purpose of facilitating the develop-
ment of students to expand their critical thinking skills in ways that allow
them to more successfully navigate the plethora of information that bom-
bards them daily rather than focusing on the (sometimes excruciating) details
associated with writing lesson plans, grading assignments, and managing dis-
ruptive classroom behaviors. As a result, cognitive crafting changes the
boundaries of how individuals see their jobs (e.g., I am influencing students’
lives by fostering and nurturing the development of their critical thinking
and leadership skills).
Relational crafting emphasizes the importance of who individuals work
with as they complete tasks. Individuals seek out others whom they prefer to
work with as they complete tasks and assignments. This includes individuals
with whom they enjoy working who may: (1) possess complementary skills
that assist them in completing work in a high-quality manner, (2) provide
unique perspectives to help them develop creative approaches and innova-
tions, as well as (3) fulfill social needs through working with and developing
collaborative relationships and meaningful attachments at work (Rath, 2007).
In a recent field study, Kooij, van Woerkom, Wilkenloh, Dorenbosch,
and Denissen (2017) implemented an intervention to identify the impact of
crafting jobs focused specifically on crafting tasks to utilize individuals’
strengths and interests. Results from their intervention demonstrated that job
crafting initiated by the individuals who were specifically linked to their
strengths positively impacted older worker performance and effectiveness,
but did not impact the performance of younger workers. This is an important
contribution to our understanding the impact of job crafting on successful
aging at work. Specifically, as employees age, they develop more self-
confidence, self-awareness, and dominance at work, which positively contri-
butes to their ability to craft their roles at work and align their actions with
their strengths in ways that optimizes performance (Roberts, Walton, &
Viechtbauer, 2006). Therefore, one important factor in aging successfully at
work is related to self-awareness and building an environment that facilitates
the ability to use ones’ strengths in meaningful ways.
In an effort to synthesize the literature on job crafting, Rudolph, Katz,
Lavigne, and Zacher (2017) recently completed a meta-analysis of the
research conducted to date on job crafting related to proactive behaviors that
facilitate and optimize person�job fit. They used the four dimensions of job
crafting proposed by Tims, Bakker, and Derks (2012). The dimensions were:
(1) seeking out increasingly more challenging work and volunteering to
work outside one’s current role; (2) reducing and eliminating job tasks that
negatively impact physical, cognitive, or emotional well-being through mini-
mizing work/life imbalances and excessive workload; (3) expanding auton-
omy and task variety to facilitate structural resources that positively impact
motivation; and (4) expanding social resources that increase support from
colleagues and seeking out feedback and advice from others at work. Results
Lifespan Perspectives on Successful Aging at Work Chapter | 9 223
showed that overall job crafting, as a composite of all four dimensions
defined in Tims et al, was related to agreeableness, conscientiousness, extra-
version, and openness to experience (Big Five dimensions), proactive person-
ality, and general self-efficacy.
MOTIVATIONAL MAINTENANCE AND SUCCESSFUL AGING:INTRINSIC GOALS
The motivational maintenance perspective asserts that motivation remains
stable over the life course. This stability is fueled by interests and strengths
that are actively nurtured by the choices and decisions made by individuals
to engage in work that they find motivating (Krapp, 2005). Motivational
maintenance over the life course is supported by research in the adult con-
tinuing education literature (Gegenfurtner & Vauras, 2012), as well as
research on workplace curiosity and aging (Reio & Callahan, 2004; Reio &
Choi, 2006; Reio & Wiswell, 2000). In an organizational context, curiosity
is defined as a state of emotional arousal that motivates information seeking
and exploratory actions that reduce uncertainty while also facilitating learn-
ing. Motivation that is fueled by curiosity becomes self-sustaining over the
course of one’s working life as new situations and challenges emerge. As a
result, motivation is sustained as new problems and opportunities arise,
which in turn require individuals to develop new approaches and learn new
skills to optimize performance.
Motives and values are influenced and refined through experiences across
the life course, including important experiences at work (Rudolph, Baltes, &
Zabel, 2013). Work values can also be influenced by developments occurring
within one’s occupation or overall cultural trends. For example, in the 1980s
and 1990s, the ability to afford to retire early was seen as an important out-
come that, when achieved, contributed to individuals’ ability to freely pursue
leisure and personal interests outside of paid work roles. However, the trend
more recently has been toward working longer (Toossi, 2013) not only to
address economic needs for individuals, but also to meet important intrinsic
needs related to need for achievement (i.e., continued learning and develop-
ment within one’s area of expertise) and need for affiliation (i.e., social
needs and the importance of friends at work). This more recent cultural trend
to continue in work roles past traditional retirement age to meet one’s intrin-
sic needs is supported by the theory of motivational maintenance across the
life course (Gegenfurtner & Vauras, 2012; Krapp, 2005).
Kooij, de Lange, Jansen, Kanfer, and Kikkers (2011) meta-analysis found
a positive relationship between aging and the importance of intrinsic need
satisfaction at work over the life course. Specifically, as workers age, they
expressed a higher need for intrinsic motive satisfaction related to feelings of
accomplishment, use of skills, autonomy, and enjoyment of work. Results
showed that as workers age, they placed less emphasis on extrinsic need
224 PART | II Lifespan Perspectives on Working and Careers
satisfaction related to financial compensation and prestige (Kooji et al.,
2011). The results of this meta-analysis found that as one ages, the motive to
engage in continuous learning (i.e., growth need) declined. This was inter-
preted as supporting the selection, optimization, and compensation model
that asserts that as individuals age they compensate for losses, related to cog-
nitive declines that make it more challenging to learn new information and
develop new skills, by reducing the amount of time they invest in formal
training activities at work.
An alternative interpretation is that as one ages, individuals have a broad-
er network of people to whom they can turn for information and training via
informal interactions, as well as their ability to engage in autonomous learn-
ing (i.e., web searches and self-initiated tutorials) (Marsick & Watkins,
2001). As a result, successful aging at work may indeed be impacted by
one’s ability to maintain and expand learning through drawing on resources
that have been nurtured over the course of one’s career and integrate those
people and resources as situations warrant (Heckhausen & Schulz, 1995).
MEASURES OF CAREER SUCCESS: THE IMPORTANCE OFMEANINGFUL WORK ACROSS THE LIFE COURSE
A comprehensive definition of career success needs to include both subjec-
tive (e.g., meaningful work linked to purpose and autonomy) and objective
(e.g., economic, promotion, prestige) measures (Olson & Shultz, 2013).
Decades of research (Baltes, Rudolph, & Bal, 2012; MOWIRT, 1987) indi-
cates that across occupations, age, and cultures, up to 95% of individuals
indicated that they would continue working even if they did not have to do
so for economic reasons. Individuals measure the success of each career step
quantitatively (e.g., promotions, salary increases) and qualitatively (e.g., per-
ceived autonomy, learning and growth, feelings of making a contribution).
However, the relative importance of financial and nonfinancial outcomes
received for investing time and energy at work changes over the course of
one’s career. For example, Loi and Shultz (2007) found that the emphasis on
pay and benefits is highest at midlife due to costs related to children, aging
parents, college costs, and mortgage, and that once those obligations are met,
the importance of financial measures of success decline as one ages. Thus,
successful aging at work is linked to both objective and subjective outcomes
achieved over the life course. This is important since needs and aspirations
change as individuals go through different life stages (e.g., graduation from
college, marriage/committed relationships, birth of children, aging parents).
Finding meaning in one’s work roles is essential throughout the life
course (Fairlie, 2010; Zacher, 2015a). For example, Fairlie (2013) found that
engagement in meaningful work impacted feelings of success at work across
all individuals in the workforce, regardless of their age. Rather than focus on
spurious claims that younger workers are in search of meaning at work
Lifespan Perspectives on Successful Aging at Work Chapter | 9 225
(Salzberg, 2012) or only as individuals age, meaningful work has a greater
impact on sustained motivation than extrinsic rewards (Carstensen, 1995,
2006), the focus of organizational leaders can be on reinforcing the meaning-
fulness of work employees are engaged in at all ages and career stages.
Dimensions of meaning gained through work are related to important out-
comes that individuals seek over their life course (Kotter-Gruhn, Wiest,
Zurek, & Scheibe, 2009), what makes people happy (Sheldon, Elliot, Kim, &
Kasser, 2001), and are linked to higher levels of well-being (Keyes, 2007;
McKnight & Kashdan, 2009).
While there are individual differences in how meaningful work is defined,
common attributes include: work provides the opportunity to reach one’s full
potential; contributes to one’s ability to leave a legacy, fulfill one’s life pur-
pose; is congruent with one’s values and goals; fulfills the need for personal
accomplishment; and facilitates fully one’s ability to actualize their potential
(Baumeister, 1991; Emmons, 1999; Nakamura & Csikszentmihalyi, 2003;
Ryan & Deci, 2000; Ryff & Keyes, 1995). Rosso, Dekas, and Wrzesniewski
(2010) offered an integrative model that delineates four major pathways to
finding meaningful work. This model provides a synthesis of agency (i.e.,
the drive to assert, expand, master, and create through one’s individual
actions) and communion (i.e., the drive to develop meaningful connections,
attachments, and relationships with others). The four pathways to meaningful
work delineated by Rosso et al include: (1) Individuation whereby meaning
is created through actions that distinguish individuals as competent, valuable,
and worthy; (2) Contribution creates meaning through taking action to make
a significant impact by being of service to something or someone beyond
oneself; (3) Connection reflects meaningfulness through engaging in actions
that create alignment between individual “current” versus “ideal” self; and
(4) Unification reflects meaningfulness through creating harmony among
individuals and principles that they value. In summary, the definition of
what is meaningful may evolve as one’s career unfolds and new levels of
mastery are achieved through one’s work (Olson & Shultz, 2013). Thus, suc-
cessful aging at work is related to the experience of meaning at work that
contributes to feelings of success and accomplishment as one’s career
unfolds (Fairlie, 2013).
CAREER SELF-MANAGEMENT
Career changes and transitions occur across the lifespan that also impacts
successful aging at work (Yoo & Lee, 2017). Managing these changes and
transitions is an essential aspect of career self-management and thus an inte-
gral part of successful aging at work. Changes in careers can be precipitated
by both macro- and micro-level conditions and opportunities. At the macro
level, economic changes and the patterns of population aging impact career
options and alternatives. The economic downturns in 2000 and 2008 in the
226 PART | II Lifespan Perspectives on Working and Careers
United States, for example, significantly impacted the need for workers to
stay in the work force longer to recover the financial and pension losses that
were caused by both economic downturns.
In addition, organizations have also changed their shape and flattened
their structures in efforts to streamline and maintain competitiveness in the
global markets. These changes have led to more turbulent and less
predictable career options (Liu, Englar-Carlson, & Minichiello, 2012),
which, in turn, impacts the need for individuals to assume full responsibility
for forging career paths that are customized to their needs, abilities, and per-
sonal circumstances (Jung & Takeuchi, 2017). What has traditionally been
the purview of organizations to provide career paths and continuous develop-
ment of individuals to meet the needs for organizational growth and market
expansion has been replaced with the emphasis on processes that are owned
and managed by individuals (Shultz & Olson, 2013; Yoo & Lee, 2017).
This macro evolution occurs based on the deep understanding that I have
to manage my own career. This includes taking specific steps to identify
work that meets one’s needs and is congruent with one’s values (DeVos &
Seegers, 2013). Ongoing environmental scanning for opportunities and net-
working opportunities to identify and create options for the near and long-
term future impact one’s ability to successfully age at work (Kanfer &
Ackerman, 2004). In the current organizational context, workers are clearly
aware of the importance of continuous adaptation to new circumstances that
parallel developmental milestones that occur over the life course (Kahana,
Kelley-Moore, & Kahana, 2012). As individuals age, they have more under-
standing of their options and greater self-awareness about which strategies
and tactics best help them respond to time pressure, interpersonal stress,
changes at work, and other work-related factors (Parker & Collins, 2010:
Schwartz, 2007, Seibert, Kraimer, & Crant, 2001).
BROADER TRENDS AND WORK ABILITY
Organizations continue to change to adapt to their environments. As such, to
remain successful, individuals need to adapt to age successfully at work
(Shultz & Olson, 2013). For example, organizational structures (i.e., hierar-
chy toward matrix, organic organizational designs) and cultures (i.e., corpo-
rate headquarters dominated by the country of origin versus globalization;
multicultural workers) can change significantly over the course of one’s
career. As a result, proactive planning and agile responses are essential for
successful aging at work (McGonagle, Fisher, Barnes-Farrell, & Grosh,
2015). What was not imaginable 30 years ago is the reality today; defined
benefits for retirement are virtually nonexistent for most jobs, with the shift
to defined contributions and independent planning for one’s nonwork/retire-
ment years being the norm (Hardy & Reyes, 2016). Older workers’ experi-
ence and background can assist them in understanding the evolution of this
Lifespan Perspectives on Successful Aging at Work Chapter | 9 227
complexity. It is clear that there is a need now to replace age-graded life
course with an age-integrated life course (Hardy & Reyes, 2016; Shultz &
Olson, 2013). While removing the age-graded expectations and boundaries
can cause chaos and difficulty in the short run, in the long run this will lead
to increased successful aging at work (De Vos & Seegers, 2013; King,
2004).
In addition, broader contextual factors, such as organizational climate,
can impact successful aging at work. In fact, Zacher and Yang (2016)
recently introduced the concept of organizational climate for successful
aging and found that it was a moderator of the relationship between employ-
ees’ age and their focus on opportunities. In turn, a focus on opportunities
was related to job satisfaction, organizational commitment, and motivation to
continue working after official retirement age. Thus, organizational climate
for successful aging serves as an important contextual resource for older
workers hoping to age successfully at work.
The concept of work ability (Ilmarinen, 2009a; Kumashiro, 2009)
addresses successful aging at work to the extent that it focuses on how older
workers maintain their employability as they age. Ilmarinen (2009b) notes
that work ability is basically “a balance between a person’s resources and
work demands” (p. 61). At the most basic level, or foundation, is a worker’s
functional capacity (e.g., physical and mental health). At the next level are
competencies (e.g., up-to-date knowledge, skills, and abilities). The third
level consists of value (e.g., attitudes and motivations). Accordingly, positive
attitudes toward work and appropriate motivation to continue working are
needed to remain employable as one ages. These levels of work ability are
placed in the context with the work itself, including the environment, work
demands, as well the attitudes and behaviors of organizational leaders. In
addition, societal norms and expectations, as well as the personal resources
of the worker (e.g., wealth, social support networks) also set the context for
the various factors that are likely to increase one’s work ability.
Thus, to the extent that older workers can combine the earlier levels to
create high levels of work ability within the context of the work itself and
the work environment, the worker is likely to create a scenario that is more
likely to lead to successful aging at work. As a result, the concept of work
ability provides yet another avenue to look at successful aging at work,
which puts a heavy emphasis on personal agency of maintaining competen-
cies and motivations, while also taking into account the broader context
within which this transpires.
SUMMARY, CONCLUSION, AND DIRECTIONS FOR FUTURERESEARCH
We began this chapter by reviewing the literature on successful aging from a
gerontological perspective in order to provide a historical context. We next
228 PART | II Lifespan Perspectives on Working and Careers
moved to examining successful aging at work, specifically within the lens of
lifespan development. While the formal research and theorizing on success-
ful aging at work specifically is relatively new, it is beginning to grow expo-
nentially. More importantly, clear and concrete definitions and models of
successful aging at work have recently emerged (Kooij, 2015a; Zacher,
2015a). We then used Kooij’s (2015a) model of successful aging at work as
our meta-theoretical framework for exploring various theories and models of
proactive behaviors (e.g., work ability, job crafting, motivational mainte-
nance) which directly inform modern conceptions of successful aging at
work.
Several directions for future research come in to focus as we ponder how
best to proceed in investigating the construct of successful aging at work.
First, it is clear when taking a lifespan perspective that a systems-based, mul-
tiactor perspective (i.e., employees, organizations, family and other social
support networks, governments) is needed to fully understand not only how
successful aging at work should be pursued, but also why some strategies
will be more effective than others (Kooij, 2015a; Thomas, Hardy, Cutcher,
& Ainsworth, 2014). While the primary focus should be on the employees’
individual agency and proactivity behaviors they must pursue to achieve suc-
cessful aging at work (i.e., taking an ontogenetic perspective with regard to
intraindividual differences in aging), it is clear that the employee’s actions
take place in a broader organizational and societal context (i.e., taking a
sociogenetic perspective). Zacher and Kooij (2017) provide a wide-ranging
model of normative age-related changes in person characteristics and how
those in turn impact how various proactive behaviors should be prioritized
across the work lifespan. In addition, they provide a dozen different research
propositions with regard to aging and proactivity at work that will help to
guide future research.
Second, while numerous proactive behaviors have been noted here and in
the literature reviewed, what are the potential synergies among the various
strategies (Kooij, 2015a)? That is, might some proactive behaviors go
together better and more efficiently than others in promoting successful
aging at work? In addition, how may these combinations change as the onto-
genetic process plays out over time for individual workers? Future research
on successful aging at work needs to explore these possibilities across work-
ers and various proactive behaviors.
Third, there is a clear need in future research to explore both subject and
objective successful aging at work. With the nature of work and the work-
place rapidly changing and evolving in the 21st century (Shultz & Olson,
2013), how individual workers subjectively define what successful aging at
work means to them will also be rapidly evolving. Robson et al. (2006) pro-
vided an excellent empirical start for exploring various aspects of subjective
aging at work, however additional work is needed to confirm and expand
their seminal work in this area.
Lifespan Perspectives on Successful Aging at Work Chapter | 9 229
REFERENCES
Abraham, J. D., & Hansson, R. O. (1995). Successful aging at work: An applied study of selec-
tion, optimization, and compensation through impression management. Journals of
Gerontology Series B: Psychological Sciences and Social Sciences, 50, P94�P103.
Atchley, R. C. (1971). Retirement and leisure participation: Continuity or crisis? The
Gerontology, 11, 13�17.
Baltes, P. B. (1997). On the incomplete architecture of human ontogeny: Selection, optimization,
and compensation as foundation of developmental theory. American Psychologist, 52,
366�380.
Baltes, P. B., & Baltes, M. M. (1990). Psychological perspectives on successful aging: The
model of selective optimization with compensation. In P. B. Baltes, & M. M. Baltes (Eds.),
Successful aging: Perspectives from the behavioral sciences (pp. 1�34). New York, NY:
Cambridge University Press.
Baltes, B. B., Rudolph, C. W., & Bal, A. C. (2012). A review of aging theories and modern
work perspectives. In J. W. Hedge, & W. C. Borman (Eds.), The Oxford handbook of work
and aging. Oxford University Press, Inc.
Baumeister, R. (1991). Meanings of life. New York: Guilford Press.
Berg, J. A., Dutton, J. E., & Wrzesniewski, A. (2013). Job crafting and meaningful work.
In D. J. Kik, Z. S. Byrne, & M. S. Steger (Eds.), Purpose and meaning in the workplace
(pp. 81�104). Washington, DC: American Psychological Association.
Buckingham, M., & Clifton, D. O. (2001). Now, Discover your strengths. New York: The Free
Press.
Carstensen, L. L. (1995). Evidence for a life span theory of socioemotional selectivity. Current
Directions in Psychological Science, 4(5), 151�156.
Carstensen, L. L. (2006). The influence of a sense of time on human development. Science, 312,
1913�1915.
Cleveland, J. N., Fisher, G. G., & Walters, K. M. (2017). Positive organizations and maturing
workers. In L. G. Oades, M. F. Steger, A. D. Fave, & J. Passmore (Eds.), The Wiley
Blackwell handbook of the psychology of positivity and strengths-based approaches at work
(pp. 389�414). Malden: MA: John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.
Cumming, E., & Henry, W. E. (1961). Growing old: The process of disengagement. New York
NY: Basic Books.
Demerouti, E., & Bakker, A. B. (2014). Job crafting. In M. C. W. Peeters, J. de Jonge, & T. W.
Taris (Eds.), An introduction to contemporary work psychology (1st ed.). John Wiley &
Sons, Ltd.
De Vos, A., & Seegers, J. (2013). Self-directed career attitude and retirement intentions. Career
Development International, 18, 155�172.
Emmons, R. A. (1999). The psychology of ultimate concerns: Motivation and spirituality in
personality. New York: Guilford Press.
Fairlie, P. (2010). The Meaningful Work Inventory: Development and initial validation. Paper
presented at the 118th Annual Convention of the American Psychological Association, San
Diego, CA.
Fairlie, P. (2013). Age and generational differences in work psychology: Facts, fictions, and
meaningful work. In J. Field, R. J. Burke, & C. L. Cooper (Eds.), The SAGE Handbook of
Aging, Work, and Society (pp. 186�208). Thousand Oaks, CA: SAGE Publications, Inc.
Gegenfurtner, A., & Vauras, M. (2012). Age-related differences in the relation between motiva-
tion to learn and transfer of training in adult continuing education. Contemporary
Educational Psychology, 37, 33�46.
230 PART | II Lifespan Perspectives on Working and Careers
Hansson, R. O., DeKoekkoek, P. D., Neece, W. M., & Patterson, D. W. (1997). Successful aging
at work: Annual review, 1992-1996: The older workers and transitions to retirement.
Journal of Vocational Behavior, 51, 202�233.
Hardy, M., & Reyes, A. (2016). Theories of work and retirement: Culture, Trust and the Social
Contract. In V. Bengtson, & R. Settersten (Eds.), Handbook of Theories of Aging (3rd edi-
tion). New York: Springer.
Hartner, J. K., Schmidt, F. L., & Hayes, T. L. (2002). Business-unit-level relationship between
employee satisfaction, employee engagement, and business outcomes: A meta-analysis.
Journal of Applied Psychology, 87, 268�279.
Havighurst, R. J. (1961). Successful aging. The Gerontologist, 1, 8�13.
Heckhausen, J. (2006). Developmental regulation in adulthood: Age-normative and sociostruc-
tural constraints as adaptive challenges. New York, NY: Cambridge University Press.
Heckhausen, J., & Schulz, R. (1995). A Life-span theory of control. Psychological Review, 102,
284�304.
Ilmarinen, J. (2009a). Work ability—a comprehensive concept for occupational health research
and prevention. Scandinavian Journal of Work, Environment & Health, 35, 1�5.
Ilmarinen, J. (2009b). Aging and work: An international perspective. In S. J. Czaja, & J. Sharit
(Eds.), Aging and work: Issues and implications in a changing landscape (pp. 51�73).
Baltimore, MD: The John Hopkins University Press.
Jung, Y., & Takeuchi, N. (2017). A lifespan perspective for understanding career self-
management and satisfaction: The role of developmental human resource practices and orga-
nizational support. Human Relations, published on-line.
Kahana, E., Kelley-Moore, J. A., & Kahana, B. (2012). Proactive aging: A longitudinal study
of stress, resources, agency, and well-being in late life. Aging & Mental Health, 16,
438�451.
Kanfer, R., & Ackerman, P. L. (2004). Aging, adult development, and work motivation.
Academy of Management Review, 29(3), 440�458.
Katz, S., & Calasanti, T. (2015). Critical perspectives on successful aging: Does it “appeal more
than it illuminates”? The Gerontologist, 55, 26�33.
Keyes, C. L. M. (2007). Promoting and protecting mental health as flourishing: A complemen-
tary strategy for improving national mental health. American Psychologist, 62, 95�108.
King, Z. (2004). Career self-management: Its nature, causes and consequences. Journal of
Vocational Behavior, 65, 112�133.
Kira, M., Van Eijnatten, F. M., & Balkin, D. B. (2010). Crafting sustainable work: Development
of personal resources. Journal of Organizational Change Management, 23, 616�632.
Kooij, D. T. A. M. (2015a). Successful aging at work: The active role of employees. Work,
Aging, and Retirement, 1, 309�319.
Kooij, D. T. A. M. (2015b). Clarifying and discussing successful aging at work and the active
role of employees. Work, Aging and Retirement, 1, 334�339.
Kooij, D. T. A. M., de Lange, A. H., Jansen, P. G. W., Kanfer, R., & Kikkers, J. S. E. (2011).
Age and work-related motives: Results of a meta-analysis. Journal of Organizational
Behavior, 32(2), 197�225.
Kooij, D. T. A. M., van Woerkom, M., Wilkenloh, J., Dorenbosch, L., & Denissen, J. J. A.
(2017). Job crafting towards strengths and interests: The effects of a job crafting intervention
on person-job fit and the role of age. Journal of Applied Psychology, 102(6), 971�981.
Kotter-Gruhn, D., Wiest, M., Zurek, P. P., & Scheibe, A. (2009). What is it we are longing for:
Psychological and demographic factors influencing the contents of Sehnsucht (life longings).
Journal of Research in Personality, 43, 428�437.
Lifespan Perspectives on Successful Aging at Work Chapter | 9 231
Krapp, A. (2005). Structural and dynamic aspects of interest development: Theoretical consid-
erations from an ontogenetic perspective. Learning and Instruction, 12, 383�409.
Kristof-Brown, A. L., Zimmerman, R. D., & Johnson, E. C. (2005). Consequences of individuals
fit at work: A meta-analysis of person-job, person-organization, person-group, and person-
supervisor fit. Personnel Psychology, 58, 281�342.
Kumashiro, M. (Ed.), (2009). Promotion of workability toward productive aging. The Hague,
The Netherlands: CRC Press/Taylor Francis Group.
Lang, F. R., & Carstensen, L. L. (2002). Time counts: Future time perspective, goals, and social
relationships. Psychology and Aging, 17, 125�139.
Liu, Y., Englar-Carlson, M., & Minichiello, V. (2012). Midlife career transitions of men who are
scientists and engineers: A narrative study. The Career Development Quarterly, 60,
273�288.
Loi, J. L., & Shultz, K. S. (2007). Why older adults seek employment: Differing motivations
among subgroups. Journal of Applied Gerontology, 26, 274�289.
Marsick, V. J., & Watkins, K. E. (2001). Informal and incidental learning. New Directions for
Adult and Continuing Education, 89, 25�34.
McGonagle, A. K., Fisher, G. G., Barnes-Farrell, J. L., & Grosh, J. W. (2015). Individual and
work factors related to perceived work ability and labor force outcomes. Journal of Applied
Psychology, 100, 376�398.
McKnight, P. E., & Kashdan, T. B. (2009). Purpose in life as a system that creates and sustains
health and well-being: An integrative, testable theory. Review of General Psychology, 13,
242�251.
Meaning of Work International Research Team (WOWIRT). (1987). The meaning of working.
London: Academic Press.
Moghimi, D., Zacher, H., Scheibe, S., & Von Yperen, N. W. (2017). The selection, optimization,
and compensation model in the work context: A systematic review and meta-analysis of two
decades of research. Journal of Organizational Behavior, 38, 247�275.
Nakamura, J., & Csikszentmihalyi, M. (2003). The construction of meaning through vital
engagement. In C. L. M. Keyes, & J. Haidt (Eds.), Flourishing: Positive psychology and the
life well-lived (pp. 83�104). Washington: American Psychological Association.
Neugarten, B. L. (1972). Personality and the aging process. The Gerontologist, 12, 9�15.
Olson, D. A., & Shultz, K. S. (2013). Employability and career success: The need for comprehen-
sive definitions of career success. Industrial and Organizational Psychology, 6(1), 17�20.
Parker, S. K., & Collins, C. G. (2010). Taking stock: Integrating and differentiating multiple pro-
active behaviors. Journal of Management, 36, 633�662.
Pruncho, R., & Carr, D. (2017). Successful aging 2.0: Resilience and beyond. Journals of
Gerontology: Social Sciences, 72, 201�203.
Rath, T. (2007). StrengthsFinder2.0. New York: New York: GallupPress.
Reio, T. G., Jr., & Callahan, J. L. (2004). Affect, curiosity, and socialization-related learning: A path
analysis of antecedents to job performance. Journal of Business and Psychology, 19, 3�22.
Reio, T. G., Jr., & Choi, N. (2006). Novelty seeking in adulthood: Increases accompany decline.
Journal of Genetic Psychology, 165, 119�133.
Reio, T. G., Jr., & Wiswell, A. (2000). Field investigation of the relationship among adult curi-
osity, workplace learning, and job performance. Human Resource Development Quarterly,
11(1), 5�30.
Roberts, B. W., Walton, K. E., & Viechtbauer, W. (2006). Patterns of mean-level change in per-
sonality traits across the life course: A meta-analysis of longitudinal studies. Psychological
Bulletin, 132, 1�25.
232 PART | II Lifespan Perspectives on Working and Careers
Robson, S. M., & Hansson, R. O. (2007). Strategic self development for successful aging at
work. International Journal of Aging and Human Development, 64, 331�359.
Robson, S. M., Hansson, R. O., Abalos, A., & Booth, M. (2006). Successful aging: Criteria for
aging well in the workplace. Journal of Career Development, 33, 156�177.
Rosso, B. D., Dekas, K. H., & Wrzesniewski, A. (2010). On the meaning of work: A theoretical
integration and review. Research in Organizational Behavior, 30, 91�127.
Rowe, J. S., & Kahn, R. L. (2015). SuccessfulAging 2.0: Conceptual expansions for the 21st
century. The Journals of Gerontology, Series B, Psychological Scienes and Social Sciences,
70, 593�596.
Rowe, J. W., & Kahn, R. L. (1987). Human aging: Usual and successful. Science, 237,
143�149.
Rudolph, C. W. (2016). Lifespan developmental perspectives on working: A literature review of
motivational theories. Work, Aging and Retirement, 2, 130�158.
Rudolph, C. W., Baltes, B. B., & Zabel, K. L. (2013). Age and work motives. In J. Field, R. J.
Burke, & C. L. Cooper (Eds.), The SAGE Handbook of Aging, Work and Society. Thousand
Oaks, CA: SAGE Publications, Inc.
Rudolph, C. W., Katz, I. M., Lavigne, K. N., & Zacher, H. (2017). Job crafting: A meta-analysis
of relationships with individual differences, job characteristics, and work outcomes. Journal
of Vocational Behavior.
Ryan, R. M., & Deci, E. L. (2000). Self-determination theory and the facilitation of intrinsic
motivation, social development and well-being. American Psychologist, 55, 68�78.
Ryff, C. D., & Keyes, C. L. M. (1995). The structure of psychological well-being revisited.
Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 69, 719�727.
Salzberg, B. (2012). What millennials want most: A career that actually matters. Retrieved on
June 15, 2017 from: https://www.forbes.com/sites/forbesleadershipforum/2012/07/03/what-
millennials-want-most-a-career-that-actually-matters/#54487294d50e.
Schwartz, T. (2007). Manage your energy, not your time. Harvard Business Review, 85(10), 67�73.
Seibert, S. E., Kraimer, M. L., & Crant, J. M. (2001). What do proactive people do? A longitudi-
nal model linking proactive personality and career success. Personnel Psychology, 54,
845�874.
Sheldon, K. M., Elliot, A. J., Kim, Y., & Kasser, T. (2001). What is satisfying about satisfying
events? Testing 10 candidate psychological needs. Journal of Personality and Social
Psychology, 80, 325�339.
Shultz, K. S., & Olson, D. A. (2013). The changing nature of work and retirement. In M. Wang
(Ed.), The Oxford handbook of retirement (pp. 543�558). New York: Oxford University
Press, Ch 33.
Thomas, R. J., Hardy, C., Cutcher, L., & Ainsworth, S. (2014). What’s age got to do with it? On
the critical analysis of age and organizations. Organization Studies, 35, 1569�1584.
Tims, M., & Bakker, A. B. (2010). Job crafting: Towards a model of individual job redesign. SA
Journal of Industrial Psychology, 36, 1�9.
Tims, M., Bakker, A. B., & Derks, D. (2012). Development and validation of the job crafting
scale. Journal of Vocational Behavior, 80, 173�186.
Toossi, M. (2013). Labor force projections to 2022: The labor force participation rate continues
to fall. Monthly Labor Review, 136, 1�28.
Wang, M., Adams, G. A., Beehr, T. A., & Shultz, K. S. (2009). Career issues at the end of one’s
career: Bridge employment and retirement. In S. G. Baugh, & S. E. Sullivan (Eds.),
Maintaining focus, energy, and options over the life span (pp. 135�162). Charlotte, NC:
Information Age Publishing (IAP), Ch 6.
Lifespan Perspectives on Successful Aging at Work Chapter | 9 233
Wang, M., Olson, D. A., & Shultz, K. S. (2013). Mid and late career issues: psycho-social
dynamics and perspectives. New York, NY: Routledge.
Wood, A. M., Linley, P. A., Maltby, J., Kashdan, T. B., & Hurling, R. (2011). Using personal
and psychological strengths leads to increases in well-being over time: A longitudinal study
and the development of the strengths use questionnaire. Personality and Individual
Differences, 50, 15�19.
Wrzesniewski, A., & Dutton, J. E. (2001). Crafting a job: Revisioning employees as active craf-
ters of their work. Academy of Management Review, 26(2), 179�201.
Yoo, S. K., & Lee, H. (2017). Positive approaches to mid-life careers. In L. G. Oades, M. F.
Steger, A. D. Fave, & J. Passmore (Eds.), The Wiley Blackwell Handbook of the Psychology
of Positivity and Strengths-Based Approaches at Work (pp. 366�388). Malden: MA: John
Wiley & Sons, Ltd.
Zacher, H. (2015a). Successful aging at work. Work, Aging and Retirement, 1, 4�25.
Zacher, H. (2015b). The importance of a precise definition, comprehensive model, and critical
discussion of successful aging at work. Work, Aging and Retirement, 1, 320�333.
Zacher, H., & Kooij, D. T. A. M. (2017). Aging and proactivity. In S. K. Parker, & U. K. Bindl
(Eds.), Proactivity at work: Making things happen in organizations (pp. 258�294). New
York: Routledge, Ch. 10.
Zacher, H., & Rudolph, C.W. (2017). Successful aging at work and beyond: A review and criti-
cal perspective. In Age Diversity in the workplace. Published online 03 Aug 2017; 35�64.
Zacher, H., & Yang, J. (2016). Organizational climate for successful aging. Frontiers in
Psychology, 7, 1�12.
234 PART | II Lifespan Perspectives on Working and Careers