Dominant achievement goals of older workers and their relationship with motivation-related outcomes

The aim of this study was to increase our insight into older employees' achievement motivation by examining the prevalence of dominant achievement goals among a “unique” group of 172 Dutch workers who remained active after their post-statutory retirement age. Moreover, we investigated how their dominant achievement goals were linked to motivation-related outcomes (i.e., work engagement and meaning of work). Our results showed that, relative to younger workers, a significantly higher amount of older workers endorsed dominant mastery-avoidance goals. In addition, as expected, older workers with dominant mastery-approach goals scored highest, while the workers with dominant mastery-avoidance goals scored lowest in work engagement, social and personal meaning of work. Theoretical as well as practical implications of these results are discussed.

[1]  L. Festinger.  A Theory of Social Comparison Processes , 1954 .

[2]  A. Elliot,et al.  A 2 X 2 achievement goal framework. , 2001, Journal of personality and social psychology.

[3]  T. Beehr,et al.  How retirees work: predictors of different types of bridge employment† , 2009 .

[4]  G. Roberts,et al.  Motivation in sport and exercise. , 1992 .

[5]  Natalie C. Ebner,et al.  Developmental changes in personal goal orientation from young to late adulthood: from striving for gains to maintenance and prevention of losses. , 2006, Psychology and aging.

[6]  A. D. De Lange,et al.  Psychological contract breach and job attitudes: A meta-analysis of age as a moderator , 2008 .

[7]  W. L. Cron,et al.  The role of goal orientation following performance feedback. , 2001, The Journal of applied psychology.

[8]  Carole A. Ames,et al.  Achievement goals, motivational climate, and motivational processes. , 1995 .

[9]  N. Yperen,et al.  A NOVEL APPROACH TO ASSESSING ACHIEVEMENT GOALS IN THE CONTEXT OF THE 2 X 2 FRAMEWORK: IDENTIFYING DISTINCT PROFILES OF INDIVIDUALS WITH DIFFERENT DOMINANT ACHIEVEMENT GOALS , 2006 .

[10]  Kenneth E. Barron,et al.  Achievement goals and optimal motivation: testing multiple goal models. , 2001, Journal of personality and social psychology.

[11]  A. Elliot.  Approach and avoidance motivation and achievement goals , 1999 .

[12]  Laura L. Carstensen,et al.  Motivation and Self-Regulation Across the Life Span: A Life-Span Approach to Social Motivation , 1998 .

[13]  N. Roese,et al.  Regulatory focus and temporal distance , 2003 .

[14]  Paul Jansen,et al.  On the relationships among work characteristics and learning-related behavior: Does age matter? , 2009 .

[15]  Andrew J. Elliot,et al.  Achievement Goals and Intrinsic Motivation: A Meta-Analytic Review , 1999, Personality and social psychology review : an official journal of the Society for Personality and Social Psychology, Inc.

[16]  Jutta Heckhausen,et al.  Motivation and Self-Regulation Across the Life Span: List of Contributors , 2009 .

[17]  E. Erikson,et al.  Childhood and Society , 1951 .

[18]  C. Hertzog,et al.  Assessing psychological change in adulthood: an overview of methodological issues. , 2003, Psychology and aging.

[19]  A. Elliot.  A Conceptual History of the Achievement Goal Construct. , 2005 .

[20]  K. E. Barron,et al.  Revision of achievement goal theory: Necessary and illuminating. , 2002 .

[21]  Carol S. Dweck,et al.  Motivational processes affecting learning. , 1986 .

[22]  U. Staudinger,et al.  Lifespan psychology: theory and application to intellectual functioning. , 1999, Annual review of psychology.

[23]  C. Holahan.  Relation of life goals at age 70 to activity participation and health and psychological well-being among Terman's gifted men and women. , 1988, Psychology and aging.

[24]  R. Atchley.  A continuity theory of normal aging. , 1989, The Gerontologist.

[25]  Eleanor M. Smith,et al.  Relationships of goal orientation, metacognitive activity, and practice strategies with learning outcomes and transfer , 1998 .

[26]  H. Reis,et al.  Attachment and exploration in adulthood. , 2003, Journal of personality and social psychology.

[27]  Phillip L. Ackerman,et al.  Individual differences in work motivation: Further explorations of a trait framework. , 2000 .

[28]  Mo Wang,et al.  Antecedents of Bridge Employment: A Longitudinal Investigation , 2008, The Journal of applied psychology.

[29]  B. Neugarten.  Personality and aging , 1977 .

[30]  S. Folkman,et al.  Age differences in stress and coping processes. , 1987, Psychology and aging.

[31]  Andrew J. Elliot,et al.  Stability and change in achievement goals. , 2007 .

[32]  E. Erikson.  Childhood and Society , 1965 .

[33]  J. Nicholls.  Achievement motivation: Conceptions of ability, subjective experience, task choice, and performance. , 1984 .

[34]  Onne Janssen,et al.  Employees' goal orientations, the quality of leader-member exchange, and the outcomes of job performance and job satisfaction , 2004 .

[35]  Carlos-María Alcover,et al.  Antecedents and consequences of retirement planning and decision-making: A meta-analysis and model , 2009 .

[36]  M. Mor-Barak,et al.  The Meaning of Work for Older Adults Seeking Employment: The Generativity Factor , 1995, International journal of aging & human development.

[37]  G. Sideridis.  The regulation of affect, anxiety, and stressful arousal from adopting mastery‐avoidance goal orientations , 2008 .

[38]  A. Elliot,et al.  A HIERARCHICAL MODEL OF APPROACH AND AVOIDANCE ACHIEVEMENT MOTIVATION , 1997 .

[39]  L. Waite.  The Demographic Faces of the Elderly. , 2004, Population and development review.

[40]  Nico W. Van Yperen,et al.  A Novel Approach to Assessing Achievement Goals in the Context of the 2× 2 Framework: Identifying Distinct Profiles of Individuals With Different Dominant Achievement Goals , 2006, Personality & social psychology bulletin.

[41]  J. Heckhausen.  Developmental regulation across adulthood: primary and secondary control of age-related challenges. , 1997, Developmental psychology.

[42]  Eileen M. Crimmins,et al.  The demography of aging and work. , 2007 .

[43]  A. Bakker.  Building engagement in the workplace , 2008 .

[44]  P. Ackerman,et al.  Aging, Adult Development, and Work Motivation , 2004 .

[45]  Harvey L. Sterns,et al.  The Aging Worker in a Changing Environment: Organizational and Individual Issues , 1995 .

[46]  Guy Notelaers,et al.  Should I stay or should I go? Examining longitudinal relations among job resources and work engagement for stayers versus movers , 2008 .

[47]  Alexandra M Freund,et al.  Age-differential motivational consequences of optimization versus compensation focus in younger and older adults. , 2006, Psychology and aging.

[48]  T. Hamamura.  APPROACH-AVOIDANCE MOTIVATION ACROSS CULTURES , 2008 .

[49]  Arlen C. Moller,et al.  Performance-approach goals: good or bad forms of regulation? , 2003 .

[50]  N. Yperen,et al.  Performing great and the purpose of performing better than others: on the recursiveness of the achievement goal adoption process , 2008 .

[51]  T. S. Bateman,et al.  Self-regulation: from goal orientation to job performance. , 2006, The Journal of applied psychology.

[52]  L. Carstensen,et al.  Time counts: future time perspective, goals, and social relationships. , 2002, Psychology and aging.

[53]  Paul Jansen,et al.  Older workers motivation to continue to work: five meanings of age: A conceptual review , 2008 .

[54]  Linda K. Stroh,et al.  Introduction to the Special Issue on Careers from Midlife , 1995 .

[55]  Laura L. Carstensen,et al.  Evidence for a Life-Span Theory of Socioemotional Selectivity , 1995 .

[56]  Paul Jansen,et al.  Age and work‐related motives: Results of a meta‐analysis , 2011 .

[57]  J. Botwinick.  Aging and Behavior , 1984, Springer Berlin Heidelberg.

[58]  Pro-Work Policy Proposals for Older Americans in the 21st Century , 1997 .

[59]  Frederik Anseel,et al.  The influence of mastery‐avoidance goals on performance improvement , 2009 .

[60]  Cary L. Cooper,et al.  The Peak Performing Organization , 2009 .

[61]  M. Maehr,et al.  The graying of achievement motivation. , 1981 .

[62]  Heinz Heckhausen,et al.  Achievement and motivation through the life span , 1986 .

[63]  Marcia J. Simmering,et al.  Conscientiousness, goal orientation, and motivation to learn during the learning process: A longitudinal study. , 1998 .

[64]  F. Weinert,et al.  Human development and the life course : multidisciplinary perspectives , 1988 .

[65]  Nico W. Van Yperen,et al.  Task interest and actual performance: the moderating effects of assigned and adopted purpose goals. , 2003, Journal of personality and social psychology.

[66]  Denise C. Park,et al.  Handbook of the Psychology of Aging , 1979 .

[67]  P. Warr.  Work values: Some demographic and cultural correlates , 2008 .

[68]  Steven D. Caldwell,et al.  Toward an understanding of the relationships among organizational change, individual differences, and changes in person-environment fit: a cross-level study. , 2004, The Journal of applied psychology.