Age Differences in Feedback Reactions: The Roles of Employee Feedback Orientation on Social Awareness and Utility

Journal of Applied Psychology, 2015, Vol. 100, No. 4, 1296-1308

13 Pages Posted: 19 Jul 2015

See all articles by Mo Wang

Mo Wang

University of Florida - Department of Management

Gabriela Burlacu

Successfactors (SAP)

Donald M. Truxillo

Portland State University - Department of Psychology

Keith James

Portland State University

Yao Xiang

Peking University

Date Written: July 2015

Abstract

Organizations worldwide are currently experiencing shifts in the age composition of their workforces. The workforce is aging and becoming increasingly age-diverse, suggesting that organizational researchers and practitioners need to better understand how age differences may manifest in the workplace and the implications for human resource practice. Integrating socioemotional selectivity theory with the performance feedback literature and using a time-lagged design, the current study examined age differences in moderating the relationships between the characteristics of performance feedback and employee reactions to the feedback event. The results suggest that older workers had higher levels of feedback orientation on social awareness, but lower levels of feedback orientation on utility than younger workers. Furthermore, the positive associations between favorability of feedback and feedback delivery and feedback reactions were stronger for older workers than for younger workers, whereas the positive association between feedback quality and feedback reactions was stronger for younger workers than for older workers. Finally, the current study revealed that age-related differences in employee feedback orientation could explain the different patterns of relationships between feedback characteristics and feedback reactions across older and younger workers. These findings have both theoretical and practical implications for building theory about workplace aging and improving ways that performance feedback is managed across employees from diverse age groups.

Keywords: age; older workers, performance feedback, feedback orientation

Suggested Citation

Wang, Mo and Burlacu, Gabriela and Truxillo, Donald M. and James, Keith and Xiang, Yao, Age Differences in Feedback Reactions: The Roles of Employee Feedback Orientation on Social Awareness and Utility (July 2015). Journal of Applied Psychology, 2015, Vol. 100, No. 4, 1296-1308, Available at SSRN: https://ssrn.com/abstract=2632368

Mo Wang (Contact Author)

University of Florida - Department of Management ( email )

United States

Gabriela Burlacu

Successfactors (SAP)

1 Tower Place
Suite 1100
South San Francisco, CA 94080
United States

Donald M. Truxillo

Portland State University - Department of Psychology ( email )

OR 97221
United States

Keith James

Portland State University ( email )

PO Box 751
Portland, OR 97207
United States

Yao Xiang

Peking University ( email )

No. 38 Xueyuan Road
Haidian District
Beijing, Beijing 100871
China

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