Age Stereotypes<i>Do</i>Matter: Looking Through the Lens of the Attraction–Selection–Attrition Model

Abstract

Murphy and DeNisi (2021) suggest that the real-world effects of age stereotypes on personnel decisions are weak, null, or inconsistent. However, we know that both conscious and unconscious age stereotypes exist (Fiske, 2017; Posthuma & Campion, 2009), and both seem to affect people’s hiring decisions (Zaniboni et al., 2019). For instance, a field experiment in Sweden in which 6,000 fictitious resumes were sent to open positions found that applicants over 40 received fewer callbacks and that callbacks decreased with applicant age (Carlsson & Eriksson, 2019). Moreover, the implementation of age discrimination laws worldwide suggests that age discrimination is generally recognized as an issue for workers and job applicants. In this commentary, we draw on the attraction–selection–attrition (ASA) model to illustrate when age stereotypes do affect personnel decisions throughout the employee lifecycle, acting “under the radar” of current organizational research. Through this lens, we...