TY - JOUR
T1 - Behavioral science and the facilitation of extended working lives: A commentary on how behavioral nudges can help counteract workplace ageism
AU - Egdell, Valerie
AU - Salvi, Serena
AU - Onkal, Dilek
PY - 2023/3/17
Y1 - 2023/3/17
N2 - International government policy narratives responding to population aging have emphasized the public expenditure challenges associated with this demographic change. Despite this, ageism remains a major obstacle to extended working lives and the preferred retirement ages of older workers do not always mirror the policy direction. In this commentary, we argue that behavioral science can offer insights into how these deeply engrained attitudes and behaviors might be changed to promote extended working lives. Behavioral science involves a systematic study of human behavior, actions, and the choice architecture, with particular emphasis on understanding how incentives and information could be used to change behavior. We review the existing social gerontological and human resource management literature on ageistic attitudes and behaviors and embed this in the behavioral science literature to establish a cross-disciplinary research agenda that recognizes the heterogeneous needs, preferences, and experiences of older workers.
AB - International government policy narratives responding to population aging have emphasized the public expenditure challenges associated with this demographic change. Despite this, ageism remains a major obstacle to extended working lives and the preferred retirement ages of older workers do not always mirror the policy direction. In this commentary, we argue that behavioral science can offer insights into how these deeply engrained attitudes and behaviors might be changed to promote extended working lives. Behavioral science involves a systematic study of human behavior, actions, and the choice architecture, with particular emphasis on understanding how incentives and information could be used to change behavior. We review the existing social gerontological and human resource management literature on ageistic attitudes and behaviors and embed this in the behavioral science literature to establish a cross-disciplinary research agenda that recognizes the heterogeneous needs, preferences, and experiences of older workers.
KW - Extended Working Lives
KW - Older Workers
KW - Behavioral Science
KW - Cross-disciplinary Research
U2 - 10.18848/2576-5310/CGP/v13i02/29-47
DO - 10.18848/2576-5310/CGP/v13i02/29-47
M3 - Article
VL - 13
SP - 29
EP - 47
JO - The Journal of Aging and Social Change
JF - The Journal of Aging and Social Change
IS - 2
ER -