Age Differences in Work Motivation in a Sample from Five Northern European Countries

This paper investigates the relationship between employee age and levels of trait-like dispositional motivation in a sample of 7644 individuals from five Northern European countries (Denmark, Germany, Netherlands, Norway, Sweden) who completed a comprehensive motivation questionnaire for selection or development purposes. Age differences in motivation were examined by controlling for demographic variables and testing for non-linear relationships. On the whole, effects were small, with age explaining up to 7% incremental variance in specific motivation scales. Small effects were found for five motivation scales, which indicated a tendency for older employees in this sample to be more motivated by intrinsically rewarding job features but less motivated by features that entail low perceived utility or that are mainly extrinsically rewarding. Results were generally consistent across the five Nordic countries but in countries where the average retirement age is higher (i.e., in late-exit cultures) the decline was lower for progression. The findings generally support propositions from the literature which suggest a shift in people's motivators rather than a general decline in motivation with age. As effect sizes are small, however, the differences observed for the age groups investigated in this sample are likely to have very little practical implications for human resource management.