Work Across the Lifespan

Boris Baltes,Cort W. Rudolph,Hannes Zacher

• Verlag: Academic Press
• Jahr: 2019
• ISBN:
  9780128127575
• Thema: Psicología
• Thema: Psicología industrial y organizacional

Work Across the Lifespan coalesces theoretical and empirical perspectives on aging and work. This volume examines a collection of human development theories that explain trajectories of change, including patterns of growth, maintenance, and decline across the adult lifespan. At its core, the lifespan perspective assumes a focus on aging as a continuous process of intraindividual change and goal-based self-regulation. In this text, the lifespan perspective serves as a lens for examining the complex relationship between aging and work. Integrating research from the fields of developmental psychology as well as industrial, work, and organizational psychology, this authoritative reference brings together the collective thinking of researchers who study work, careers, organizations, and aging.

• Summarizes key tenets of lifespan theories
• Applies lifespan theories to work, organizational life, and careers
• Examines age and work-related processes
• Provides an comprehensive lifespan perspective on work and aging
• Focuses on aging as a continuous intraindividual change process

Chapter 1

An Invitation to Lifespan Thinking

Hannes Zacher¹, Cort W. Rudolph² and Boris B. Baltes³, ¹Institute of Psychology, Leipzig University, Leipzig, Germany, ²Department of Psychology, Saint Louis University, St. Louis, MO, United States, ³Department of Psychology, Wayne State University, Detroit, MI, United States

Abstract

This first chapter of the book, Work Across the Lifespan, introduces readers to the lifespan developmental perspective, which constitutes the guiding theoretical framework of subsequent chapters in the book. We first describe the background and overarching goals of this book. Second, we trace the history of the lifespan developmental perspective from its roots in the late 18th century over its formalization and broader reception in the second half of the 20th century to contemporary discourse. Third, we outline the core tenets of the lifespan developmental perspective. We conclude this introductory chapter by giving an overview of the three main sections (i.e., lifespan perspectives, lifespan perspectives on working and careers, and applications of lifespan perspectives) as well as the following chapters of the book.

Keywords

Aging; lifespan; older workers; psychology; work

Over the past two decades, scholars who investigate the role of chronological age for work, careers, and organizations have increasingly adopted a lifespan developmental perspective (Hertel & Zacher, 2018; Rudolph, 2016). One possible reason for this trend is the publication of two articles at the beginning of the 21st century that introduced the lifespan perspective to organizational researchers. In 2001, Baltes and Dickson (2001) discussed how lifespan thinking and models could be fruitfully applied to gain a better understanding of various phenomena in industrial, work, and organizational psychology, including work-family conflict, leadership, and organizational performance. A few years later, Kanfer and Ackerman (2004) outlined how lifespan thinking and research on age-related changes could be integrated with theorizing on associations among individual abilities, motivation, and performance.

The lifespan developmental perspective is not a monolithic theory, but a metatheory or broader way of thinking about human development (ontogenesis). It has influenced the development of several more specific or mid-range theories. As a metatheory, the lifespan developmental perspective provides a comprehensive framework and parameters for comparing and integrating not only these mid-range theories, but also associated constructs, research questions, and predictions (see Abrams & Hogg, 2004; Lewis & Grimes, 1999). It also offers guidance regarding potential future research directions and practical applications.

The overarching goals of this book are to take stock of the growing body of literature that uses the lifespan developmental perspective and associated theories to study work, careers, and organizations, and to provide an integrative base for future research and practice in this area. Until now, no single comprehensive source or handbook has been available that coalesces theories and empirical findings on age, work, careers, and organizations based on the lifespan developmental perspective. In this book, we bring together the collective knowledge and ideas of researchers specializing in this area. The book is written for students, researchers, and practitioners interested in work, careers, and organizations (including those working in the fields of industrial-organizational psychology, organizational behavior, management, human resources, and occupational health), as well as aging and lifespan development (including those working in the fields of developmental psychology, sociology, and gerontology).

In this first chapter, our primary aims are to introduce readers to the lifespan developmental perspective, which constitutes the guiding theoretical framework of subsequent chapters in this book, and to explain the structure and content of this book, more generally. To this end, we first trace the history of the lifespan developmental perspective from its roots in the late 18th century over its formalization and broader reception in the second half of the 20th century to contemporary discourse. Next, we outline the core tenets of the lifespan developmental perspective. We conclude this introductory chapter by giving an overview of the three main sections (lifespan perspectives, lifespan perspectives on working and careers, and applications of lifespan perspectives) and the following chapters of the book.

History of the Lifespan Developmental Perspective

The roots of the lifespan developmental perspective can be traced back to the late 18th century in Germany (Baltes, Lindenberger, & Staudinger, 2006). At this time, the philosopher, mathematician, and physicist Johann Nicolaus Tetens (1777) published a two-volume book called Philosophische Versuche über die menschliche Natur und ihre Entwicklung (philosophical investigations on human nature and its development). Influenced by the Enlightenment movement and empiricism, Tetens’ work discussed individual development across the entire lifespan from birth to old age. Chapters in the book covered the development and optimization of human psyche and functioning, developmental gains and losses, interindividual differences in development, plasticity (modifiability) of development and its limits, influences of the sociocultural and historical context on individual development, and links between human evolution (phylogenesis) and individual development (ontogenesis). Therefore, Tetens is often considered to be not only the founder of developmental psychology, but also of the lifespan developmental perspective (Baltes et al., 2006). A few decades after Tetens published his book, the Belgian social statistician Adolphe Quetelet (1835) published a two-volume book entitled Sur l’homme et le développement de ses facultés, ou essai de physique sociale (a treatise on man and the development of his faculties). Quetelet also adopted a lifespan perspectives on the development of individual abilities and functioning, and his discussion about links between individual development and historical changes contributed to the advancement of methods used by later developmental and lifespan researchers (Baltes et al., 2006).

While lifespan thinking has a long tradition in Europe, it was adopted much later—beginning in the early 20th century—by developmental researchers in North America, whose focus until then was primarily on the development in (early) childhood (Baltes et al., 2006; Baltes, Reese, & Lipsitt, 1980). In the United States, the rise and broader reception of lifespan thinking in the second half of the 20th century was closely related to the establishment of the field of adult development and aging, or gerontology, which focuses primarily on people’s experiences and behavior in old age (see Birren, 1958; Havighurst & Albrecht, 1953). Furthermore, the aging of the population, methodological advancements, and the advent of life course sociology (Elder, 1975), which emphasizes the role of institutions and agency in shaping individual development, contributed to the development of the lifespan developmental perspective (Baltes, 1987; Baltes et al., 1980).

Several influential publications by Paul B. Baltes and colleagues advanced the formalization and led to a broader reception of the lifespan developmental perspective at the end of the 20th century. Moreover, these publications impacted the development of a number of more specific lifespan developmental theories that importantly shape modern discourse on human development both within and outside of the work context. First, in an article in Annual Review of Psychology, Baltes et al. (1980) laid out the conceptual orientation of lifespan developmental psychology (e.g., development as a lifelong process, pluralistic conceptions of development, normative and nonnormative influences on development), illustrated it with examples from specific areas of application (i.e., memory, intelligence), and described intersections with other fields (e.g., early childhood developmental psychology, gerontology, clinical and community psychology, personality psychology, occupational psychology, sociology, economics, biology). According to Baltes et al. (1980), “Lifespan developmental psychology is concerned with the description, explanation, and modification (optimization) of developmental processes in the human life course from conception to death” (p. 66).

A few years later, Baltes (1987) published a seminal article in Developmental Psychology in which he presented a set of theoretical propositions of lifespan developmental psychology that, together, form a metatheoretical perspectives on the nature of development. Moreover, he discussed several methodological and conceptual implications of this metatheoretical perspective. A decade later, in another Annual Review of Psychology article, Baltes, Staudinger, and Lindenberger (1999) reviewed and advanced theory on lifespan developmental psychology. Specifically, they developed several propositions on the age-related allocation of resources into different developmental functions (i.e., growth, maintenance, and regulation of loss; see also Ebner, Freund, & Baltes, 2006), as well as the interplay of three action regulation strategies (i.e., selection, optimization, and compensation; see also Baltes & Baltes, 1990). They also reviewed empirical evidence on the development of cognitive functioning across the lifespan. Finally, in a chapter in the Handbook of Child Development, Baltes et al. (2006) updated their theorizing on lifespan developmental psychology. In particular, they described five conceptual levels of analysis regarding lifespan development, which are explained in further detail in the following section.

Core Tenets of the Lifespan Developmental Perspective

The lifespan developmental perspectives adopts a lifelong view on individual development, ranging from concept...

Inhaltsverzeichnis

• Cover image
• Title page
• Table of Contents
• Copyright
• Dedication
• List of Contributors
• Preface
• Chapter 1. An Invitation to Lifespan Thinking
• Part I: Lifespan Perspectives
• Part II: Lifespan Perspectives on Working and Careers
• Part III: Applications of Lifespan Perspectives
• Index