Older job seekers' job search intensity: The interplay of proactive personality, age and occupational future time perspective

Long-term unemployment of older people can have severe consequences for individuals, communities and ultimately economies, and is therefore a serious concern in countries with an ageing population. However, the interplay of chronological age and other individual difference characteristics in predicting older job seekers' job search is so far not well understood. This study investigated relationships among age, proactive personality, occupational future time perspective (FTP) and job search intensity of 182 job seekers between 43 and 77 years in Australia. Results were mostly consistent with expectations based on a combination of socio-emotional selectivity theory and the notion of compensatory psychological resources. Proactive personality was positively related to job search intensity and age was negatively related to job search intensity. Age moderated the relationship between proactive personality and job search intensity, such that the relationship was stronger at higher compared to lower ages. One dimension of occupational FTP (perceived remaining time left in the occupational context) mediated this moderating effect, but not the overall relationship between age and job search intensity. Implications for future research, including the interplay of occupational FTP and proactive personality, and some tentative practical implications are discussed.

The moderating effects of job control and selection, optimization, and compensation strategies on the age-work ability relationship

Work ability describes employees' capability to carry out their work with respect to physical and psychological job demands. This study investigated direct and interactive effects of age, job control, and the use of successful aging strategies called selection, optimization, and compensation (SOC) in predicting work ability. We assessed SOC strategies and job control by using employee self-reports, and we measured employees' work ability using supervisor ratings. Data collected from 173 health-care employees showed that job control was positively associated with work ability. Additionally, we found a three-way interaction effect of age, job control, and use of SOC strategies on work ability. Specifically, the negative relationship between age and work ability was weakest for employees with high job control and high use of SOC strategies. These results suggest that the use of successful aging strategies and enhanced control at work are conducive to maintaining the work ability of aging employees. We discuss theoretical and practical implications regarding the beneficial role of the use of SOC strategies utilized by older employees and enhanced contextual resources at work for aging employees.

Stepping into my shoes: Generativity as a mediator of the relationship between business owners' age and family succession

The authors investigated generativity – the concern in establishing and guiding the next generation – as a mediator of the relationship between family business owners' age and succession in family businesses. Data came from 155 family business owners in Germany from different industries between the ages of 26 and 83 years. Results showed that age was positively related to generativity, and that generativity, in turn, positively influenced an objective measure of family succession. Generativity fully mediated the positive relationship between age and family succession. The findings suggest that generativity is an important psycho-social construct for understanding ageing, careers and succession in family business settings.

Professor age and research assistant ratings of passive-avoidant and proactive leadership: The role of age-related work concerns and age stereotypes

Recent research has shown that, in general, older professors are rated to have more passive-avoidant leadership styles than younger professors by their research assistants. The current study investigated professors' age-related work concerns and research assistants' favorable age stereotypes as possible explanations for this finding. Data came from 128 university professors paired to one research assistant each. Results show that professors' age-related work concerns (decreased enthusiasm for research, growing humanism, development of exiting consciousness and increased follower empowerment) did not explain the relationships between professor age and research assistant ratings of passive-avoidant and proactive leadership. However, research assistants' favorable age stereotypes influenced the relationships between professor age and research assistant ratings of leadership, such that older professors were rated as more passive-avoidant and less proactive than younger professors by research assistants with less favorable age stereotypes, but not by research assistants with more favorable age stereotypes.

Focus on opportunities as a mediator of the relationship between business owners' age and venture growth

Combining upper echelons and lifespan theories, we investigated the mediating effect of focus on opportunities on the negative relationship between business owners' age and venture growth. We also expected that mental health moderates the negative relationship between business owners' age and focus on opportunities. Path analytic findings based on data from 84 business owners (mean age = 44, range 24-74) supported these hypotheses. Findings suggest that focus on opportunities is a psychological mechanism that links business owners' age with venture growth. Our findings also indicate that mental health helps maintain a high level of focus on opportunities with increasing age.

Phosphorus in agricultural soils of Finland - characterization of reserves and retention in mineral soil profiles

An overwhelming majority of all the research on soil phosphorus (P) has been carried out with soil samples taken from the surface soils only, and our understanding of the forms and the reactions of P at a soil profile scale is based on few observations. In Finland, the interest in studying the P in complete soil profiles has been particularly small because of the lack of tradition in studying soil genesis, morphology, or classification. In this thesis, the P reserves and the retention of orthophosphate phosphorus (PO4-P) were examined in four cultivated mineral soil profiles in Finland (three Inceptisols and one Spodosol). The soils were classified according to the U.S. Soil Taxonomy and soil samples were taken from the genetic horizons in the profiles. The samples were analyzed for total P concentration, Chang and Jackson P fractions, P sorption properties, concentrations of water-extractable P, and for concentrations of oxalate-extractable Al and Fe. Theoretical P sorption capacities and degrees of P saturation were calculated with the data from the oxalate-extractions and the P fractionations. The studied profiles can be divided into sections with clearly differing P characteristics by their master horizons Ap, B and C. The C (or transitional BC) horizons below an approximate depth of 70 cm were dominated by, assumingly apatitic, H2SO4-soluble P. The concentration of total P in the C horizons ranged from 729 to 810 mg kg-1. In the B horizons between the depths of 30 and 70 cm, a significant part of the primary acid-soluble P has been weathered and transformed to secondary P forms. A mean weathering rate of the primary P in the soils was estimated to vary between 230 and 290 g ha-1 year-1. The degrees of P saturation in the B and C horizons were smaller than 7%, and the solubility of PO4-P was negligible. The P conditions in the Ap horizons differed drastically from those in the subsurface horizons. The high concentrations of total P (689-1870 mg kg-1) in the Ap horizons are most likely attributable to long-term cultivation with positive P balances. A significant proportion of the P in the Ap horizons occurred in the NH4F- and NaOH-extractable forms and as organic P. These three P pools, together with the concentrations of oxalate-extractable Al and Fe, seem to control the dynamics of PO4-P in the soils. The degrees of P saturation in the Ap horizons were greater (8-36%) than in the subsurface horizons. This was also reflected in the sorption experiments: Only the Ap horizons were able to maintain elevated PO4-P concentrations in the solution phase − all the subsoil horizons acted as sinks for PO4-P. Most of the available sorption capacity in the soils is located in the B horizons. The results suggest that this capacity could be utilized in reducing the losses of soluble P from excessively fertilized soils by mixing highly sorptive material from the B horizons with the P-enriched surface soil. The drastic differences in the P characteristics observed between adjoining horizons have to be taken into consideration when conducting soil sampling. Sampling of subsoils has to be made according to the genetic horizons or at small depth increments. Otherwise, contrasting materials are likely to be mixed in the same sample; and the results of such samples are not representative of any material present in the studied profile. Air-drying of soil samples was found to alter the results of the sorption experiments and the water extractions. This indicates that the studies on the most labile P forms in soil should be carried out with moist samples.

Establishing the next generation at work: Leader generativity as a moderator of the relationships between leader age, leader-member exchange, and leadership success

In this study, the authors investigated leader generativity as a moderator of the relationships between leader age, leader-member exchange, and three criteria of leadership success (follower perceptions of leader effectiveness, follower satisfaction with leader, and follower extra effort). Data came from 128 university professors paired with one research assistant each. Results showed positive relationships between leader age and leader generativity, and negative relationships between leader age and follower perceptions of leader effectiveness and follower extra effort. Consistent with expectations based on leadership categorization theory, leader generativity moderated the relationships between leader age and all three criteria of leadership success, such that leaders high in generativity were better able to maintain high levels of leadership success at higher ages than leaders low in generativity. Finally, results of mediated moderation analyses showed that leader-member exchange quality mediated these moderating effects. The findings suggest that, in combination, leader age and the age-related construct of generativity importantly influence leadership processes and outcomes. © 2011 American Psychological Association.

Age and leadership: The moderating role of legacy beliefs

Age and age-related motivations have been neglected in leadership research. This study examined the moderating influence of legacy beliefs on the relationships between age and transformational, transactional, and passive-avoidant leadership behaviors. Legacy beliefs involve individuals' convictions about whether they and their actions will be remembered, have an enduring influence, and leave something behind after death. It was expected that at higher ages, low legacy beliefs impede transformational and transactional leadership behaviors and boost passive-avoidant leadership behaviors. One hundred and six university professors, between 30 and 70 years old, provided ratings of their legacy beliefs; each professor's leadership behaviors were evaluated by one of his or her employees. Results confirmed the assumptions for overall transformational leadership and its charisma subdimension as well as for overall transactional leadership and its active management-by-exception subdimension but not for passive-avoidant leadership.

Maintaining a focus on opportunities at work: The interplay between age, job complexity, and the use of selection, optimization, and compensation strategies

The concept of focus on opportunities describes how many new goals, options, and possibilities employees believe to have in their personal future at work. This study investigated the specific and shared effects of age, job complexity, and the use of successful aging strategies called selection, optimization, and compensation (SOC) in predicting focus on opportunities. Results of data collected from 133 employees of one company (mean age = 38 years, SD = 13, range 16–65 years) showed that age was negatively, and job complexity and use of SOC strategies were positively related to focus on opportunities. In addition, older employees in high-complexity jobs and older employees in low-complexity jobs with high use of SOC strategies were better able to maintain a focus on opportunities than older employees in low-complexity jobs with low use of SOC strategies.

Focus on opportunities as a mediator of the relationships between age, job complexity, and work performance

Focus on opportunities is a cognitive-motivational facet of occupational future time perspective that describes how many new goals, options, and possibilities individuals expect to have in their personal work-related futures. This study examined focus on opportunities as a mediator of the relationships between age and work performance and between job complexity and work performance. In addition, it was expected that job complexity buffers the negative relationship between age and focus on opportunities and weakens the negative indirect effect of age on work performance. Results of mediation, moderation, and moderated mediation analyses with data collected from 168 employees in 41 organizations (mean age = 40.22 years, SD = 10.43, range = 19-64 years) as well as 168 peers providing work performance ratings supported the assumptions. The findings suggest that future studies on the role of age for work design and performance should take employees' focus on opportunities into account.

Remaining time and opportunities at work: Relationships between age, work characteristics, and occupational future time perspective

The authors adapted the concept of future time perspective (FTP) to the work context and examined its relationships with age and work characteristics (job complexity and control). Structural equation modeling of data from 176 employees of various occupations showed that age is negatively related to 2 distinct dimensions of occupational FTP: remaining time and remaining opportunities. Work characteristics (job complexity and control) were positively related to remaining opportunities and moderated the relationship between age and remaining opportunities, such that the relationship became weaker with increasing levels of job complexity and control.

Was wollen jüngere und ältere Erwerbstätige erreichen? Altersbezogene Unterschiede in den Inhalten und Merkmalen beruflicher Ziele [What do younger and older workers want to accomplish? Age-related differences in content and characteristics of occupational goals ]

Demographic changes necessitate that companies commit younger workers and motivate older workers through work design. Age-related differences in occupational goals should be taken into account when accomplishing these challenges. In this study, we investigated goal contents and goal characteristics of employees from different age groups. We surveyed 150 employees working in the service sector (average age = 44 years, age range 19 to 60 years) on their most important occupational goals. Employees who stated goals from the area of organizational citizenship were significantly older than employees with other goals. Employees who stated goals from the areas of training and pay/career were significantly younger than employees with other goals. After controlling for gender, education, and work characteristics, no age-related differences were found in the goal areas teamwork, job security, working time, well-being, and new challenges. In addition, no relationships were found between age and the goal characteristics specificity, planning intensity, as well as positive and negative goal emotions. We recommend that companies provide older workers with more opportunities for organizational citizenship and commit younger workers by providing development opportunities and adequate pay

Defining Adequate Vitamin D Intake : Cross-sectional and Intervention Studies

D-vitamiini ylläpitää normaalia luun kasvua ja uudistumista koko elämän ajan. Suomessa, kuten monissa muissakin länsimaissa, väestön D-vitamiinitilanne on riittämätön – talvisin osalla jopa puutteellinen. Tässä väitöskirjassa on tutkittu, lisääkö D-vitamiini luumassan kertymistä kasvuiässä, ja ylläpitäkö D-vitamiini luuston tasapainoista aineenvaihduntaa aikuisiällä. Nämä vaikutukset saattavat ehkäisi osteoporoosin kehittymistä eri ikäkausina. Väitöskirjatyössä tutkittiin erisuuruisten D-vitamiinilisäysten vaikutuksia kolmessa eri ikäryhmässä, jotka olivat 11-12 -vuotiaat tytöt (N=228), 21-49 -vuotiaat miehet (N=54) ja 65-85 -vuotiaat naiset (N=52). Tutkittavat satunnaistettiin ryhmiin, jotka nauttivat joko lumevalmistetta tai 5-20 µg D3-vitamiinia vitamiinilisänä. Tutkimukset olivat kaksoissokkoutettuja. Tutkimuksen aikana tutkittavilta otettiin paastoveri- ja virtsanäytteitä. Lisäksi he täyttivät tutkimuslomakkeen taustatietojen kartoittamiseksi sekä frekvenssikyselylomakkeen kalsiumin ja D-vitamiinin saannin selvittämiseksi. Tyttöjen luunmineraalitiheys (BMD) mitattiin DXA–laitteella ja miesten volumetrinen luuntiheys pQCT-menetelmällä. Näytteistä määritettiin mm. seerumin 25-hydroksi-D-vitamiinin (=S-25-OHD), lisäkilpirauhashormonin (=S-PTH) ja luun aineenvaihduntaa kuvaavien merkkiaineiden pitoisuuksia. Murrosikäisten tyttöjen poikkileikkaustutkimuksessa S-25-OHD- ja luun muodostusmerkkiaineen pitoisuudet vaihtelivat kuukausien välillä; suurimmat pitoisuudet mitattiin syyskuussa ja pienimmät maaliskuussa, mikä kuvastaa vuodenaikaisvaihtelua. Vastaava vaihtelu havaittiin lannerangan ja reisiluun BMD:ssä. D-vitamiinilisäyksellä oli myönteinen vaikutus tyttöjen luumassan lisääntymiseen. Suurin D-vitamiinilisä (10 µg/vrk) lisäsi luumassaa 17.2% enemmän reisiluussa ja 12.5% enemmän lannerangassa verrattuna lumevalmistetta nauttivien tyttöjen vastaaviin tuloksiin, mutta tulos riippui hoitomyöntyvyydestä. D-vitamiinin vaikutus luustoon välittyi vähentyneen luun hajotuksen kautta. Tutkimustuloksiin perustuen riittävä D-vitamiinin saanti murrosikäisille tytöille on 15 µg/vrk. D-vitamiinilisän vaikutus 65-85 -vuotiaiden naisten S-25-OHD-pitoisuuteen vakioitui kuudessa viikossa annoksen ollessa 5-20 µg/vrk. Näillä D-vitamiiniannoksilla ei saavutettu tavoiteltavaa S-25-OHD-pitoisuutta, joka on 80 nmol/l. Arvioimme, että 60 nmol/l -pitoisuuden, jota esiintyy kesäisin tämän ikäryhmän suomalaisilla, tämän ikäryhmän naiset saavuttaisivat 24 µg:n päivittäisellä D-vitamiinin saannilla. Terveillä miehillä havaittiin vuodenaikaisvaihtelu S-25-OHD- ja S-PTH-pitoisuudessa sekä luun hajotusta kuvaavassa merkkiainepitoisuudessa. Toisaalta vaihtelua ei havaittu radiuksen volumetrisessä luuntiheydessä eikä luun muodostusmerkkiaineen pitoisuudessa. Vuodenaikaisvaihtelu estettiin 17 µg:n päivittäisellä D-vitamiinin saannilla, mutta tämän ei havaittu vaikuttavan radiuksen luuntiheyteen kuusi kuukautta kestävän tutkimuksen aikana. Yhteenvetona todetaan, että D-vitamiinin saanti on edelleenkin riittämätöntä tutkimusten kohderyhmillä. Tämä näkyy S-25-OHD- ja PTH-pitoisuuden sekä luunaineenvaihduntaa kuvaavien merkkiaineiden vuodenaikaisvaihteluna, mikä on haitallista luuston hyvinvoinnille. D-vitamiinin saantia tulisi lisätä, jotta vähintäänkin riittävä D-vitamiinitilanne (S-25-OHD>50 nmol/l) tai mahdollisesti jopa tavoiteltava D-vitaminitilanne (S-25-OHD≥80 nmol/l) saavutettaisiin. Jotta D-vitamiinin saannin lisääminen olisi kaikissa ikäryhmissä mahdollista, on suunniteltava nykyistä enemmän D-vitamiinilla täydennettyjä elintarvikkeita.