The consequences of perceived age discrimination amongst older police officers : is social support a buffer ?

Redman, Tom; Snape, Ed

Abstract

This paper considers the possible psychological consequences of perceived agediscrimination, and the possible buffering effect of social support. Findings, based on a studyof perceived age discrimination amongst police officers in the North of England, suggest thatage discrimination acts as a stressor, with officers experiencing negative effects of perceivedage discrimination on job and life satisfaction, perceived power and prestige of the job, andaffective and normative commitment, along with positive effects on withdrawal cognitionsand continuance commitment. For work-based social support, there were positive maineffects on job and satisfaction, power and prestige of the job, and affective and normativecommitment, and a negative main effect on withdrawal cognitions. However, there were nosignificant moderating effects for work-based social support, and we found the anticipatedbuffering effect for non-work-based social support only for life satisfaction, with reversebuffering for job satisfaction and normative commitment. The limitations and implications ofthe study are discussed.

Citation

Redman, T., & Snape, E. (2005). The consequences of perceived age discrimination amongst older police officers : is social support a buffer ?

• Working Paper Type: Working Paper
• Publication Date: Dec 1, 2005
• Deposit Date: Dec 7, 2012
• Publicly Available Date: Dec 7, 2012
• Series Title: Durham University Business School Management and Marketing Working Papers
• Keywords: JEL classifcation: G21 G30 G32
• Public URL: https://durham-repository.worktribe.com/output/1699703
• Publisher URL: http://www.dur.ac.uk/business/faculty/working-papers/