Online identity work dynamics of Instagram micro-influencers: an extreme case approach.

Background: Advanced media technologies have become an integral part of people's daily lives, providing them with new tools and environments for the formation and enactment of their identities. To date, the literature acknowledges that media technologies, such as social networking sites, are used to form and enact online identities, and that these platforms can simultaneously pose challenges to individuals' identity work. However, we know little about the precise online identity work strategies that individuals employ in response to the challenges they face over time. Objective: This paper examines the online identity work dynamics of Instagram micro-influencers, for whom social network sites enable and guide them in forming and enacting their online identities on a daily basis. The study was guided by the following research question: what are the challenges that Instagram micro-influencers perceive online and what are the online identity work strategies that they employ in response to these challenges over time? Methods: This study employs an extreme case approach to rigorously explore the lives of seven micro-influencers on Instagram. We combine in-depth data from narrative interviews, longitudinal data from online autobiographical narratives revealed through the participants' Instagram timelines, and follow-up interviews. Results: Our analysis revealed three main themes that highlight the challenges that Instagram micro-influencers face online: (1) amplified social expectations, (2) feelings of inauthenticity, and, as a result thereof, (3) psychological distress. We found that these challenges were viewed as catalysts for their online identity work processes. We identified three key online identity work strategies that the Instagram micro-influencers employed in response over time: (1) experimenting with their online identities, followed by either (2) segmenting between their online and offline identities, or (3) adding identities through online multiplicity. Conclusion: Our research provides new insights into how individuals may respond to the challenge of managing their online identities over time by engaging in different online identity work strategies. This study highlights the importance of designing online media technologies that enable individuals to cope with online challenges. We emphasize the need to design online spaces for (1) the expression of authentic identities, (2) community building, and (3) online multiplicity.

At your service: supportiveness of servant leadership, communication frequency and communication channel fostering job satisfaction across generations.

Introduction: The present study contributes to the conversations on the role of 'autonomy supportive' factors in employee wellbeing in remote work contexts by examining the relationships between servant leadership, communication frequency - overall and via synchronous (i.e., individual video-calls, individual telephone calls) and asynchronous communication channels (i.e., e-mail messages, and WhatsApp) - on the one hand, and job satisfaction, on the other, and the moderating role of generation (Baby Boomers and Gen X versus Gen Y) in these relationships. Method: Building on self-determination theory, incorporating insights from servant leadership, telework, and media richness and synchronicity literatures, we developed hypotheses that were tested via multilevel analysis (273 employees nested in 89 managers). Results: In line with expectations, servant leadership had a positive relationship with job satisfaction. Total communication frequency, however, was not related to job satisfaction. Further analyses per communication channel showed that only level 2 e-mail communication frequency was positively related to job satisfaction. In contrast to expectations, the relationships studied were not moderated by generation. Discussion: We concluded that, for all generations, both servant leadership and frequent (e-mail) communication can be regarded as 'autonomy supportive' factors in employee wellbeing. Paradoxically, whereas servant leadership, considered as a human-centric leadership style, suggests close trust-based employment relationships, employees valued frequent asynchronous communication (via e-mail). Having access to information and knowledge when needed may satisfy employees' need for autonomy (and perhaps for flexibility to engage in work and non-work activities). The insights gained in our study can inform organizations, managers, and employees, particularly in future remote work contexts.

Do you really want to hurt me? The impact of contextual factors on the moderating role of dark leadership in the relationships between learning climate facilitation, employability and turnover intention in the Netherlands and China.

Introduction: Both the Dutch and Chinese labor markets experience severe shortages of skilled personnel and high turnover rates, being distressing socio-economic factors. At the same time, large cross-cultural studies indicate that these national contexts are highly different from a socio-cultural perspective. When considering issues on employee development and retainment, the public debate opens for negative attributes as dark leadership, wondering if employees accept to be hurt. This study contributes to the employability research and, moreover, it contributes to the call for the ability to contextualize theories and to the convergence/divergence debate. We applied Western theories to investigate possible contextual differences in the relationships between learning climate facilitation and turnover intention, and to investigate whether this relationship is mediated by employability, and whether dark leadership is a possible moderator. Methods: To test our hypotheses, we collected data from 368 Dutch and 319 Chinese respondents who participate in an executive master's program, which was analyzed using PLS-Structural Equation Modeling. Results: Employees in the Netherlands and China were found to interpret our study variables differently. Separate analyses revealed that, in both contexts, learning climate facilitation was both directly and indirectly, via the balance dimension of employability, negatively related to turnover intention. In addition, in the Dutch sample, dark leadership appeared to weaken the relationship between learning climate facilitation and the corporate sense dimension of employability, but the latter did not seem to be a mediator in the relationship with turnover intention. In the Chinese sample, no moderation effects were found. Discussion: Our results show that both learning climate facilitation and dark leadership are important factors in the development and retainment of personnel and that particularly focusing on 'balancing group and individual goals' is important to retain personnel, regardless of national context. The latter may indicate the need for convergence of HR practices. At the same time, however, the different interpretations of the study's variables may indicate divergence in the meaning of HR concepts. In the discussion section, we elaborate on the study's implications for HR-researchers and -practitioners in national and global business contexts.

Humane orientation, work-family conflict, and positive spillover across cultures.

Although cross-national work-family research has made great strides in recent decades, knowledge accumulation on the impact of culture on the work-family interface has been hampered by a limited geographical and cultural scope that has excluded countries where cultural expectations regarding work, family, and support may differ. We advance this literature by investigating work-family relationships in a broad range of cultures, including understudied regions of the world (i.e., Sub-Saharan Africa, Southern Asia). We focus on humane orientation (HO), an overlooked cultural dimension that is however central to the study of social support and higher in those regions. We explore its moderating effect on relationships between work and family social support, work-family conflict, and work-family positive spillover. Building on the congruence and compensation perspectives of fit theory, we test alternative hypotheses on a sample of 10,307 participants from 30 countries/territories. We find HO has mostly a compensatory role in the relationships between workplace support and work-to-family conflict. Specifically, supervisor and coworker supports were most strongly and negatively related to conflict in cultures in which support is most needed (i.e., lower HO cultures). Regarding positive spillover, HO has mostly an amplifying role. Coworker (but not supervisor) support was most strongly and positively related to work-to-family positive spillover in higher HO cultures, where providing social support at work is consistent with the societal practice of providing support to one another. Likewise, instrumental (but not emotional) family support was most strongly and positively related to family-to-work positive spillover in higher HO cultures. (PsycInfo Database Record (c) 2023 APA, all rights reserved).

Effects of mindfulness-based stress reduction and an organizational health intervention on Dutch teachers' mental health.

This study aimed to test the effectiveness of mindfulness-based stress reduction (MBSR) combined with an organizational health intervention. A cluster randomized controlled trial was conducted in five Dutch secondary vocational schools. Teachers were assigned to Intervention Group 1 (IG1; MBSR) or 2 (IG2; MBSR and an organizational health intervention), or to the Waiting List Group. The primary outcome variable was mindfulness. Secondary outcomes included other mental health outcomes, work performance, personal competencies, and work-related perceptions. Data was collected before (T0), immediately after (T1), and three (T2) and nine months (T3) after the MBSR training and analyzed applying repeated measures between-subjects designs. As the additional intervention showed no effects, IG1 and IG2 were merged (IG). MBSR had positive short-term effects on the total mindfulness score, its dimensions 'observing' and 'non-reactivity', and the work engagement dimension 'dedication'. Long-term effects were found for the total mindfulness score, its dimensions 'observing', 'non-reactivity', and 'non-judging', sleep quality complaints, negative emotions, and negative work-home interaction. IG displayed a larger short- and long-term decrease in organizational commitment. No significant differences were found for work performance, personal competencies, and work-related perceptions. Although teachers did not perceive a decrease in job demands after the training, they felt more mindful and lowered their organizational commitment. Their mental health improved and their dedication during work increased. These findings may suggest that enhanced mindfulness enabled them to mentally disengage from work during their leisure time, which allowed them to experience fewer symptoms of psychological strain. The trail is registered with the Dutch Trial Register (www.trialregister.nl): NL5581 (July 2016).

Train to sustain: a randomised controlled trial evaluation of a vitality training employing behaviour-change techniques.

Introduction: This paper reports on the effects of a 9-week vitality training that employed behaviour-change techniques and was evaluated using a randomised controlled trial (RCT) in three large companies based in the Netherlands. Methods: A total of 84 adult employees from three participating organisations in the Netherlands were enrolled in the study. A parallel group RCT design was employed and participants were assigned using individual random assignment to either an intervention (n = 38) or a waitlist control group (n = 46). The intervention consisted of a 9-week vitality training employing the behaviour-change techniques of self-persuasion, implementation intentions, and self-efficacy, which was delivered in-house over five fortnightly 2-hour sessions. Primary outcomes (i.e., reported energy and stress) and secondary outcomes (i.e., reported daily life satisfaction and work capacity) were assessed prior to, immediately after, and 3 months following the intervention. Results: A mixed MANOVA revealed a significant interaction effect between treatment group and time period for the combination of reported energy, stress, daily life satisfaction, and work capacity. Subsequent univariate ANOVAs revealed significant interactions between treatment group and time period for reported energy, stress, and daily life satisfaction; however, not for reported work capacity. Improvements in outcomes were observed for both groups following their completion of the vitality training; however, not all improvements reached statistical significance. Reported self-efficacy regarding managing work-life balance was found to mediate the relationship between the effects of the intervention and reported energy; however, such an effect was not found for stress. Discussion: An intervention drawing upon evidence-based behaviour-change techniques shows promise for improving indicators associated with burnout; although, it is recommended that in future research a larger-scale evaluation be conducted over a longer time period with an active control group to establish effectiveness.Clinical trial registration: https://www.anzctr.org.au/, ACTRN12622001268730.

Predicting Work-Life Conflict: Types and Levels of Enacted and Preferred Work-Nonwork Boundary (In)Congruence and Perceived Boundary Control.

In 2020, everyday life changed dramatically for employees worldwide as a result of the outbreak of the Covid-19 pandemic, where an estimated 558 million employees started working from home. The pandemic, therefore, marks a fundamental shift of individuals' work-nonwork boundaries, which can impact work-life conflict. In particular, the interplay between individuals' enacted boundaries (degree to which they separate/segment or blend/integrate work-nonwork), preferred boundaries (degree of preferred segmentation or integration of work-nonwork), and perceived control over work-nonwork boundaries, may relate to work-life conflict. This study, the first to the best of our knowledge, examines whether different types and levels of work-nonwork boundary (in)congruence matter for work-life conflict, and whether perceived boundary control moderates these relationships. Boundary (in)congruence represents the degree of (mis)fit between enacted and preferred segmentation or integration. Several types of (in)congruence are distinguished: "segmentation congruence" (enacting and preferring segmentation); "integration congruence" (enacting and preferring integration); "intrusion" (enacting integration but preferring segmentation) and "distance" (enacting segmentation but preferring integration). Data from 1,229 managers working in public and private organizations in Sweden was analyzed using polynomial regression analysis with response surface modeling and moderation analysis in SPSS Process. Findings showed that "integration congruence" was related with higher work-life conflict than "segmentation congruence." Moreover, a U-shaped relationship between incongruence and work-life conflict was found: the more incongruence, the more work-life conflict. Specifically, "intrusion" was related to higher work-life conflict than "distance." Finally, boundary control mitigated the effect of incongruence (especially "intrusion") on work-life conflict. From our findings, we may conclude that work-life conflict is impacted differently depending on the type and level of boundary (in)congruence. Particularly enacted and/or preferred integration may be problematic when it comes to work-life conflict, rather than just (in)congruence per se. Moreover, boundary control can be viewed as a key factor in combating work-life conflict, especially among individuals who enact integration, but prefer segmentation. Taken together, our study contributes new and substantial knowledge by showing the importance for research and HRM-policies that take into account different types and levels of boundary (in)congruence, as these are associated with different levels of work-life conflict, which, in turn, are moderated by boundary control.

Leading Innovative Work-Behavior in Times of COVID-19: Relationship Between Leadership Style, Innovative Work-Behavior, Work-Related Flow, and IT-Enabled Presence Awareness During the First and Second Wave of the COVID-19 Pandemic.

Aim: The present study contributes to the conversation on remote (home) working, leadership, and innovation in times of COVID-19 by examining the mediating role of work-related flow in the relationship between empowering and directive leadership, on the one hand, and innovative work-behavior, on the other, and the moderating role of IT-enabled presence awareness in two lockdown periods during the pandemic. Method: We employed PLS-SEM analysis to analyze the perceptions, experiences, and behaviors of a group of employees (N = 257) regarding the study's core variables during two phases of the COVID-19 pandemic (summer 2020 and autumn 2020). Results: In line with expectations, in the earlier phase of the pandemic, empowering leadership had both a positive direct and indirect relationship with innovative work-behavior via work-related flow, whereas directive leadership only had a negative direct relationship with innovative work-behavior. In the second phase, however, empowering leadership only had a positive indirect relationship with innovative work-behavior, running via work-related flow. Moreover, directive leadership was both directly and indirectly negatively related to innovative work-behavior, via work-related flow. In contrast to our expectations, IT-enabled presence awareness did not play a moderating role in these relationships in any phase. Discussion: Our findings underline the importance of empowerment in sustaining innovative work-behavior, particularly in intense and enduring remote work contexts, as this can amplify employees' ability, motivation and opportunity to generate, share and implement novel ideas. In remote work contexts, empowering leadership can particularly foster innovation indirectly via work-related flow, which was also shown to be an increasingly important underlying mechanism across time periods. Directive leadership, in contrast, can reduce work-related flow and, therefore, hinder innovation. Our study did not find evidence for the moderating role of employees' perceptions of IT-enabled presence awareness. Conclusion: We conclude that regardless of the IT-quality, the leadership style chosen plays an important role in innovative work-behavior in remote work-contexts, particularly in view of the divergent effects of empowering and directive leadership on work-related flow in enduring and intense remote work contexts.

Exploring the Meaning of Organizational Purpose at a New Dawn: The Development of a Conceptual Model Through Expert Interviews.

Organizational purpose has flourished in the professional management literature, yet despite increased scholarly interest, academic knowledge and empirical research on the topic remain scarce. Moreover, studies that have been conducted contain important oversights including the lack of a clear conceptualization and misinterpretations that hinder the further development and understanding of organizational purpose. In view of these shortcomings, our interview study aimed to contribute to academic and societal conversations on the contemporary meaning and function of organizational purpose considering the voices and perspectives of 44 global experts. Employing template analysis, we defined organizational purpose as "an organization's reason for being characterized by significance, aspiration, direction, unification, and motivation." Moreover, we proposed an explanatory conceptual model, including drivers and outcomes of purpose, important boundary conditions, and explanatory mechanisms. Drawing on self-determination theory, person-organization fit theory, job characteristics theory, and conservation of resources theory, we were able to explain how and under what conditions these concepts are related to organizational purpose. In doing so, our research contributes to advancing the knowledge and understanding of organizational purpose and its effects on human lives within and outside organizations. Our study thereby enhances the understanding of the role of organizations in society and helps in evaluating whether organizations take responsibility by living their purpose in the society they are part of. As such, our study provides important insights for theory development, scale development, and further empirical research on organizational purpose and its effects in different streams such as OB, HRM, marketing, leadership, and strategy.

Effects of Mindfulness-Based Stress Reduction Training on Healthcare Professionals' Mental Health: Results from a Pilot Study Testing Its Predictive Validity in a Specialized Hospital Setting.

This pilot study aimed to evaluate the feasibility and acceptability of a Mindfulness-Based Stress Reduction (MBSR) training and to examine positive and negative symptom-focused mental health variables. The mental health variables were used to test the predictive validity of the training among healthcare professionals. Thirty healthcare professionals participated in this non-randomized pre-post intervention pilot study. The questionnaire on mental health was filled in twice. Baseline and post-intervention differences were tested with paired samples t-tests and Wilcoxon signed-rank tests. The participants' evaluation of the training was assessed with a five-item questionnaire. The recruitment and retention were successful, and participants' evaluation of the training itself was positive but the influence on daily life was rated only moderately positive. In comparison with baseline at post-intervention participants showed significant improvements in general mindfulness, the burnout dimension personal accomplishment, quality of sleep, positive emotions, and self-efficacy. A significant decrease was found in the burnout dimension emotional exhaustion, stress level, negative emotions at work, and worrying. No significant changes were found for the burnout dimension mental distance, and work engagement. The measures showed ample within-person differences and low, medium, or high effect sizes. The current trial approach of the MBSR training seems feasible and acceptable. Our results suggest that mindfulness, burnout, stress level, quality of sleep, positive emotions at work, negative emotions at work, self-efficacy, and worrying are meaningful mental health variables for inclusion in a larger-scale Randomized Controlled Trial on the effects of MBSR.

Creating public value in the care at home sector: a mixed-method study about expectations of primary stakeholders using a social exchange perspective.

PURPOSE: This mixed-method study aims to contribute to the scholarly debate by outlining an individual-level theoretical framework for public value creation and evaluation that builds upon a social exchange perspective. It provides insights into the normative frames of primary stakeholders in the Dutch care at home sector, that is professionals, managers, clients and informal care providers. DESIGN/METHODOLOGY/APPROACH: A mixed-method design comprising a customized survey among 349 stakeholders, preceded by 31 in-depth interviews was used. FINDINGS: This empirical work shows differences and similarities in the stakeholders' normative frames revealed via three dimensions of expectations regarding the process of care delivery: personal contact, impact of rules and procedures and communication. SOCIAL IMPLICATIONS: These differences in interpretation have implications for the measurement and evaluation of public value creation. ORIGINALITY/VALUE: By statistically and methodologically exploring the different expectations' scales that are developed, we intend to work toward a measure for public value creation, which can be used in future empirical work.

A study protocol for a cluster randomised controlled trial on mindfulness-based stress reduction: studying effects of mindfulness-based stress reduction and an additional organisational health intervention on mental health and work-related perceptions of teachers in Dutch secondary vocational schools.

BACKGROUND: Dutch teachers in secondary vocational schools suffer from stress and burnout complaints that can cause considerable problems at work. This paper presents a study design that can be used to evaluate the short-term and long-term effectiveness of mindfulness-based stress reduction (MBSR), a person-focused intervention, both within and outside of the context of an additional organisational health intervention. METHODS: The proposed study comprises a cluster randomised controlled trial that will be conducted in at least three secondary vocational schools, to which teachers will be recruited from three types of courses: Care, Technology, and Economy. The allocation of the intervention programme to the participating schools will be randomised. The teachers from each school will be assigned to intervention group 1 (IG 1), intervention group 2 (IG 2), or the waiting list group (WG). IG 1 will receive MBSR training and IG 2 will receive MBSR training combined with an additional organisational health intervention. WG, that is the control group, will receive MBSR training one year later. The primary outcome variable of the proposed study is mindfulness, which will be measured using the Dutch version of the Five Facet Mindfulness Questionnaire (FFMQ-NL). In the conceptual model, the effects of teachers' mindfulness resulting from the intervention programmes (MBSR training and MBSR training combined with an additional organisational health intervention) will be related to salient (secondary outcome) variables: mental health outcomes (e.g., burnout, work engagement), work performance, work-related perceptions (job demands and job resources), and personal competencies (e.g., occupational self-efficacy). Data will be collected before (T0) and immediately after the MBSR training (T1), and 3 (T2) and 9 months (T3) after the training. The power analysis revealed a required sample size of 66 teachers (22 in each group). DISCUSSION: The proposed study aims to provide insight into (1) the short-term and long-term effects of MBSR on teachers' mental health, (2) the possible enhancing effects of the additional organisational health intervention, and (3) the teachers' experiences with the interventions (working mechanisms, steps in the mindfulness change process). Strengths of this study design are the use of both positive and negative outcomes, the wide range of outcomes, both outcome and process measures, longitudinal data, mixed methods, and an integral approach. Although the proposed study protocol may not address all weaknesses of current studies (e.g., self-selection bias, self-reporting of data, the Hawthorne effect), it is innovative in many ways and can be expected to make important contributions to both the scientific and practical debate on how to beat work-related stress and occupational burnout, and on how to enhance work engagement and work performance. TRIAL REGISTRATION: Dutch Trial Register (www.trialregister.nl): NL5581. Registered on 6 July 2016.

Live to Work or Work to Live? An Age-Moderated Mediation Model on the Simultaneous Mechanisms Prompted by Workaholism Among Healthcare Professionals.

The "aging population" implies an increased proportion of older professionals and a growing demand for healthcare services. Healthcare professionals are often highly committed to their work which can be reflected in high levels of workaholism, being a double-edged sword that can prompt both positive and negative mechanisms, differently affecting younger and older healthcare workers. The present study aims to gain insights into the relationships between healthcare professionals' age, workaholism and job satisfaction, by estimating the sequential mediating roles of workload perceptions and emotional exhaustion. We used original survey data, including information on 750 healthcare professionals. Overall, the negative relationship between workaholism and job satisfaction was shown to be sequentially (and partially) mediated by workload perceptions and emotional exhaustion. Multi-Group SEM analyses revealed differences across three age groups (under 35; between 35 and 50; over 50). Only in the two younger age groups, we found a direct and positive relationship between workaholism and job satisfaction. In all age groups, we found the negative relationship between workaholism and job satisfaction to be sequentially (and partially) mediated by workload perceptions and emotional exhaustion. The indirect effects were relatively stronger in the younger age group. Workaholism can prompt both a "gain spiral" and "a loss spiral" among healthcare professionals. The first reflects workaholism to function as a job resource fostering job satisfaction (only for the two younger age groups). The second reflects workaholism to function as a job demand reducing job satisfaction. This mechanism was shown to be stronger with an increasing age.

Please Don't Look at Me That Way. An Empirical Study Into the Effects of Age-Based (Meta-)Stereotyping on Employability Enhancement Among Older Supermarket Workers.

At present, individuals increasingly have to take ownership of their working lives. This situation requires them to self-manage and plan their careers. However, individuals' career management does not happen in a vacuum. Studies have therefore stressed the importance of organizations introducing Sustainable Human Resource Management to share the responsibility for individuals' employability. This is expected to motivate especially disadvantaged workers, such as older workers (≥ 50 years) and those working in lower-skilled jobs, to work longer across the life-span. In view of the growing scholarly and societal attention for Sustainable Career Development (SCD), the present study examines the relationships between workers' chronological age (comparing older workers with younger and middle-aged groups, respectively) and dimensions of self-reported employability, and how perceptions of negative (meta-)stereotyping regarding older workers' productivity, reliability, and personal adaptability moderate these relationships. To examine how possible underlying psychological mechanisms can affect individuals' labor market decisions and behaviors, we developed hypotheses derived from socio-emotional selectivity and self-categorization theory, which we tested using data collected among supermarket workers in various age groups (N = 98). Moderated regression analyses showed that, in line with our hypotheses, perceptions of negative age-based (meta-)stereotyping amplifies the negative effect of older workers' age on their self-perceived employability. In particular, we found that: (1) the older worker group reported lower levels of three of the distinguished employability dimensions (i.e., anticipation and optimization, corporate sense, and balance, but not occupational expertise and personal flexibility) and (2) perceptions of stronger negative (meta-)stereotypes regarding older workers in the organization had a moderating effect on the relationship between age group and four of the distinguished employability dimensions (i.e., occupational expertise, anticipation and optimization, corporate sense, and balance, but not personal flexibility). We conclude that age group membership as well as negative age-based (meta-)stereotypes deter older workers from enhancing their employability, which may potentially impact their career decisions and opportunities, especially in view of swift changing labor market demands. We argue, therefore, that Sustainable HR practices should focus on opposing negative age-based (meta-)stereotyping and on creating an inclusive work climate, meanwhile enhancing workers' ambitions and career opportunities over the life cycle.

Validity of the Parental Burnout Inventory Among Dutch Employees.

The purpose of this study was to validate the Parental Burnout Inventory (PBI) in a Dutch sample of working parents. The Dutch version of the PBI and questionnaires about work were administered to 627 working parents, with at least one child living at home. We investigated whether the tri-dimensional structure of the PBI held in a sample of male and female employed parents. Furthermore, we examined the relationships between PBI and the constructs work-related burnout, depressive mood, parenting stress and work-family conflict, which we assessed with widely used and validated instruments, i.e., emotional exhaustion [a subscale of the Dutch version of Maslach's Burnout Inventory], a Dutch Parental Stress Questionnaire and Work-Family Conflict. The results support the validity of a tri-dimensional parental burnout syndrome, including exhaustion, distancing and inefficacy. Low to moderate correlations between parents' burnout symptoms and professional exhaustion, parenting stress, depressive complaints and work-family conflict experiences were found, suggesting that the concept of PBI differs significantly from the concepts of job burnout, depression and stress, respectively. The current study confirms that some parents are extremely exhausted by their parental role. However, the number of Dutch employees reporting extreme parental burnout is rather low.

Keep Up the Good Work! Age-Moderated Mediation Model on Intention to Retire.

In European nations, the aging of the workforce is a major issue which is increasingly addressed both in national and organizational policies in order to sustain older workers' employability and to encourage longer working lives. Particularly older workers' employability can be viewed an important issue as this has the potential to motivate them for their work and change their intention to retire. Based on lifespan development theories and Van der Heijden's 'employability enhancement model', this paper develops and tests an age-moderated mediation model (which refers to the processes that we want to test in this model), linking older workers' (55 years old and over) perceptions of job support for learning (job-related factor) and perceptions of negative age stereotypes on productivity (organizational factor), on the one hand, and their intention to retire, on the other hand, via their participation in employability enhancing activities, being the mediator in our model. A total of 2,082 workers aged 55 years and above were included in the analyses. Results revealed that the two proposed relationships between the predictors and intention to retire were mediated by participation in employability enhancing activities, reflecting two mechanisms through which work context affects intention to retire (namely 'a gain spiral and a loss spiral'). Multi-Group SEM analyses, distinguishing between two age groups (55-60 and 61-65 years old), revealed different paths for the two distinguished groups of older workers. Employability mediated the relationship between perceptions of job support for learning and intention to retire in both age groups, whereas it only mediated the relationship between perceptions of negative age stereotypes and intention to retire in the 55-60 group. From our empirical study, we may conclude that employability is an important factor in the light of older workers' intention to retire. In order to motivate this category of workers to participate in employability enhancing activities and to work longer, negative age stereotypes need to be combated. In addition, creating job support for learning over the lifespan is also an important HR practice to be implemented in nowadays' working life.