A Study on the Mechanisms of Psychological Barriers Held by Senior Employees in Organizations and Management Strategies for Overcoming Them

2023 Fiscal Year Final Research Report

• Project/Area Number: 20K03294
• Research Category: Grant-in-Aid for Scientific Research (C)
• Allocation Type: Multi-year Fund
• Section: 一般
• Review Section: Basic Section 10010:Social psychology-related
• Research Institution: Kyushu University
• Principal Investigator: Ikeda Hiroshi 九州大学, 人間環境学研究院, 准教授 (80454700)
• Project Period (FY): 2020-04-01 – 2024-03-31
• Keywords: シニア / ワークモチベーション / 心理的障壁 / 主観的高齢観 / 自己価値充足モデル

Outline of Final Research Achievements

The purpose of this study is to clarify the state of motivation among older employees. Kanfer et al. (2013) have shown that individual differences in motivation increase with age. The results of a series of studies revealed that achievement-oriented motivation tended to be higher in older employees than in their counterparts in their younger employees. Furthermore, older employees who felt younger than their age tended to have higher achievement-oriented motivation. The results also revealed that "psychological barriers" to adapting to novelty are a cause of suppressed motivation to learn among people in older employees. These results clearly indicate that motivation does not simply decline with age, but that individual differences in motivation among older people can be explained by subjective views of aging and psychological barriers. The results of this study also provide important theoretical and practical implications for the management of motivation in the context of aging.

Free Research Field

社会心理学

Academic Significance and Societal Importance of the Research Achievements

これまでシニア世代のモチベーションは加齢とともに低下するものと信じられてきたが、これを真っ正面から検証した研究は稀少に留まっている。また、シニア世代のモチベーションの源泉も他の世代と異なるか十分に明らかにされていない。本研究で得られた知見は、ワークモチベーション研究においても特にシニア世代に特化した知見として、学術的な発展に資するだけでなく、主観的高齢観（実年齢よりも若いと考える価値観）を促進し、他方、心理的障壁を抑制する取り組みや施策がシニア世代のモチベーションをより高める示唆を持つことから社会的意義も優れて高いと言える。