Generational differences in personality and motivation: Do they exist and what are the implications for the workplace?

Journal of Managerial Psychology

Volumn 23, Issue 8, 2008, Pages 878-890

  Wong, Melissa ^a   Gardiner, Elliroma ^b   Lang, Whitney ^c   Coulon, Leah ^d  

^a SHL   (Australia)

^b UNIVERSITY OF QUEENSLAND   (Australia)

^c DEAKIN UNIVERSITY   (Australia)

^d SHL   (Australia)

Author keywords

Age groups; Motivation (psychology); Personality

Indexed keywords

EID: 59849111978     PISSN: 02683946     EISSN: None     Source Type: Journal    
DOI: 10.1108/02683940810904376     Document Type: Article

References (29)

1. Adams S.J. (2000), "Gen X: How understanding this population leads to better safety programs", Professional. Safety, Vol. 45, pp. 26-9
2. Appelbaum S.H., Serena M., Shapiro B.T. (2004), "Gen X and the boomers: Organizational myths and literary realities", Management Research News, Vol. 27, No. 11, pp. 1-28
3. Ashley, N., Bartram, D. and Schoonman, W. (2001), "Values at work - the relationship with personality, motivation and corporate culture", paper presented at the BPS Occupational Psychology Conference, Stockholm, October 10-13.
4. Avery R.D., Bouchard T.J. Jr Segal N.L., Abraham L.M. (1989), "Job satisfaction: Environmental and genetic components", Journal of Applied Psychology, Vol. 74, No. 2, pp. 187-92
5. Barrick M.R., Stewart G.L., Piotrowski M. (2002), "Personality and job performance: Test of the mediating effects of motivation among sales representatives", Journal of Applied Psychology, Vol. 87, No. 1, pp. 43-51
6. Bartram D., Brown A., Fleck S., Inceoglu I., Ward K. (2006), OPQ32 Technical Manual, SHL, Thames Ditton
7. Bradford F.W. (1993), "Understanding 'Gen X'", Marketing Research, Vol. 5, pp. 54
8. Brown M.A. (1976), "Values - a necessary but neglected ingredient of motivation on the job", Academy of Management Review, Vol. 1, No. 4, pp. 15-21
9. Fyock C.D. (1990), America's Work Force Is Coming of Age, Lexington Books, Toronto
10. George J.M., Jones G.R. (1999), Understanding and Managing Organizational Behavior, Addison-Wesley, New York, NY, 3rd ed.
11. Hart, K.A. (2006), "Generations in the workplace: Finding common ground", available online at: www.mlo-online.com (accessed 14 April 2007).
12. Hays S. (1999), "Gen X and the art of the reward", Workforce, Vol. 78, pp. 44-7
13. Hornblower, M. (1997), "Great Xpectations", Time, 9 June, available at: www.time.com/time/magazine (accessed 26 October 2007).
14. Howe N., Strauss W., Matson R.J. (2000), Millennials Rising: The Next Great Generation, Vintage Books, New York, NY
15. Hume, D. (n.d.), "Preparedness of the APS for the implications of an ageing workforce", unpublished paper, Hume Consulting Group, available at: Infoηumeconsulting.com.au
16. Huntley R. (2006), The World according to Y: Inside the New Adult Generation, Allen & Unwin, Sydney
17. Jorgense B. (2003), "Baby boomers, Gen X and Gen Y? Policy implications for defense forces in the modern era", foresight, Vol. 5, No. 4, pp. 41-9
18. Jurkiewicz C.E. (2000), "Gen X and the public employee", Public Personnel Management, Vol. 29, pp. 55-74
19. Kupperschmidt B.R. (2000), "Multigeneration employees: Strategies for effective management", The Health Care Manager, Vol. 19, No. 1, pp. 65-76
20. Loomis J.E. (2000), Gen X, Rough Notes Co., Indianapolis, IN
21. McCrindle, M. and Hooper, D. (2006), "Gen Y: Attracting, engaging and leading a new generation at work", white paper, University of Tasmania, Hobart.
22. Smola K.W., Sutton C.D. (2002), "Generational differences: revisiting generational work values for the new millennium", Journal of Organizational Behaviour, Vol. 23, No. SP1, pp. 363-82
23. Tett R.P., Burnett D.D. (2003), "A personality trait-based interactionist model of job performance", Journal of Applied Psychology, Vol. 88, No. 3, pp. 500-17
24. Tulgan B., Martin C. (2001), Managing Gen Y Global Citizens Born in the Late 70s and Early 80s, HRD Press, Amherst, MA
25. Twenge J.M. (2000), "The age of anxiety? Birth cohort change in anxiety and neuroticism, 1952-1993", Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, Vol. 79, No. 6, pp. 1007-21
26. Twenge J.M. (2001a), "Birth cohort changes in extraversion: A cross-temporal meta-analysis, 1966-1993", Personality and Individual Differences, Vol. 30, No. 5, pp. 735-48
27. Twenge J.M. (2001b), "Changes in assertiveness in response to status and roles: A cross-temporal meta-analysis, 1931-1993", Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, Vol. 81, No. 1, pp. 133-45
28. Twenge J.M., Zhang L., Im C. (2004), "It's beyond my control: A cross-temporal meta-analysis of increasing externality in locus of control, 1960-2002", Personality and Social Psychology Review, Vol. 8, No. 3, pp. 308-19
29. Yu H.C., Miller P. (2003), "The generation gap and cultural influence - a Taiwan empirical investigation", Cross Cultural Management, Vol. 10, No. 3, pp. 23-41