Workplace age discrimination reduces vitality in older employees by depleting their sense of internal employability—the confidence in their own marketable skills and value. This effect is moderated by subjective age: employees who perceive themselves as younger show greater resilience against the vitality-draining impact of discrimination.
Key Points
- Age discrimination depletes internal employability, reducing work vitality
- Subjective age buffers against discrimination's negative impact on vitality
- Resource depletion model explains discrimination's physiological and psychological toll
Longevity Analysis
Workplace discrimination operates as a chronic stressor that depletes psychological resources and erodes the confidence necessary for sustained engagement and performance. The moderating effect of subjective age—how one perceives oneself relative to chronological age—reveals that perception directly influences resilience to environmental stress. This has direct implications for how stress response systems are activated over time, how emotional regulation and nervous system function respond to perceived social threat, and ultimately how chronic workplace stress cascades into systemic health decline. Organizations that reduce age-based discrimination and support older workers' sense of competence and value address a modifiable risk factor for both occupational wellbeing and longer-term health trajectories.
Original published by SAGE Research on Aging, by Jing Yang, Chuangang Shen, Sanman Hu1College of Tourism, 12422Huaqiao University, Quanzhou, China2School of Business Administration, 12422Huaqiao University, Quanzhou, China.