Dehumanization of Older People: The Evaluation of Hostile Work Environments

This research examined how people judge hostile work environments in which members of a work setting derogate other workers because they are older and presumed to be incompetent based on a psycholegal model incorporating negative affect and dehumanization (Wiener, Gervais, Brnjic, & Nuss, 2014). Specifically, we conducted a study in which a national sample of community participants read a scenario in which an interviewer did or did not derogate an older worker in a work interview. Respondents predicted affect (negative and positive), rated dehumanization (animalistic and mechanistic), and assessed hostile work environment (legal and impact). Consistent with hypotheses, derogation of the older worker caused more negative affect, more animalistic and mechanistic dehumanization, and more hostile work environment perceptions. Further, consistent with the mechanisms posited by our psycholegal model, path analysis revealed that negative affect and mechanistic dehumanization explained the relation between age derogation and hostile work environment judgments. The paper ends with a discussion of implications for organizations, law, and psychology, as well as directions for future research.