Work Across the Lifespan

Work Across the Lifespan coalesces theoretical and empirical perspectives on aging and work. This volume examines a collection of human development theories that explain trajectories of change, including patterns of growth, maintenance, and decline across the adult lifespan. At its core, the lifespan perspective assumes a focus on aging as a continuous process of intraindividual change and goal-based self-regulation. In this text, the lifespan perspective serves as a lens for examining the complex relationship between aging and work. Integrating research from the fields of developmental psychology as well as industrial, work, and organizational psychology, this authoritative reference brings together the collective thinking of researchers who study work, careers, organizations, and aging.

• Summarizes key tenets of lifespan theories
• Applies lifespan theories to work, organizational life, and careers
• Examines age and work-related processes
• Provides an comprehensive lifespan perspective on work and aging
• Focuses on aging as a continuous intraindividual change process

Dr. Boris Baltes is Associate Provost for Faculty Affairs and Professor of Psychology at Wayne State University. Dr. Baltes received his MBA from the University of Wisconsin in 1992 and his PhD in Industrial Organizational Psychology from Northern Illinois University in 1998. He joined the Department of Psychology at Wayne State University that year. Before joining the Provost’s office, he served as Chair of the Department of Psychology.

His major research interests include examining biases in performance appraisal, age and workplace issues as well as work-family conflict/balance. His work, including over 70 publications and chapters, has appeared in many journals including the Journal of Applied Psychology, Organizational Behavior and Human Decision Processes, Journal of Management, and the Journal of Organizational Behavior. He is a guest editor for the Journal of Organizational Behavior and is on the editorial board of various journals. He is also a fellow of the Society for Industrial/Organizational Psychology (a division of the American Psychological Association).

Cort W. Rudolph is an assistant professor of Industrial & Organizational Psychology at Saint Louis University. He received a BA from DePaul University, and a MA and Ph.D. from Wayne State University. Cort’s research focuses on a variety of issues related to the aging workforce, including applications of lifespan development theories, wellbeing and work-longevity, and ageism/generationalism. His work has been published in top-ranked journals, including the Journal of Applied Psychology, the Journal of Organizational Behavior, the Journal of Occupational Health Psychology, and Leadership Quarterly. Cort is an associate editor of the Journal of Vocational Behavior, and serves on several editorial review boards, including Work, Aging and Retirement, the Journal of Managerial Psychology, and the Journal of Occupational and Organizational Psychology.

Hannes Zacher is a full professor of work and organizational psychology at Leipzig University, Germany. He received a diploma in psychology from the Technical University of Braunschweig and a Ph.D. from the University of Giessen. In his research program, Hannes investigates successful aging at work, career development, and occupational stress and well-being; proactivity, innovation, leadership, and entrepreneurship; and pro-environmental employee behavior. His work has been published in journals such as Academy of Management Review, Journal of Applied Psychology, Journal of Organizational Behavior, and Psychology and Aging. Hannes is an associate editor of the Journal of Occupational and Organizational Psychology and serves on a number of editorial boards, including Journal of Vocational Behavior, Journal of Occupational Health Psychology, and Work, Aging and Retirement.