Age-inclusive leadership and intrinsic work motivation: the moderating role of the leader–member age difference

Abstract As workforces become more age-diverse, organizations and their leaders encounter the challenge of nurturing intrinsic work motivation across employees of varying ages. Integrating self-determination theory (SDT) with relational demography theory, we propose a link between age-inclusive leadership (AIL) and employees’ intrinsic work motivation, with a focus on how the leader–member’s age difference moderates this relationship. A study with 100 Belgian employee–leader dyads reveals that employees’ perceived level of their leaders’ AIL positively affects their intrinsic work motivation, especially with a great leader–member age difference (Study 1). An online experiment with 360 U.S. participants further supports the moderated mediation relationship via the SDT-related needs (Study 2): AIL helps stimulate employees’ intrinsic work motivation through the satisfaction of their need for relatedness and autonomy (and to a lesser extent, competence), especially when employees differ greatly from their leader in terms of age. Our research yields both valuable theoretical insights and practical implications for organizational management.