Changes in perceived age discrimination over time: Patterns, predictors, and outcomes

Abstract Age discrimination at work represents a major challenge with detrimental impacts on employees and organizations. Although age discrimination theories suggest that workers experience increasing levels of age discrimination over time, prior evidence suggests that there may be substantial heterogeneity in the way perceived age discrimination changes over time. Conceptualizing age discrimination at work as a stressor, and integrating the model of exposure and reactivity to stressors with allostatic load theory, we examine changes in perceived age discrimination, along with its predictors and outcomes. We use a person‐ and target‐centered approach with a nationally representative archival dataset from Switzerland ( N = 1110) relying on a prospective design over seven years. Randomly splitting the sample into two (Half‐samples A and B), we find three change patterns (i.e., increasing, decreasing, and stable nonexistent) of perceived age discrimination at work in Half‐sample A. In Half‐sample B, we replicated these three patterns and found that the heterogeneity in change patterns was predicted by employees' age and belief in a just world, but not neuroticism. We also observed that these change patterns were associated with job satisfaction, work strain, and perceived employability. We further discuss the theoretical and practical implications of these findings.