Age and Conflict Management in the Workplace

As workforces age across industrialized societies, organizations are increasingly characterized by greater age diversity. This chapter examines how employee age relates to conflict management in the workplace. Drawing on lifespan theories of emotional development and organizational conflict research, we review literature suggesting that older employees tend to rely more on constructive conflict management strategies (e.g., problem-solving, compromising, accommodating, and avoiding) and less on destructive strategies (e.g., forcing), compared to younger employees. These age-related differences are linked to enhanced emotional abilities of older employees, including better emotion regulation, and to greater prioritization of relational harmony. Age differences in conflict management are not uniform, however, as their magnitude and sometimes even their direction may depend on important boundary conditions, including individuals’ hierarchical roles, conflict types (e.g., task vs. relationship conflict), and motivational traits (e.g., generativity). Finally, we discuss practical implications for fostering age-inclusive and conflict-competent workplaces.