GGS-Sektion OBHRM: Online-Gastvortrag "The surprising emotional resilience of older workers: Are there no limits?" von Prof. Dr. Susanne Scheibe

Title: The surprising emotional resilience of older workers: Are there no limits?

Abstract: Older workers are often portrayed as low in emotional resilience, which provides a breeding ground for ageism in employment decisions. Yet, research findings on age-related differences in emotional resilience are often surprisingly positive. These opposite perspectives can be reconciled by developing a nuanced view on emotional resilience and its limits in aging. The model of strength and vulnerability integration poses that older adults build up emotional competence over the course of their lives, which helps them better manage emotionally charged situations. At the same time, aging is accompanied by physiological vulnerabilities whose impact is activated under unfavorable circumstances, such as intense and unavoidable work-related stress. In line with these theoretical propositions, I will present a series of studies in the organizational context that show robust evidence of age-related strengths in managing daily work stress and a major health crisis, yet also evidence of limits of the emotional strengths of older workers under certain conditions.