Age discrimination in the workplace: identifying as a late-career worker and its relationship with engagement and intended retirement age

Through a model of moderated indirect effects, this study examined the relationship between perceived age discrimination, cognitive and affective identification as a late-career worker, intended retirement age, and work engagement. Bootstrap analysis confirmed that a negative relationship between perceived age discrimination and work engagement was strongest when cognitive identification was high and affective identification was low, and nonsignificant when affective identification was high. In contrast to previous research, no overall association between age discrimination and intended retirement age was found. Rather, post hoc analyses showed that work engagement suppressed a positive direct relationship between age discrimination and intended retirement age.