One plus one equals one: age-diverse friendship and its complex relation to employees’ job satisfaction and turnover intentions

Abstract

This research investigates age-diverse friendship and its complex relation to job satisfaction and turnover intentions. Based on self-expansion theory, we argue that age-diverse friendship can lead younger and older employees to perceive oneness (a sense of merged identity) with a colleague from the respective other age-group and that this perceived oneness has consequences. On the positive side, we hypothesize perceived oneness to facilitate motivation to cooperate, which should increase job satisfaction and decrease turnover intentions. On the negative side, we hypothesize perceived oneness to provoke interrole conflict, which should decrease job satisfaction and increase turnover intentions. We found support for our hypotheses in a two-wave dyadic study consisting of 93 German age-diverse employee dyads (N = 186 individuals). Results showed that perceived oneness resulting from age-diverse friendship was related to motivation to cooperate (positive path) and interrole conflict (negative path). In turn, interrole conflict was linked to lower job satisfaction and higher turnover intentions. Motivation to cooperate was however not significantly linked to job satisfaction and turnover intentions. By considering age-diverse friendships, this research provides an age-specific lens on the beneficial and detrimental effects of workplace friendship and contributes to the literatures on age diversity, cross-group friendship, and workplace friendship.