To date, research on the ramifications of adult development for work motivation has been quite sparse. Warr (1992, 1994, 1997, 2001), in his inves- tigations of aging and work behavior, has of- fered a number of valuable suggestions about how age-related change may affect work moti- vation and about ways to enhance and sustain work motivation among older workers. We have extended this line of theorizing to consider how age-related changes in person characteristics may affect motivational processing and out- comes.
Our review and proposed framework suggest that there is neither theoretical justification nor empirical evidence to support the notion of an inevitable and universal decline in work moti- vation with age. We also suggest that work mo- tivation in midlife and later years follows the same basic principles as work motivation in young adulthood—namely, the allocation of per- sonal resources to work behaviors that build on competencies, promote a sense of self-efficacy and self-concept, and offer opportunities for the attainment of desired outcomes. The differences in work motivation as adults age pertain mainly to the impact of age-related changes in compe- tencies and motives on motivational-processing components. They also pertain to differential op- portunities for protecting self-concept and to the range of options and incentives provided by or- ganizations and the work environment for at- tainment of reorganized goals. As discussed, age-related changes may enhance, decrease, or have little effect on work motivation, depending on work circumstances. We propose that work motivation among older workers may be en- hanced by organizational strategies and mana- gerial practices that take into account norma- tive patterns of adult development.
Contemporary process-oriented formulations of work motivation typically emphasize effort and time, rather than knowledge, as the per- sonal resources that an individual allocates to determine the direction, intensity, and persis- tence of his or her work behavior. For older workers, knowledge is typically substantial,