1. General and task-specific work motivation
Substantial research exists on age-related changes in cognitive abilities, physical
strength, and personality as drivers of variation in work behaviours (Hedge et al., 2006;
Ilmarinen, 2006). Work motivation, the set of energetic forces determining work-related
behaviours, is another important basis of work behaviour. Despite major advances in
general work motivation research (see Latham and Pinder, 2005, for a review),
however, only few studies have explored the development of motivation across the
life-span (e.g., Warr, 2001) and most available theories of work motivation seem to be
rather “age-free” (see Griffiths, 1999).