Recently, we discussed how attitudes about aging impact your motivation to keep working. But, how do you know what your attitudes about age are? There are two main components to attitudes about aging. And the better yours are, the more likely it is that your wellness will be improved when you’re older. Learn below how to assess your attitudes about aging at work.
Occupational Future Time Perspective
It’s not the catchiest title, but attitudes about aging at work are called “occupational future time perspective” (OFTP). Occupational future time perspective reflects your perceptions of your future at work. Basically, it’s how you see your future possibilities in your workplace. It has two components, which we’ll break down further below: remaining opportunities and remaining time.
OFTP has been linked to job satisfaction, engagement, and commitment to work. OFTP is also related to retirement intentions and performance on the job. So, the more positive your OFTP is, the better you’ll feel at work. Find out if you have high or low OFTP below!
Attitudes about Aging: Remaining Opportunities
The first dimension of attitudes about aging is the perception of remaining opportunities at work. This dimension has to do with whether or not you think that older people can still achieve goals. It also encompasses your beliefs about how many possibilities exist for older people.
Ask yourself the following questions. Do you think that many opportunities await older people? Is it possible for older people to continue setting and achieving new goals? Do you believe that older peoples’ futures are full of possibilities? If you strongly agree with these ideas, then your attitudes about aging are better. If you strongly disagree, they are weaker. And if you aren’t sure, you might fall somewhere in the middle.
Attitudes about Aging: Remaining Time
The second dimension of attitudes about aging is about the perception of remaining time at work. This dimension has to do with whether or not you see older workers’ time as limited. It also encompasses whether you think older people still have a lot of life to live.
Ask yourself the following questions. Do you think that older workers still have a significant portion of their lives ahead of them? Do you try not to think about the limited time that older workers may have left? Do you think that older workers can push beyond limits and keep living life to the fullest? As above, if you strongly agree, your attitudes are better. If you strongly disagree, your attitudes are weaker – and you’re in the middle if you aren’t sure.
Conclusions
If you have more negative attitudes about aging at work than you’d like, there is hope! You can influence your attitudes by spending more time with older people who inspire you. Also, you can watch movies or read books about older people who have achieved goals later in life. If you keep exposing yourself to these more positive examples, you can improve your attitudes.
