User:Ckcmathan

Age diversity has become an inevitable fact of life in many organizations (Kunze et al., 2011). There are two major theories which explain this relationship; the social identity and self categorization respectively. Individuals are suggested to classify themselves into certain groups on the basis of dimensions that are personally relevant for them according to social identity and self categorization theories (Kunze et al., 2011; Tajfel and Turner, 1986). As a result, individuals tend to favor members of their own group at the expenses of other groups, against which they may both stereotype and discriminate against (Kunze et al., 2011). Gelner and Stephen (2009) argued that age heterogeneity can negatively affect employee productivity due to differences in values and preferences of distinct age groups. It has also been shown that conflicts are particularly frequent in the presence of generation gaps (Gelner and Stephen, 2009; Lau and Murnighan, 2005; Pitcher and Smith 2001).