Age differences in work adjustment : a study of male and female managerial stress, coping strategies and locus of control in Hong Kong

The present study is a 15 month project which involved data collection from Hong Kong managers at three points to examine mechanisms by which age would relate to work well-being. A total of 634 managers, both male and female, was drawn by random sampling and purposive sampling methods. The results showed that age was negatively related to job strains and quitting intention, and positively related to job satisfaction. Furthermore, older managers reported fewer sources of stress, better control coping, and a more internal work locus of control. Multiple regression analyses suggested that relations of age with job satisfaction and well-being can be attributed to the better coping, greater internality, lower sources of stress, higher organizational level, and longer tenure of older managers, although differences occurred as a function of gender and the specific well-being measure.