Ageism in the organizational context - the perception of Brazilian workers

Abstract Objective: elaborate a scale for ageism in an organizational context (Escala de Ageismo no Contexto Organizacional or EACO), seeking evidence of its structural validity and investigating possible differences in prejudices against elderly workers. This article also highlighted differences between gender, age and levels of schooling. Method: the project was divided into two studies: the first focused on the construction of the EACO, testing the understanding of the initial instrument among 82 workers. A new version was sent to and analyzed by ten judges, resulting in a 28-item scale with six dimensions. The second study presented evidence of the validity of the EACO, using a more robust national sample. The modified instrument was electronically issued to 2,400 workers of varying ages from different regions of Brazil, with 600 participants responding. Results: Exploratory factorial analysis (EFA) resulted in an EACO with 14 items, with satisfactory eigenvalues, factorial loads and communality, grouped into two dimensions: D1 - negative attitudes, composed of cognitive and health aspects (α=0.83) and D2 - positive attitudes, composed of affective aspects (α=0.77). Younger workers had more negative attitudes towards aging than older workers, who in turn had more positive attitudes than younger individuals. Conclusion: The EACO tested ageism in organizations and demonstrated evidence of validity. It is also recommended, however, that the scale is used in its longer version in future research, with national and transnational groups and participants of different educational levels.

【摘要】研究目的：编制组织情境下年龄歧视量表（Escala de Ageismo no Contexto Organizacional，简称EACO），旨在验证其结构效度，并探讨针对老年劳动者的偏见在不同群体中的差异。本文同时考察了性别、年龄及受教育程度在偏见水平上的差异。研究方法：本项目分为两项子研究：第一项聚焦EACO的编制，首先邀请82名劳动者对初始量表的条目进行理解性测试；随后将修订后的初始量表交由10名评委评估分析，最终形成包含6个维度、共28个条目的初始量表。第二项研究借助更具代表性的全国性样本，验证EACO的结构效度。修订后的量表以电子问卷形式发放给巴西不同地区、不同年龄层的2400名劳动者，最终回收有效问卷600份。研究结果：探索性因子分析（Exploratory Factor Analysis，EFA）结果显示，精简后的EACO包含14个条目，其特征值、因子载荷及共同度均表现良好，可划分为两个维度：维度1为消极态度维度，涵盖认知与健康层面（克朗巴赫α系数=0.83）；维度2为积极态度维度，涵盖情感层面（克朗巴赫α系数=0.77）。数据分析表明，年轻劳动者对老龄化持有更消极的态度，而老年劳动者的积极态度显著高于年轻群体。研究结论：本研究编制的EACO可用于评估组织情境下的年龄歧视，并验证了其结构效度。同时建议，未来研究可采用更长版本的EACO量表，针对全国性及跨国性群体，以及不同受教育水平的参与者开展相关研究。