Age Differences in Leadership Positions across Cultures

Vaughan-Johnston, Thomas; Imtiaz, Faizan; Lee, Albert; Ji, Li-Jun

doi:10.3389/fpsyg.2021.703831

Age Differences in Leadership Positions across Cultures

Vaughan-Johnston, Thomas; Imtiaz, Faizan; Lee, Albert; Ji, Li-Jun

Authors

Thomas Vaughan-Johnston

Faizan Imtiaz

Albert Lee

Li-Jun Ji

Abstract

In most countries around the world, the population is rapidly aging. A by-product of these demographic shifts is that older adults will likely occupy more positions of power and influence in our societies than ever before. Further, cultural differences might shape how these transitions unfold around the globe. Across two studies, we investigated whether business and political leaders differed in age across various cultures. Study 1 (N = 1,034) showed that business leaders were significantly older in Eastern (e.g., China, India, Japan) cultures than Western (e.g., United States, Sweden, United Kingdom) cultures, even while controlling for population structure (i.e., percentage of elderly in the society), gross domestic product (GDP), and wealth distribution across the population (GINI). Study 2 (N = 1,268) conceptually replicated these findings by showing that political leaders were once again older in Eastern versus Western cultures. Furthermore, cultural tightness mediated the relationship between culture and older leadership. These findings highlight how cultural differences impact not only our preferences, but also important outcomes in consequential domains such as business and politics. Potential explanations for why cultural tightness may be related to differences in leader age across cultures are discussed. To build on these findings, future research should assess the potential causal mechanisms underlying the cultural effect on leader age, and explore the various practical implications of this effect.

Citation

Vaughan-Johnston, T., Imtiaz, F., Lee, A., & Ji, L. (2021). Age Differences in Leadership Positions across Cultures. Frontiers in Psychology, 12, Article 703831. https://doi.org/10.3389/fpsyg.2021.703831

Journal Article Type	Article
Acceptance Date	Aug 19, 2021
Online Publication Date	Sep 17, 2021
Publication Date	2021
Deposit Date	Aug 20, 2021
Publicly Available Date	Aug 20, 2021
Journal	Frontiers in Psychology
Print ISSN	1664-1078
Publisher	Frontiers Media
Peer Reviewed	Peer Reviewed
Volume	12
Article Number	703831
DOI	https://doi.org/10.3389/fpsyg.2021.703831

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Copyright Statement
© 2021 Vaughan-Johnston, Imtiaz, Lee and Ji. This is an open-access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (CC BY). The use, distribution or reproduction in other forums is permitted, provided the original author(s) and the copyright owner(s) are credited and that the original publication in this journal is cited, in accordance with accepted academic practice. No use, distribution or reproduction is permitted which does not comply with these terms.