Are We on the Same Age? Exploring the Relationship Between Perceived Age Discrimination Climate and Conflict Management Strategies Among Public Hospital Employees

Abstract

The trends in organizational communication research today continue to spark interest in contributing knowledge to workplace ageism and its relation to various conflict management strategies. This study applied theoretical assumptions from Karl Weick’s enactment theory where members of an organization have enacted certain behaviors and decisions based on their individually perceived realities. The study hypothesized that the conflict management strategies of public healthcare workers are associated with their perceived age discrimination climate in the workplace. Through a quantitative, non-experimental correlational design, the study investigated the relationship between the perceived age discrimination climate and conflict management strategies among public healthcare workers in the Philippines. 150 medical employees from a public hospital in Manila participated in the study. The data were analyzed using regression analysis to investigate the relationships between the conflict management strategies and perceived age discrimination climate of the participants. It was revealed that solution-oriented and nonconfrontational strategies were significantly correlated with perceived age discrimination climate in the bureaucratic organizational setting. Results also showed that solution-oriented strategy was the most dominant strategy utilized by the respondents. Lastly, the study proposed the enhancement of organizational policies and procedures that target the employees’ motivation to integrate their diverse ideas and approaches in the communication processes and practices in a bureaucratic workplace.