Young Leaders for Change? Bias Against Younger Leaders Depends on Organizational Change and Evaluator Age

Abstract

Younger leaders are often perceived as less prototypical and legitimate. Drawing from leadership categorization theory and a connectionist perspective on prototype activation, we examine how age bias in leadership perception is shaped by organizational context and evaluator age. In a scenario-based experiment (N = 658), we manipulated CEO age and leadership role (traditional vs. change-oriented) to test the underlying mechanism of prototype (mis)match. Older evaluators rated younger CEOs as significantly less prototypical in traditional as compared to change-oriented roles, whereas younger evaluators showed no consistent bias. Confirming the pattern in an archival study of 1,573 CEO successions in S&P-listed firms, higher average board age predicted a lower likelihood of appointing a younger CEO—an effect attenuated under conditions of organizational change. Together, the findings show that age bias is context-dependent, amplified by evaluator age and stability-focused settings, but attenuated in change-oriented contexts. This research identifies key boundary conditions under which younger leaders can overcome prototype incongruence.

About the speaker

Claudia Buengeler is Full Professor and Chair of the Human Resource Management and Organization Department at the Institute of Business, Kiel University. She is affiliated faculty member of the Amsterdam Business School. Claudia Buengeler received her PhD in Business Administration and Social & Organizational Psychology from Jacobs University Bremen and VU University Amsterdam. Her research on leadership, team diversity, well-being, and training was published in leading international journals (e.g., Journal of Management, Journal of Applied Psychology, The Leadership Quarterly, Journal of Organizational Behavior, Journal of Occupational Health Psychology).

Claudia Buengeler is Editor-in-Chief of the journal Organizational Psychology Review and on the Editorial Board of the Journal of Applied Psychology, International Journal of Human Resource Management, Journal of Business and Psychology, and Journal of Leadership & Organizational Studies. She is also Associate Editor of the transfer journal PersonalQuarterly.