Age diversity and team outcomes: a quantitative review

The purpose of this paper is to synthesize the literature on the relationship between age diversity (AD) and the essential team outcomes (i.e. performance quality, financial performance, innovation and creativity, effectiveness, satisfaction, and turnover).

The authors conduct a meta-analysis of the relationship between AD and team outcomes using a sample of 74 studies. Furthermore, the authors investigate the role of contextual factors (task complexity, type of performance evaluation, study setting, team size, age cohort) as moderators of the AD-team outcome relationship.

The results show no significant overall relationships between AD and team outcomes, except for turnover (r=0.11, p < 0.05). Moderator analyses reveal significant albeit weak differences regarding task complexity, team size, and age cohort.

The authors extend previous research by quantitatively reviewing the AD-team outcome relationship. By showing that AD is only related to turnover, the authors provide counter-evidence to many scholars arguing for the importance of AD for team outcomes. Additionally, the authors found some potential sources of the conflicting findings observed in the literature by considering contextual factors.