Job autonomy refers to the extent to which workers are able to independently make decisions, and have autonomy in planning and carrying out their work tasks (Hackman and Oldham, 1976; Morgeson and Humphrey, 2006). Job autonomy has been shown to be positively related to job satisfaction and work motivation (Humphrey et al., 2007). In their model, Truxillo et al. (2012) suggest that job autonomy has a stronger positive effect on job satisfaction and performance among older compared to younger workers. Older workers typically have been working in their jobs for longer and therefore are more interested in autonomy to make use of their experiential knowledge and skills (see also Zacher and Frese, 2009). They further proposed that younger workers are still gaining work experience and have a higher need for supervision and thus expect less autonomy. Furthermore, Truxillo et al. (2012) suggested that older workers value job autonomy more than younger workers because it allows them to adapt to job demands and possibly compensate for age-related limitations, such as decreases in physical strength and fast information processing abilities (Kanfer and Ackerman, 2004). Therefore, job autonomy should be more attractive to older compared to younger workers. Consistent with these assumptions, a study by Zaniboni et al. (2016) showed that job autonomy was stronger positively related to the job satisfaction of older compared to younger construction workers. Job satisfaction, in turn, was positively related to mental health.

Hypothesis 1: The positive effect of job autonomy on job attraction is moderated by age, such that the effect is stronger for older compared to younger workers.

Task variety describes the diversity of the job requirements, that is, how many different tasks a worker is expected to perform as part of the job (Hackman and Oldham, 1976; Morgeson and Humphrey, 2006). Jobs that have higher levels of task variety are generally assumed to be more pleasant to perform (Humphrey et al., 2007). Lifespan theories (e.g., Carstensen et al., 1999) propose that younger workers will find high task variety more useful than older workers, as they have yet to gain experience in different tasks, whereas older workers already have acquired skills necessary for the job (see also Truxillo et al., 2012). Thus, older workers might see task variety as a burden in that they have to fulfill tasks that do not focus on their existing experience and specialized expertise. Task variety should therefore be more attractive for younger compared to older workers. This proposition has been supported by survey research which found that task variety has a stronger influence on younger workers' job satisfaction (Zaniboni et al., 2013, 2014).

Hypothesis 2: The positive effect of task variety on job attraction is moderated by age, such that the effect is stronger for younger compared to older workers.

Task significance refers to the influence and impact that people's jobs have on other people's lives or work (Hackman and Oldham, 1976; Morgeson and Humphrey, 2006). Perceptions of task significance are thought to enhance workers' experience of meaningfulness, which is believed to mediate the relationship between task significance and work outcomes (Humphrey et al., 2007). Furthermore, task significance is positively related to job satisfaction, work motivation, and performance (Humphrey et al., 2007; Grant, 2008). Based on the lifespan theory of socioemotional selectivity (Carstensen et al., 1999), Truxillo et al. (2012) argued that older workers are more likely to value task significance in a job than younger workers. Workers are increasingly looking for meaning in their jobs as they get older (and their future time perspective becomes more limited), whereas younger workers (who typically have higher levels of future time perspective) are more focused on acquiring new and useful skills and various job-related experiences.

Hypothesis 3: The positive effect of task significance on job attraction is moderated by age, such that the effect is stronger for older compared to younger workers.

Feedback from the job reflects the extent to which workers receive direct and explicit feedback on how effectively they are performing the required tasks (Hackman and Oldham, 1976; Morgeson and Humphrey, 2006). Feedback from the job refers to feedback that is obtained through the results of a worker's performance rather than feedback given by other people (Morgeson and Humphrey, 2006). Feedback has a positive influence on job satisfaction, work motivation, as well as job performance (Humphrey et al., 2007). Truxillo et al. (2012) suggested in their model that feedback from the job will be particularly valued by younger workers as they still lack work experience and seek feedback to improve their performance to further their careers. In contrast, older workers are more experienced and have more confidence regarding their performance and therefore need less feedback (Wang et al., 2015). Feedback should therefore be more attractive for younger compared to older workers.

Hypothesis 4: The positive effect of feedback from the job on job attraction is moderated by age, such that the effect is stronger for younger compared to older employees.

Descriptive statistics and correlations of the study variables are shown in Table 2. Of note, at the bivariate and between-person level, aggregated job attraction ratings were negatively related to age, job tenure, and job autonomy (O^*Net). Thus, older workers, as well as workers with higher job tenure and higher job autonomy generally rated the hypothetical job descriptions less favorably.

We first ran a null (or intercept-only) model to test whether the use of multilevel modeling was appropriate. The chi-square test for the intercept (r₀) was significant, χ(81)2 = 473.90 with p < 0.001, and the intraclass correlation coefficient was 0.12 (see Table 3). This value indicates that approximately 12% of the variance in job attraction can potentially be explained by between-person factors (e.g., participants' age), leaving approximately 88% of the variance that could potentially be explained by within-person factors (i.e., the job characteristics in our study). Thus, the use of multilevel modeling in our study was appropriate.

To assess test-retest reliability, we included a duplicate scenario in our study (see also Rotundo and Sackett, 2002; Ohme and Zacher, 2015). The duplicate scenario was not included in subsequent analyses. Results showed that Cronbach's alpha was α = 0.65, indicating acceptable test-retest reliability of the job attraction ratings.

Results of the multilevel analysis showed that, at the between-person level, neither age nor the other demographic characteristics and control variables significantly predicted job attraction (see Table 3). In contrast, at the within-person level, all four job characteristics positively predicted job attraction (Table 3). Specifically, we found positive and significant main effects of job autonomy (β₁ = 0.73, p < 0.001), task variety (β₂ = 0.58, p < 0.001), task significance (β₃ = 0.36, p < 0.001), and feedback from the job (β₄ = 0.37, p < 0.001). These findings suggest that job autonomy and task variety were somewhat more important predictors of job attraction than task significance and feedback from the job.

Hypothesis 1 states that age moderates the positive effect of job autonomy on job attraction, such that the effect is stronger for older compared to younger workers. Results showed that the moderating effect of age was not significant (β₁₁ = −0.00, p = 0.060; see Table 3). Thus, Hypothesis 1 did not receive support. Nevertheless, we plotted the effect of job autonomy on job attraction for different values of age, including younger workers (i.e., −1SD of age), middle-aged workers (i.e., mean age), and older workers (i.e., +1SD of age). Figure 2 shows that the simple slope was positive and significant for younger (γ = 0.78, SE = 0.04, t = 20.88, p < 0.001), middle-aged (γ = 0.73, SE = 0.03, t = 27.74, p < 0.001), and older workers (γ = 0.68, SE = 0.04, t = 18.37, p < 0.001). The non-significant interaction effect and the plot of the regions of significance suggest that the simple slopes did not differ for the various age groups included in our sample.

According to Hypothesis 2, age moderates the positive effect of task variety on job attraction, such that the effect is stronger for young compared to older workers. Consistent with this hypothesis, we found a moderating effect of age (β₂₂ = −0.01, p < 0.001; Table 3). As can be seen in Figure 3, the positive effect of task variety on job attraction was stronger for younger workers (γ = 0.69, SE = 0.04, t = 16.66, p < 0.001) than for middle-aged workers (γ = 0.58, SE = 0.03, t = 19.87, p < 0.001) and for older workers (γ = 0.47, SE = 0.04, t = 11.47, p < 0.001). In addition, the plot of the regions of significance suggests that the simple slopes were significant across all age groups included in our sample. Hypothesis 2 was, therefore, supported.

Hypothesis 3 states that age moderates the positive effect of task significance on job attraction, such that the effect is stronger for older compared to younger workers. We found a significant moderating effect of age (β₃₃ = −0.01, p < 0.001; Table 3). However, the positive effect of task significance on job attraction was stronger for younger workers (γ = 0.49, SE = 0.04, t = 59.54, p < 0.001) than for middle-aged workers (γ = 0.36, SE = 0.03, t = 13.64, p < 0.001) and for older workers (γ = 0.23, SE = 0.04, t = 6.16, p < 0.001; see Figure 4). Again, the plot of the regions of significance suggests that the simple slopes were significant across all age groups included in our sample. Thus, as we found the opposite to what we proposed, Hypothesis 3 was not supported.

Finally, Hypothesis 4 proposes that age moderates the positive effect of feedback from the job on job attraction, such that the effect is stronger for younger compared to older workers. This hypothesis was supported by a significant moderating effect of age (β₄₄ = −0.01, p < 0.001) and an interaction consistent with the hypothesized pattern. The plot of the regions of significance suggests that the simple slopes were significant across all age groups included in our sample (Figure 5). Specifically, the positive effect of feedback from the job on job attraction was stronger for younger workers (γ = 0.46, SE = 0.04, t = 12.55, p < 0.001) than for middle-aged workers (γ = 0.37, SE = 0.03, t = 14.47, p < 0.001) and for older workers (γ = 0.29, SE = 0.04, t = 7.93, p < 0.001).

Overall, according to the pseudo R² statistic (LaHuis et al., 2014), age, control variables, job characteristics, and interactions between age and job characteristics explained 30% of the variance in job attraction (see Table 3).

The goal of this study was to test core propositions of Truxillo et al. (2012) lifespan perspective on job design using a policy-capturing design, which is one type of experimental vignette methodology designs. Consistent with previous research on the positive effects of job characteristics on other work outcomes such as job satisfaction, work engagement, and job performance (Fried and Ferris, 1987; Humphrey et al., 2007), we found that job autonomy, task variety, task significance, and feedback from the job had positive main effects on participants' ratings of job attraction. Furthermore, we found age-differential effects for three out of the four job characteristics, of which two were consistent with the hypothesized pattern (i.e., those including task variety and feedback).

We did not find support for our first hypothesis, which stated that job autonomy has a stronger positive effect on job attraction among older compared to younger workers. It is important to note here that the interaction effect was not significant according to conventional cut-offs (p = 0.06) and, thus, statistical power may have been a problem. However, the interaction plot suggested that job autonomy has somewhat stronger effects among younger compared to older workers, which is contrary to our assumption based on the lifespan perspective on job design. In their model, Truxillo et al. (2012) suggested that older workers value job autonomy more than younger workers because they are more experienced and need less supervision compared to younger, less experienced workers. Consistently, Zaniboni et al. (2016) found that job autonomy was more important for older construction workers in terms of job satisfaction and mental health. However, meta-analytic research on age-differential effects of job autonomy on work outcomes has yielded mixed results (Ng and Feldman, 2015). For instance, the association between job autonomy and job performance was stronger for older workers, whereas the associations of job autonomy with job satisfaction and affective commitment were weaker for older workers. A potential explanation offered by Ng and Feldman (2015) for these mixed results is that the effects depend on the particular outcomes under study. It may be possible that job autonomy is particularly important for younger workers with regard to job attraction and other attitudinal outcomes, because most younger workers apply for a career job for the first time in their lives and, thus, motivational job characteristics such as autonomy may be more important to them than materialistic factors. In other words, it could be that younger people pay more attention to what makes a new job interesting, challenging, and important, as compared to factors such as pay and the physical work environment. In contrast, job autonomy may be more important for older workers with regard to job performance, because it allows them to make use of their accumulated knowledge, experience, and skills.

Second, we hypothesized that the positive effect of task variety on job attraction are stronger for younger compared to older workers. This hypothesis was supported, providing further support for the notion that task variety is more important for younger than older workers. For instance, survey research showed that younger workers with higher task variety are more satisfied with their jobs (Zaniboni et al., 2013, 2014); we extend this research by showing that younger workers are more attracted to jobs that promise to provide them with high levels of task variety. High task variety is particularly important for younger workers, because it allows them to gain diverse work-related experiences and develop new and useful skills (Truxillo et al., 2012).

Third, we expected that the effect of task significance on job attraction is stronger for older compared to younger workers. Our findings did not support this hypothesis, but instead showed the opposite pattern: younger workers were more attracted to jobs with higher task significance than older workers. This finding contradicts assumptions based on the lifespan theory of socioemotional selectivity (Carstensen et al., 1999). Specifically, Truxillo et al. (2012) argued that older workers value task significance more than younger workers as their limited future time perspective renders meaningfulness and intrinsic rewards more important than other job-related factors (e.g., pay). However, our findings are consistent with some recent research that suggested that younger workers are more interested in what influence their work has on other people and outside of the company (Scroggins, 2008; Murray et al., 2011). As noted above, it may also be the case that the motivational job characteristics we studied are particularly relevant for younger workers in terms of job attraction, because they focus more on motivational job characteristics (i.e., interesting, important, and challenging work) when evaluation a new career job as compared to materialistic factors (e.g., pay, physical work environment).

Finally, our hypothesis on age-differential effects of feedback from the job on job attraction was supported, suggesting that feedback from the job is more important for job attraction of younger compared to older applicants. This supports Truxillo et al.'s (2012) assumption that younger workers are less experienced and are interested in more feedback to improve their performance, whereas older workers already have a great amount of experience to rely on and hence need less feedback.

Taken together, we could confirm only two out of four hypotheses based on Truxillo et al.'s (2012) lifespan perspective on job design. While job autonomy did not have an age-differential effect on job attractiveness ratings, task variety, feedback, and, unexpectedly, task significance had stronger effects among younger compared to older workers. We extended research based on Truxillo et al.'s (2012) model, and the literature on recruitment more broadly, by focusing on job attraction as an outcome of motivational job characteristics. Moreover, the use of the policy-capturing method has advantages over survey designs, as it maximizes internal validity and realism (Aguinis and Bradley, 2014). Despite these strengths, our findings need to be interpreted in light of a number of limitations.

First, participants had to read a large number of job descriptions. The hypothetical nature of these descriptions and increasing fatigue while participating in policy-capturing studies have frequently been mentioned as limitations of these designs (Kristof-Brown et al., 2002; Rotundo and Sackett, 2002). For example, Graham and Cable (2001) found that participants experienced more stress and felt more exhausted when responding to 32 scenarios as compared to only 8 scenarios. We took a number of precautions while designing the study to prevent fatigue from influencing our results, including relatively short descriptions and randomization of scenarios.

Second, critics may question the external validity and generalizability of studies using a policy-capturing design (Karren and Barringer, 2002). We asked participants to form a judgment about a hypothetical job description based on only four variables, whereas in reality applicants and workers may have access to more information about job openings. Furthermore, it could be argued that our participants, who were all currently working as employees or self-employed, may have answered differently if they were actually searching for a job at the time of answering the survey. Future research could replicate our study with jobseekers, possibly with realistic job advertisements. Moreover, future research could assess different or additional outcome variables, such as intentions to apply for a job opening (Chapman et al., 2005).

Third, we used a single item to assess job attraction, which may raise concerns about reliability. Some researchers have suggested that homogeneous constructs, such as global job satisfaction, can be reliably assessed using single items (Wanous et al., 1997; Fisher et al., 2016). We argue that job attraction is a rather homogeneous attitudinal construct that is distinct from other job-related attitudes and behavioral intentions (Highhouse et al., 2003; Chapman et al., 2005). Moreover, previous research has used similar single item measures to assess job attraction (Singh, 1975; Rynes and Lawler, 1983; Rynes and Miller, 1983). Also, due to the time-intensive nature of this approach, many policy-capturing studies use single items and report test-retest reliabilities across scenarios (Rotundo and Sackett, 2002; Ohme and Zacher, 2015). The test-retest reliability was acceptable in our study.

Fourth, consistent with Truxillo et al.'s (2012) lifespan model of job design, we did not include task identity (i.e., the extent to which workers perform complete tasks, including goal setting, planning, execution, and feedback processing; Hackman and Oldham, 1976; Hacker, 1986; Morgeson and Humphrey, 2006) in our study. Future research could focus on the importance of tasks identity among younger and older workers (see Zacher et al., 2016).

Finally, further research is needed that compares our current findings with age-differential effects of job characteristics with regard to different work outcomes, such as job satisfaction, work engagement, and job performance. The difference between these outcomes and job attraction is that the former outcomes can only be answered by job incumbents, whereas job attraction is mainly relevant among job seekers and job applicants who are not yet in a concrete work role. Moreover, researchers could investigate whether additional moderators of the job characteristics-outcome relationships may play a role. For instance, Truxillo et al. (2012) suggested that age-related factors such as future time perspective, self-regulatory strategies, and socioemotional selectivity processes (cf. Rudolph, 2016) may mediate the moderating effect of age. Furthermore, they proposed that additional individual differences (e.g., personality, health, cognitive abilities) and contextual factors (e.g., organizational culture, climate), as well as interactions among different job characteristics may act as boundary conditions of the age-differential effects of job characteristics on work outcomes.

Our study provides useful information for recruiters and human resource managers interested in addressing the challenges of an aging and increasingly age diverse workforce. Our findings suggest that younger workers value certain job characteristics more than older workers, including task variety and feedback from the job. Thus, organizations aiming to recruit younger job applicants could adjust their job advertisements by emphasizing high levels of task variety and feedback from the job (i.e., targeted recruitment; Newman and Lyon, 2009). At the same time, younger, middle-aged, and older applicants appear to value job autonomy to a similar extent. Employers could use this information in the recruitment process to gain more interest from applicants by advertising the position as providing high levels of job autonomy.

In summary, our findings suggest that younger and older workers differ with regard to their preferences for task variety, task significance, and feedback from the job, but not job autonomy. Specifically, younger workers rated jobs with high levels of task variety, task significance, and feedback from the job as more attractive than older workers. So far, most research on age and job characteristics has focused on how to design jobs to motivate older employees. In contrast, our findings provide practitioners with suggestions on how to change job characteristics to make jobs more attractive to younger job applicants, as well as workers of all ages.

The authors declare that the research was conducted in the absence of any commercial or financial relationships that could be construed as a potential conflict of interest.