The Potential of Youth: Age and the Preference for Leadership Potential

Leadership potential is a crucial concern for employers (Korn Ferry, 2015), and psychological research has identified a preference for leadership potential, such that candidates with leadership potential are preferred in recruitment evaluations over candidates with proven leadership performance (Tormala et al., 2012). This preference has been associated with bias based on demographic group membership, advantaging male but not female candidates (Player et al., 2019). There is also evidence for an association between youth and leadership potential (Hirschfeld & Thomas, 2011), which can drive the preference for leadership potential such that candidates with potential are preferred because they are perceived to be younger than candidates with leadership performance (Sun et al., 2015). However, the evidence for this is mixed and Tormala et al. (2012) found no evidence for a pro-youth bias driving the preference for leadership potential.

This thesis explores the impact of candidate age on perceptions of leadership potential, and presents a systematic review of the literature and nine empirical studies. The systematic literature review finds evidence for an association between perceived leadership potential and membership of high-status demographic group membership, specifically younger, male, white, or heterosexual targets. Based on this evidence, I propose a leadership potential congruity model. Based on this theoretical model and the extant literature, I expect that i) candidates with leadership potential will be preferred over candidates with leadership performance, ii) younger candidates will be preferred over older candidates, and iii) the preference for potential will be accentuated when the candidate is younger, and attenuated when they are older. The nine empirical studies find evidence for a preference for leadership potential over leadership performance on measures of future performance, but not for willingness to hire. They also offer evidence for a pro-youth bias on measures of future vi performance and willingness to hire, driven by underlying high-competence age stereotypes of younger workers.

Overall, the evidence in this thesis offers support for the leadership potential congruity model in finding an association between youth and leadership potential, and that a pro-youth bias drives the preference for leadership potential, particularly in contexts involving direct candidate comparisons. The theoretical and practical implications of these results are discussed, alongside study limitations and directions for future research informed by the leadership potential congruity model.