Building on Fasbender and Gerpott's (2022) temporal social comparison model of knowledge transfer between younger and older employees, this study advances our understanding of intergenerational knowledge transfer in public administration by testing and extending this theoretical framework. While the original model focuses on age-specific motives and emotions, our extended model introduces additional mediating mechanisms: professional self-efficacy, fitness to learn, and workplace loneliness. The public administration sector represents an ideal context for studying these knowledge transfer dynamics due to continuous changes in laws and regulations that require constant learning and adaptation.
Our model positions workplace temporal comparisons—encompassing perceptions of career opportunities, compensation, and workplace treatment—as the primary antecedent affecting both knowledge obtaining and providing behaviors. Using a three-wave longitudinal design over a 9-month period, we will collect data from Polish public administration employees (T1: N=543; T2: N=364; T3: N=298). We hypothesize that workplace temporal comparisons will significantly influence knowledge transfer through all three mediating mechanisms. We expect professional self-efficacy and fitness to learn to show positive mediating effects, while workplace loneliness will demonstrate negative indirect effects. Additionally, we anticipate that a strong employability culture will buffer the negative effects of unfavorable temporal comparisons.
This study extends Fasbender and Gerpott's temporal social comparison theory by incorporating additional psychological mechanisms in knowledge transfer processes and will offer practical implications for managing intergenerational knowledge exchange in public administration organizations. The longitudinal design will provide robust evidence for the temporal ordering of our proposed relationships and help establish causality within this knowledge-intensive sector.