The Impact of Retirement Upon Religiosity

This longitudinal panel stud follows 51 industrial workers over a period of 6 years which g rackets the retirement event. Mean levels of belief and church attendance reveal extreme stability over time, whereas the frequency distribution of attendance indicates a polarization of behavior after retirement, with persons who had attended church once or twice a month reporting weekly or infre uent attendance in retirement. Belief in the supernatural and church attendance were more strongly related after retirement than before, suggesting a reduction in normative pressures on attendance. However, church attendance is much more stable across retirement than other outside-the-home activities. Correlational analysis suggests that there may be more individual change in religious belief and behavior in late adulthood than previously known.