退休规划的研究现状和本土化发展

退休规划是个体在退休前为保障将来的退休生活做出的长期准备。退休规划不仅有利于退休人员生活幸福, 还有助于缓解社会保障体系的压力, 在较早进入老龄化的国家已经得到重视。通过回顾国外相关研究, 本文归纳出退休规划的六个具体领域(财务、健康、社交休闲、工作、心理、居住), 总结并评价了过去研究应用的主要理论基础(角色理论、计划过程理论、资源视角、生态系统理论)和有代表性的测量工具。汇总分析了退休规划在人口学、环境和心理三层面上的影响因素以及对过渡型就业和退休适应两阶段的影响。基于研究概念的发展以及中国国情, 未来研究应该首先开发本土化工具, 合理选择理论视角并系统研究规划的各个领域, 验证并创新退休规划的影响因素研究, 注重中国国情问题并加强干预研究。     

Interpreting our emotions

This essay looks at the important, but often neglected, contribution that self-interpretation makes to emotional self-knowledge. We engage in acts of self-interpretation when (A) we try to understand what it is that we are feeling, or, relatedly, what it is that we ought to be feeling. On such occasions, we draw upon social and personal narratives as well as on the emotional conceptual repertoires at our disposal. We also engage in acts of self-interpretation when (B) we try to ascertain the meaning or significance of an emotion, treating it as a datum, or piece of evidence, upon which to make inferences or further Interpretations. Although we often seem to have first-person privileged access to our mental states, the third-person strategy of self-interpretation can be a valuable source of self-knowledge. I focus here upon the role that self-interpretation plays in providing us with knowledge about our emotional experiences.     

The role of mattering as an overlooked key challenge in retirement planning and adjustment

In an aging society, making a successful transition from work to retirement and achieving good quality of retirement adjustment become major concerns for individuals, organizations, and governments. This paper focuses on the particular role of mattering (i.e., individuals' perceptions that they make a difference in the world) as a critical self-concept dimension that may mediate the impact of social interactions on retirement process at two distinct phases. We conducted two studies using time lagged design (with one-year time interval) among older workers 55 years or older (N = 161; Study 1) and retirees (N = 186; Study 2). Study 1 found that mattering mediated the effects of social support at work on life satisfaction but not retirement planning. Study 2 found that mattering mediated the effects of general social support on positive affect but not life satisfaction. Contrary to our expectation, mattering also did not mediate effects of caregiving activities. Overall, our results suggest that mattering represents a critical mechanism that explains some of the positive associations between social support and retirement adjustment quality.     

Organizational and occupational commitment in relation to bridge employment and retirement intentions

Understanding the antecedents to retirement and bridge employment is important to older-aged adults who seek ways to smoothly transition to full retirement, and to organizations that benefit from retaining their highly skilled and most experienced workers, especially in occupations for which labor shortages are projected. We tested the effects of affective, continuance, and normative commitment to organizations and to occupations on older-aged pharmacists' (N = 294) intentions to fully retire and to pursue three types of bridge employment. As hypothesized, criteria that were more organizationally focused (e.g., bridge employment in the same organization) were predicted more strongly by organizational, rather than occupational, commitment. For one type of bridge employment that was more occupationally focused—bridge employment in a different field—the hypothesized differential effects were supported, such that it was predicted more strongly by occupational, rather than organizational, commitment. We discuss the implications of our findings for theory, research, and practice.     

Differentiation is key: should employers offer something unique or the same yet better?

ABSTRACT

Researchers agree that employers should differentiate themselves from their competitors to become the employer of choice. However, from the recruitment literature, it is not clear how employers should differentiate their employment offers. Building upon the structural alignment theory, we investigated in two experimental studies whether offering something unique (i.e., non-alignable attributes; e.g., offer a benefit package when competitors do not) or offering the same yet better (i.e., alignable attributes; e.g., offer a bigger benefit package than competitors) is the most effective differentiation strategy for employment offers and whether this depends on job seekers’ work experience. Offering the same yet better affected job seekers’ preferences more positively than offering something unique in lowly complex judgement and decision-making situations (Study 1) as well as in highly complex judgement and decision-making situations if job seekers had more work experience (Study 2). Hence, our findings suggest that differentiation strategies matter: employers should differentiate by offering the same yet better, particularly when they look for highly experienced job seekers in highly complex judgement and decision-making situations.     

Job Seeking Among Retirees Seeking Bridge Employment

Using a sample of recent retirees, the study described here sought to test the general propositions of the Wanberg, Watt, and Rumsey (1996) model by (a) including specific variables that are likely to be relevant to older adults seeking work after retirement (bridge employment) and (b) integrating more recent variable groups (e.g., situational constraints) suggested by recent research (e.g., Wanberg, Kanfer, & Rotundo (1999) and Kanfer, Wanberg, & Kantrowitz (2001) . Generally, the results support the efficacy of the Wanberg et al. model to predict job seeking among this group. Biographical variables such as older worker job search constraints, self-evaluations (e.g., job seeking self-efficacy), and motive/social variables (e.g., social support) were related to job seeking. Some of these, however, were not in the expected direction. Similarities and differences between "regular" job seeking and bridge employment job seeking are discussed.     

Outcome expectations and work design characteristics in post-retirement work planning

Today, a growing number of individuals decide to work beyond normal retirement age (Eurofound, 2012). Research has revealed influencing factors for post-retirement work at the individual, job and organizational, family, and socioeconomic levels. However, not much is known about post-retirement work planning and its antecedents. The purpose of this study is to examine the effects of outcome expectations regarding post-retirement work and two work design characteristics (i.e., physical demands and social support at work) on post-retirement work planning by applying the framework of social cognitive career theory (SCCT; Lent, Brown, & Hackett, 1994). Data from 1065 employees of a German logistics company were used in this study. Results provide support for SCCT to be a suitable theoretical framework for understanding post-retirement career planning and thereby expand the application of SCCT to a new field. Furthermore, multilevel analysis revealed that physical demands were negatively related to the intention to continue to work for the pre-retirement employer after retirement entry, whereas social support at work strengthened the relationship between outcome expectations and same-employer-post-retirement work intention. Organizations who want their retired employees to continue to work in retirement should develop interventions to strengthen post-retirement work outcome expectations. An increase in social support at work as well as a reduction in physical demands may also contribute to increased participation in continued work with the same employer in retirement.     

Outcome expectations and work design characteristics in post-retirement work planning

Today, a growing number of individuals decide to work beyond normal retirement age (Eurofound, 2012). Research has revealed influencing factors for post-retirement work at the individual, job and organizational, family, and socioeconomic levels. However, not much is known about post-retirement work planning and its antecedents. The purpose of this study is to examine the effects of outcome expectations regarding post-retirement work and two work design characteristics (i.e., physical demands and social support at work) on post-retirement work planning by applying the framework of social cognitive career theory (SCCT; Lent, Brown, & Hackett, 1994). Data from 1065 employees of a German logistics company were used in this study. Results provide support for SCCT to be a suitable theoretical framework for understanding post-retirement career planning and thereby expand the application of SCCT to a new field. Furthermore, multilevel analysis revealed that physical demands were negatively related to the intention to continue to work for the pre-retirement employer after retirement entry, whereas social support at work strengthened the relationship between outcome expectations and same-employer-post-retirement work intention. Organizations who want their retired employees to continue to work in retirement should develop interventions to strengthen post-retirement work outcome expectations. An increase in social support at work as well as a reduction in physical demands may also contribute to increased participation in continued work with the same employer in retirement.     

Factors related to bridge employment participation among private sector early retirees

Many retirees choose to participate in some form of bridge employment—part time, self-employment or temporary work that follows an individual’s long-term or career job and precedes permanent retirement (Feldman, 1994). In this study, correlates of bridge employment participation were examined using a sample of 133 early retirees from an oil and gas services firm. Hierarchical regression analysis indicated that organizational tenure, certainty of retirement plans, and career-related pull factors accounted for a significant portion of the variance in overall participation in bridge employment after controlling for the effects of age, gender, and marital status. At the same time, the significance of organizational tenure, career-related pull factors, and entrepreneurial orientation, varied as a function of the category of bridge work performed by retirees, that is, whether retirees were employed within the same industry or a different industry. Differences between these results and those of previous studies using public sector employees are discussed.     

Are We Prepared? Recommendations for Couple and Family Therapists Engaging with Young Generations on Social Media

Social media is a salient aspect of most people’s lives in the United States. Younger generations (e.g., Gen Z) are among some of the most likely to engage with social media and have mental health concerns. Mental health providers are beginning to use social media to engage with prospective clients. However, there is a lack of guidance on how to maximize the utility of social media engagement for couple and family therapists (CFTs). This paper reviews the current literature on therapists’ professional presence on social media and younger generations’ expectations around social media competency. Recommendations for how CFTs can effectively engage with younger generations through social media are provided. A discussion of professionalism, accessibility, demonstrating aligned values, branding CFT, and gaining a reputation of cost effectiveness are emphasized. Future directions for studying the phenomenon of therapists using social media to engage with an online audience are included.

     

Supportive relationships in later life

We adopted a multidimensional approach to the study of the social support convoys of older adults. We distinguished between age and gender differences in four specific dimensions of the social support convoy: (a) existence versus functioning of relationships in the convoy, (b) kinds of relationships (i.e., those with children, siblings, and friends), (c) types of social support (i.e., emotional support, respect, and health support), and (d) receipt versus provision of support. Using a national survey of 718 adults, multivariate and univariate analyses of variance were performed to determine age and gender differences in these four dimensions of social support. The multidimensional approach was useful in pinpointing those aspects of the social support convoy affected by aging. We anticipated that the social support convoy would be devastated by aging. Instead, we found that older people received less support (i.e., emotional and health support) in the absence of sibling relationships. Otherwise, the effects of aging had more to do with what the older person contributed to the convoy than with what he or she received. Women had better social support resources than men, particularly within their friendships. We found no evidence, however, that women's social support advantage counterbalanced the effects of aging on the convoy.     

Preparing for retirement: how self-efficacy and resource threats contribute to retirees’ satisfaction,depression, and losses

The resource-based dynamic perspective has been applied in this study to explore retirees’ satisfaction, depression, and actual loss of resources. A three-wave design with Spanish workers who were in transition to retirement (N = 286) was used with the aim of investigating correlations between pre-retirement variables and post-retirement well-being. Participants were working at Time 1 and Time 2 but at Time 3, they had retired in the past year. Individual attributes (age), access to resources (life satisfaction and depression), situational characteristics (job stress, job tenure, and retirement transition quality), and psychological disposition (general self-efficacy and positive retirement expectations) at the first wave, correlated with the threat of loss at the second wave. Moreover, these predictors explained how people adjust to retirement at the third wave, assessed both directly (actual loss of resources) and indirectly (satisfaction with retirement and depression), via their effects on Time 2 variables. The results revealed that threat of loss had a positive relationship on loss of resources after retirement, and also both on retirement satisfaction and depression after retirement. Hence, this suggested several avenues for intervention targeting expectations and, in turn, increasing retirees’ well-being, which are discussed.     

Semantic self-knowledge and episodic self-knowledge: independent or interrelated representations?

In this study of the structure of self-knowledge, we examined priming effects for the recall of personal episodes in order to investigate whether abstract trait knowledge and personal episodes are independent mental representations. We found that accessing similar abstract representations of traits facilitated a faster recall of related personal episodes than did accessing irrelevant abstract representations of traits (Experiments 1 and 2), reading a nonword prime (Experiments 2 and 3), accessing knowledge of one's mother (Experiment 3), or accessing semantic knowledge (Experiment 3). Contrary to previous findings, which indicated that abstract trait knowledge is represented independently of related personal episodes (e.g., Klein & Loftus, 1993; Tulving, 1993), our results suggest that abstract trait knowledge is associated with personal episodes, and therefore that semantic self-knowledge is associated with episodic self-knowledge in long-term self-knowledge.     

Self-Consciousness and Strategic Self-Presentation

ABSTRACT People who are publicly self-conscious have been characterized as being especially concerned about their social identities and oriented toward gaining approval and avoiding disapproval. In two experiments, it was found that “pure publics” (i.e., those high in public and low in private self-consciousness) were the most concerned about matching their deeds and words. These subjects presented themselves to a partner consistently with their publicly known, prior performance on a supposedly valid test of social sensitivity. However, they presented themselves in a uniformly positive manner if the test could be dismissed as invalid and/or if their performance was unknown. In contrast, subjects low in public or high in private self-consciousness did not display these strategic patterns and presented themselves positively in all cases. Pure publics are thus the most likely to engage in patterns of self-presentation that have been shown to maximize approval and minimize disapproval in social interactions.     

Philosophy, self-knowledge, and personality in Iranian teachers and students of philosophy

Like psychology, philosophy apparently operates from a commitment to the belief that self-knowledge should be a goal of disciplinary and personal development. Iranian teachers and students of philosophy responded to a Philosophical Orientations Scale created for this study that assessed the possible content of a high school philosophy course, along with instruments measuring self-knowledge, need for cognition, the five-factor model, anxiety, depression, and perceived stress. As the authors hypothesized, self-knowledge predicted higher levels of a philosophical orientation, even after controlling for the variance explained by need for cognition and openness to experience. Philosophical orientations and self-knowledge were also correlated with psychological adjustment, and teachers scored higher than students on these two sets of constructs. These data supported the hypothesis that personal and disciplinary interests in an adaptive self-knowledge converge in philosophy.     

Effects of the School-to-Work Group Method among young people

This study examines effects of the School-to-Work Group Method among 17-25-year-old young people facing the transition from vocational college to work. After baseline measurement (N = 416) participants were randomized into experimental and control groups. The results of ten month follow-up (N = 334) showed notable beneficial impacts of the group method on both employment itself and on how well it matched participants’ education and personal career plans. The group method also had a significant preventive effect on psychological distress and depression symptoms among those initially at risk of suffering from mental disorder. Moreover, it considerably increased participants’ personal work life, finances and property goals.     

Goal Conflict and Originality of Thinking

It is proposed that the originality of individuals' thinking is significantly determined by whether they are primarily committed to personal achievement and object/abstract skill (i.e., instrumental) or primarily committed to interpersonal and group relationships (i.e., socially focused); whether an opportunity for performance is instrumental or social; and whether standard ways of thinking were disrupted by goal conflict. On tasks related to their primary orientation, individuals are posited to be conservative in their thinking--that is, to adhere to patterns and stratagems that experience has taught them are most likely to work. This will normally mitigate against originality. It is further proposed, however, that perceptions of goal conflicts trigger mechanisms for generating more original ideas. An experiment was conducted to test this model. The results largely supported the hypotheses that conflict experiences would tend to enhance originality in the domain (instrumental or social) toward which individuals are most inclined, but tend to restrict in other domains.     

Dilemmas of academic practice: perceptions of superiority among social psychologists

The current research examines social psychologists' beliefs regarding the probability of self and others to engage in desirable and undesirable actions relevant to solving dilemmas of academic practice (e.g. openly discussing versus concealing complex effects in a paper). Consistent with hypotheses, results revealed that social psychologists believed that others are more likely than they themselves to engage in undesirable actions and less likely to engage in academically desirable actions. Moreover, the probability of undesirable actions by both self and others was perceived to be greater under conditions of low rather than high perceived traceability (i.e. when others within the field are believed not to verify the appropriateness of the actions). Interestingly, but unexpectedly, this latter result was observed among faculty members but not among individuals with less research experience (i.e. graduate students). The discussion considers possible explanations for this latter finding and closes with an implication relevant to the peer review system. © 1997 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

A review of the experience and consequences of self-aspect activation,number, and distinctiveness

Abstract

The self-concept is an elaborate memory structure, but it operates under the same basic processes as all cognition. Within the self-concept, self-knowledge (e.g., traits, behavioral representations) is organized into self-aspects. Self-aspects vary in their momentary accessibility, and individual self-aspects can become connected through shared associations (e.g., overlapping traits). This paper reviews the author’s research on (1) the consequences and experience of activating specific self-aspects, and (2) outcomes and correlates of self-complexity, which is the number and interrelatedness of self-aspects. Important self-aspects are easier to activate and harder to inhibit, and active self-aspects moderate the accessibility of related self-knowledge with consequences for social judgment and memory. In addition, self-complexity influences emotions, self-regulation, well-being, and social perceptions, and it varies across cultures.