The Teacher's Career and Life

Abstract. Participants in a Wabash Center consultation on vocation discussed the variety of expectations, opportunities, and challenges that create contexts for teaching as they move through careers. These essays emerge from the experiences and reflections of four participants about different stages of careers in diverse contexts. Tom Massaro writes from the perspective of one who recently navigated the challenges leading up to the tenure review in a Jesuit theological school and notes common patterns amidst the diversity of challenges. Phyllis Airhart ponders vocational fidelity in the transitions to new roles and responsibilities at mid‐career in a Canadian university. Barbara Brown Zikmund deals with what she calls the ‘mature years’ and traces a major shift in her career from administration in an American school to teaching in Japan. Raymond Williams reflects on vocation during the process of preparing for retirement from teaching in a liberal arts college, attempting to respond faithfully to the inevitable question, ‘What are you going to do when you retire?’ Vocation is a thread that runs through each essay as reflection on the integrity and continuity of careers. The authors raise issues and make suggestions that may help others reflect on their vocation as teacher.     

What can gender tell us about the pre-retirement experiences of elite distance runners in Finland?: A thematic narrative analysis

ObjectivesThis study explores gendered experiences of the mastery stage in endurance runners' athletic careers in terms of (a) key themes in this period of life, (b) retirement decision-making and (c) changes in athletic and runner identities.Design and methodTen male and nine female athletes aged between 25 and 62 participated in individual interviews. The data were analyzed via thematic narrative analysis.Results and conclusionGendered meanings permeate career decision-making and retirement patterns of Finnish runners. Female athletes reported many difficulties, including health problems, loneliness, societal pressure and lack of social support during the final years of their careers. These aspects were important reasons for them to start considering retirement from sport. Male athletes reported less social pressure and suggested that friendship in sport was a major reason for postponing retirement. Male athletes expressed more interest for coaching others, wherein women perceived themselves as incompetent and/or lacked time and interest for it. Running remained important for the majority of athletes after retirement and they anticipated or had continued regular running post-retirement.     

Older Workers and Bridge Employment: Redefining Retirement

The authors present a qualitative study that explored the transition experiences of older workers who retired from long‐term careers and who were working in bridge jobs (i.e., transitional work between career employment and retirement). Using grounded theory methodology, the authors interviewed 24 older workers to learn why they decided to pursue a bridge job, how they made the transition, and what challenges they faced and benefits they received. The core theme from the study is that bridge employment redefines retirement. The authors present the findings of the study along with recommendations for career counselors and implications for future research.     

Adjusting to Retirement: Considerations for Counselors

The purpose of this article is to examine retirement while focusing on issues older adults face in adjusting to retirement and to suggest implications for counseling people who are making this transition.     

Putting off tomorrow to do what you want today: planning for retirement

In this article we note that in the coming years, a larger number of people will be experiencing retirement for a longer period of time than ever before and that despite this fact, many will find themselves unprepared for this stage of their lives. We review the literature on retirement preparation, structuring our review around the key questions that need to be addressed when planning for retirement: (a) What will I do? (b) How will I afford it? (c) Where will I live? and (d) Who will I share it with? We make a number of suggestions for research and practice. We conclude that although psychology has begun to play a role in understanding and addressing retirement preparation, there are considerable opportunities for psychologists to engage with this issue in their research and applied work.     

Parental Religious Socialization Practices,Connectedness With Others,and Depressive Symptoms in Late Life

This purpose of this study is to examine two constructs that have been largely overlooked in the study of religious involvement among older people: parental religious socialization practices and feelings of connectedness with others. The data are from an ongoing nationwide survey of older people. Findings from a latent variable model that was designed to examine the two focal constructs provide support for the following relationships: (a) older people whose parents encouraged them to become more involved in religion are more likely to attend worship services, (b) older people whose parents promoted religious involvement and older individuals who attend church more often are more likely to report that they see a fundamental connection among all human beings, (c) older adults who feel more closely connected to others will be more likely to forgive people for the things they have done, and (d) older people who are more forgiving are likely to experience fewer symptoms of depression over time.     

Parental Religious Socialization Practices, Connectedness With Others, and Depressive Symptoms in Late Life

This purpose of this study is to examine two constructs that have been largely overlooked in the study of religious involvement among older people: parental religious socialization practices and feelings of connectedness with others. The data are from an ongoing nationwide survey of older people. Findings from a latent variable model that was designed to examine the two focal constructs provides support for the following relationships:(1) older people whose parents encouraged them to become more involved in religion are more likely to attend worship services; (2) older people whose parents promoted religious involvement and older individuals who attend church more often are more likely to report that they see a fundamental connection among all human beings; (3) older adults who feel more closely connected to others will be more likely to forgive people for the things they have done; and (4) older people who are more forgiving are likely to experience fewer symptoms of depression over time.     

Assessing mobility in an aging society: Personal and built environment factors associated with older people’s subjective transportation deficiency in the US

This study analyzed subjective transportation deficiency, in terms of missing activities due to lack of transportation, of the older population aged 65 and over in the United States. This study found that those who have lower personal automobile accessibility and minority females are more likely to experience transportation deficiency. Older people who have lower income, have lived for a relatively short period (3–10 years) in their communities, and live with minors are also more likely to experience lack of transportation. Older people who live in suburban communities have greater transportation deficiency, but the placement of activity locations within walking distance can improve transportation deficiency among older people who do not drive. The availability of public transit services within walking distance and knowledge about transportation alternatives do not significantly affect the transportation deficiency of the older population. The results indicate that a substantive focus should be given to how to help the older population keep driving as long as they can, and aid communities with high concentrations of older minority females. Also, developing activity clusters containing commercial and social service facilities in suburban areas with high concentrations of older populations, has the potential to alleviate transportation deficiency among this widely observed group of people who age in place.     

Church service roles and anticipated support among older Mexican Americans

The purpose of this study is to see how feelings of anticipated support arise in church. Anticipated support refers to the belief that coreligionists will provide assistance in the future if the need arises. This model contains the following hypothesis: (1) people who affiliate with conservative Protestant congregations will be more deeply committed to their faith, (2) individuals who are more committed to their faith will attend church more frequently, (3) people who go to church more often will be more likely to occupy church service roles, (4) those who occupy church service roles will feel more highly valued by their coreligionists, (5) individuals who feel they are valued highly by fellow church members will receive more emotional support from them, and (6) people who receive more emotional support at church will have stronger anticipated support beliefs. Data from a nationwide survey of older Mexican Americans support these hypotheses.     

Women's Caregiving Careers and Retirement Financial Insecurity

Providing the essential care for children and aged relatives has immediate and long‐term financial consequences for women, particularly financial insecurity in retirement. Women's caregiving careers are examined in relationship to the impact on retirement. The need for career and retirement education and counseling aimed at women who assume caregiving roles is addressed.     

Still young at heart: negative age-related information motivates distancing from same-aged people

Research on subjective age has shown that most older adults feel significantly younger than their chronological age. One of the proposed mechanisms for this subjective age effect is that distancing oneself from an age group that is associated with decline in functioning helps older adults maintain a positive view of themselves. Providing negative age-related information, then, should lead older adults to direct their attention away from stimuli that remind them of their age and to distance themselves from same-aged people. In 2 experiments (N? = 78, 65-83 years of age, M = 71.67, SD = 4.81; N? = 98, 65-87 years of age, M = 70.52, SD = 4.89), older adults were confronted with positive, neutral, or negative age-related information. The salience of age increased after receiving negative age-related information. Furthermore, older adults directed their gaze away from pictures of older adults and looked longer at middle-aged adults after being confronted with negative age-related information. In addition, Study 2 showed that negative age-related information led older adults to distance themselves from same-aged people. Moreover, they perceived themselves as being more similar to middle-aged than to older adults. These findings highlight the motivational processes that might contribute to the discrepancy between chronological and subjective age in older adults and the psychological function of this discrepancy. Feeling younger might allow older adults to maintain a positive view of themselves despite age-related losses.     

运动员退役过程的心理定性分析：成功与失败的个案研究

研究采用定性分析的方法,旨在探索我国运动员退役过程中为什么有的运动员能够顺利退役,重新开创新事业,而有的运动员却不能。研究以Torregrosa等的理论模式为设计思路,采用综合个案研究设计,选取4个成功和4个失败个案,通过访谈、文献和语言分析技术,对8个运动员退役过程中的意识和行为进行剖析。结果发现运动员在退役过程中,主要在心理状态、退役意识、退役计划、自我调节、社会支持和生活满意度6个方面,反映出成功退役的运动员与失败退役的运动员之间的不同特征。成功退役的运动员通常有一个良好的退役意识。主动计划选择退役后的事业发展;退役失败的运动员则表现为对退役问题消极回避的应对行为。文章就这些发现进行了讨论,并建议了进一步定量研究的方向     

A Preliminary Investigation of Factors Affecting Appraisal of the Decision to Take Early Retirement

This study examines why individuals elect to take the early retirement package offered by their employer, as well as factors affecting their appraisal of that decision. Content analysis, t tests, and regression analysis were used to examine the data. Results suggest that all early retirement decisions are not voluntary. Individuals who did not desire to retire and who had lower self-esteem, fewer financial resources, and plans to continue working were more likely to appraise the early retirement as harmful. Employment counselors can assist individuals with preparing for early retirement by providing resources such as financial counseling and outplacement services just as they do for individuals who involuntarily lose their jobs.     

Character Strengths and Life Satisfaction in Later Life: an Analysis of Different Living Conditions

The aim of this study was to explore the role of character strengths and their associations to life satisfaction in older people. We were interested in studying several transitions that are specific for older people: aging, retirement, living alone, and being widowed. We examined the relationships of these demographic characteristics and living conditions with character strengths and studied their effects on the association of character strengths with life satisfaction. In a cross-sectional analysis, 15,598 older adults (aged 46–93 years) who had completed measures on character strengths, life satisfaction, and demographic characteristics and living conditions were selected from an existing database. Overall, analyses revealed positive associations of most character strengths with age, and higher scores in most character strengths for the employed (vs. the retired) and those living with a partner (vs. those living alone), while only few relationships with being widowed (vs. being married) were observed. Further, the contribution of character strengths to life satisfaction generally decreased slightly with age, but increased for certain character strengths, such as modesty or prudence. Also, stronger relationships between several character strengths and life satisfaction were found for retired people and those living alone, while being widowed did not affect these relationships. The results demonstrate how character strengths might contribute to the life satisfaction of older adults in various living conditions and thereby offer a starting point for strengths-based programs in later life.

     

Changes of life satisfaction in the transition to retirement: a latent-class approach

Contradictory positions have been advanced as to whether retirement has negative, positive, or no effects on subjective well-being. The authors investigated changes in life satisfaction in 1,456 German retirees. Using latent growth mixture modeling, the authors found 3 groups of people who experienced retirement differently. In Group 1, satisfaction declined at retirement but continued on a stable or increasing trajectory thereafter. Group 2 demonstrated a large increase in satisfaction at retirement but overall declining satisfaction. In Group 3, satisfaction showed a temporary very small increase at retirement. Groups differed by retirement age, gender, socioeconomic status, marital status, health, unemployment before retiring, and region. Thus, retirement is not a uniform transition, and resource-rich individuals are less likely to experience retirement-related change in satisfaction.     

Structural predictors of problematic friendship in later life

The purpose of this study was to examine the constraining and facilitating effects of social structural position (age, sex, race, class, financial sufficiency, and number of friends) on opportunities for friendship. We hypothesized that the greater the number of people who share a given social structural location and the more access they have to situations where it is possible to meet new people, the less likely they are to have problematic friendships. The sample comprised 53 male and female community residents aged 55 to 84 years who enjoyed fairly good health. Logistic and multiple regression procedures revealed outcomes opposite to our predictions: those who were supposedly more social structurally advantaged actually reported greater numbers of problematic friendships. Potential interpretations include the possibility that these people are more critical than others of their friend relationships or more willing to acknowledge problems, that the norms regarding commitment to friends are weaker among these individuals, or that they learn to acquire friends but not to avoid and solve problems in their relationships. Apparently, people with more friends are not more likely than others to terminate problematic friendships or to redefine them as mere associations.     

Changes in Athletic Identity and Life Satisfaction of Elite Athletes as a Function of Retirement Status

The purpose of this study was to track changes in athletic identity and life satisfaction of elite athletes over time as a function of retirement status and the voluntariness of retirement decisions. Sixty-two elite Australian athletes from 3 different phases of their athletic careers were surveyed 5 years apart. Athletic identity was shown to decrease as athletes approached retirement. Athletes who retired voluntarily reported an increase in life satisfaction post-retirement. These findings support the need for athlete career education programs that emphasize autonomy and career planning.     

Early Retirement of Civil Servants in the Netherlands1

The Netherlands is aging, the labor force participation of older men and women is low, particularly seen in an international perspective. At the same time the massive departure of elderly from the labor force seems to be becoming more and more difficult to afford. In addition, the question arises whether sufficient financial support will be available in the future for maintaining the current level of old age facilities. Despite the popularity of early retirement schemes in the Netherlands, little attention has been paid to the factors underlying this phenomenon. This article takes an initial step towards a multivariate modelling of the older employees' decision to retire early. Compared with other countries, the situation in the Netherlands is special to the extent that there is relatively little variation in the situational context of rules and regulations on voluntary early retirement. This does not imply that the opportunity structure is the same for every older employee: There is variation in the household context, state of health, the organizational context, and the normative context. Furthermore, within a given opportunity structure, there is variation in the older employee's disposition towards early retirement. Using a method of decreasing abstraction, data have been analyzed from a survey conducted among civil servants eligible for early retirement. In the case of the Netherlands, we conclude that mainly the organizational context, the normative context, and the employee's disposition towards retirement play a major role in explaining the early retirement decision. In comparison to former studies in the U.S., we find surprisingly no effect of the financial-economic variables on the decision to retire.     

Young at heart,old at work? Relations between age, (meta-)stereotypes,self-categorization,and retirement attitudes

The aims of this study were to examine how workers' negative age stereotypes (i.e., denying older workers' ability to develop) and negative meta-stereotypes (i.e., beliefs that the majority of colleagues feel negative about older workers) are related to their attitudes towards retirement (i.e., occupational future time perspective and intention to retire), and whether the strength of these relationships is influenced by workers' self-categorization as an “older” person. Results of a study among Dutch taxi drivers provided mixed support for the hypotheses. Negative meta-stereotypes, but not negative age stereotypes, were associated with fewer perceived opportunities until retirement and, in turn, a stronger intention to retire. Self-categorization moderated the relationships between negative age (meta-)stereotypes and occupational future time perspective. However, contrary to expectations, the relations were stronger among workers with a low self-categorization as an older person in comparison with workers with a high self-categorization in this regard. Overall, results highlight the importance of psychosocial processes in the study of retirement intentions and their antecedents.