Travel: A Long-Range Goal of Retired Women

The authors surveyed retired persons (predominately women) with regard to their immediate, intermediate, and long-range activities following retirement. As predicted, leisure travel emerged as a frequent long-range goal for persons retired more than 5 years. The travel activity preferences of long-retired older women present challenges and opportunities to both researchers and marketers. Length of trips and frequency of trips have been predicted from regression models, with trip length in particular being well predicted by the problem of daily life hassles. A theoretical model of continued post-retirement travel is presented as a variant of Solomon's opponent process theory of affect (R. L. Solomon, 1980). The authors suggest that to the degree that places traveled to are varied and different, older people may remain stimulated and continue to enjoy 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.     

Extending the integrated model of retirement adjustment: Incorporating mastery and retirement planning

Extending earlier research, this study explores individual (e.g. demographic and health characteristics), psychosocial (e.g. mastery and planning) and organizational factors (e.g. conditions of workforce exit) influencing retirement adjustment. Survey data were collected from 570 semi-retired and retired men and women aged 45 years and older. Findings suggest that higher income, and having better psychological and physical health accounted for better retirement adjustment. After controlling for the effects of demographics and health, a higher personal sense of mastery and more favorable conditions of exit significantly predicted adjustment to retirement. Pre-retirement planning was not related to retirement adjustment. However, analyses revealed that the effect of post-retirement planning on retirement adjustment was mediated by mastery. Practical implications for the design of interventions to promote mastery in later life and provide control over the transition from the workforce are discussed.     

The relationship between preretirement occupation and older adults' life satisfaction and self-rated health

Pensioners currently compose nearly 20% of the British population; men and women can expect to spend an average of about 17 years and 19 years in retirement, respectively. The present study aimed to investigate the roles of preretirement occupation and self-rated health (SRH) on the attainment of life satisfaction in retired people. A total of 121 community-dwelling men and women (M age = 75.8 years, SD = 7.1) completed a survey to assess life satisfaction, self-rated health, retirement stress, retirement adjustment, and recollected aspects of preretirement occupation. Results revealed positive and significant correlations between scores on a life satisfaction measure and SRH, retirement stress, and retirement adjustment (all ps < .001). Path analysis indicated that aspects of previous employment that may predict an adverse influence on current life satisfaction and that engagement in voluntary work appears to have benefits for both life satisfaction and SRH. The authors conclude that many of the adverse effects of preretirement occupation can be helped or avoided through suitable retirement preparation and training.     

Pathways into retirement: Entry or exit?

This qualitative interview study set out to gauge older citizens' perceptions of reasons for willingly entering retirement, or, alternatively, resisting it, by examining the retrospective views of 45 adults (aged 62 to 94 years) in Norway who had already crossed the retirement threshold. Interviews were taped, transcribed and analysed (separately) by the two authors. Findings, extrapolated from the interview data, demonstrated an array of interacting factors influencing individual pathways into retirement and adjustments to various retired life‐styles. Furthermore, three broad themes were identified; namely, ‘there is life beyond work’; ‘work as a life‐style'; and ‘there is not much left to live for’ with individually different routes within these. Importantly, it became clear that these pathways were initiated long before retirement. Given the range of influencing factors and of the psychosocial resources shown by the participants, it was proposed that future research should focus more innovatively on interactive, ecological approaches with a longer time‐span perspective.     

Longitudinal effects of retirement on men's well-being and health

The National Longitudinal Surveys of Labor Market Experience of Mature Men provided the opportunity to look at the effects of retirement on longitudinal well-being in a sample of men aged 54 to 69 in 1976. A conceptual model predicted that the decision to retire would affect subsequent well-being through the effect of retirement on such resources as income and health. The retirement decision in turn, was predicted to be a function of prior well-being and resources. Five categories of retirees were established: voluntary early age, voluntary normal age, health, mandatory, and discouraged. The analysis restricted the sample to men who were in the labor force at the 1976 interview, had not retired before that time, and who were interviewed in 1981. About half of the sample retired in the five years between interviews. Using several different measures of well-being, voluntary retirees were found to consider themselves better off than did other retirees or comparable men still working. Negative responses to retirement were concentrated among men who retired for health reasons, probably due to their continued ill-health. The effect of retirement on well-being seems highly related to the other circumstances (especially financial security and health) surrounding the individual, rather than to the event of retirement, per se.The research reported in this paper was conducted under a contract with the Employment and Training Administration, U. S. Department of Labor, under authority of the Comprehensive Employment and Training Act. Researchers undertaking such projects under government sponsorship are encouraged to express their own judgements. Interpretations stated in this report do not necessarily represent the official position or policy of the U. S. Department of Labor. This paper was presented to the 92nd annual convention of the American Psychological Association, Toronto, Ontario, Canada, August, 1984.     

我国运动员退役意识与心理状态的定量分析

基于运动员退役过程理论,对我国运动员的退役意识和生活心理状态进行定量分析,旨在探索运动员在退役过程中的意识与心理状态变化。通过对789名运动员（现役运动员540人,退役运动员249人）的退役意识和生活心理状态调查,结果发现运动员的退役意识主要反映在运动员角色和退役准备的认知方面,当运动员角色的认知下降时,退役准备的认知会上升;在生活心理状态的评估方面,有退役想法的运动员要比无退役想法的运动员差;现役运动员的心理状态与退役运动员的心理状态在表现形式上不一样,主要表现为现役运动员反映了较高的生活焦虑,而退役运动员反映了较高的孤独感;分析进一步发现,运动员在退役过程中普遍感到缺乏社会支持。基于以上这些发现,研究从社会心理学角度,讨论了我国运动员退役的意识与心理现状     

CROWDING,TASK PERFORMANCE,AND COMMUNICATIVE INTERACTION IN YOUTH AND OLD AGE

Following Altman's privacy regulation model, this research was based on the assumption that the relationship between achieved and desired levels of privacy is a major determinant of the experience of crowding in small groups. Further, on the basis of evidence that advancing age is associated with a chronic lack of communicative interaction, it was assumed that the achieved level of privacy among elderly persons generally is greater than that experienced by young adults. Given these assumptions, it was predicted that the crowding threshold of young adults would be significantly lower than that of older persons. To test this hypothesis, the research varied conversation distance (close, far) and density (small room, large room) and assessed the quality of communicative interaction and task performance among small groups of college-age females and retired women over 60 years of age. Results showed that task performance among younger subjects deteriorated in close interaction conditions, whereas the performance of older subjects was improved by spatial intrusion. Further, older subjects exhibited positive communication behaviors in response to close conversation, high-density conditions, while younger subjects responded either with negative communication behaviors or were unaffected by spatial restriction. Finally, the research confirmed previous findings that conversation distance is a more important determinant of the experience of crowding in small groups than physical density. The significance of the results for Altman's privacy regulation model and their implications for the study of human communication behaviors were discussed.     

The spiritual benefits of travel for senior tourists

This research explores the spiritual benefits of travel for older adults and illustrates how travel meets seniors' self‐actualization and spiritual growth needs. The theoretical point of departure for this research is seniors' quest for meaning and self‐actualization, which act as push factors inducing older adults to travel. Semistructured depth interviews were conducted with 16 retired senior informants who had extensive travel experience. Using an interpretive method, this research reveals four key themes that illustrate the spiritual benefits of travel, thereby extending the growing literature on the motivations of senior travelers. These themes are described as “traveling generates meaning for older adults,” “traveling reveals the self to older adults,” “traveling encourages older adults to better understand others,” and “traveling enables older adults to better understand their relationship to nature”. In sum, the themes describe how older adults may meet their unique spiritual needs through travel and thereby enhance their spiritual development. This research represents one of a few studies examining senior tourism to employ an interpretive method and provides rich insights as a result. This research also extends the emerging research on spirituality in marketing by illustrating how the tourism industry may benefit from a perspective that considers the spiritual benefits of consumption. The research findings suggest that the intangible spiritual benefits of travel, in addition to the tangible benefits, should be highlighted in travel offers and tourism communications targeted to older adults. Copyright © 2014 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Counselors and the Older Worker: An Overview

Between 1980 and 2000, the number of people now 55 and older who survive to become 75 and older will increase by over 52%. Also, older people are living longer and are retaining high levels of mental and physical capacity longer. Consequently, prevailing notions about retirement and retirement age are rapidly shifting. Already mandatory retirement age has been delayed from 65 to 70 in most areas of employment. This change and continued high rates of inflation have begun increasing the interest of more older people in seeking to remain qualified to stay in their present or related jobs, or, if retired, to seek to prepare for further careers. Employment counselors, and personnel and guidance professionals generally, who have tended to focus their attention on young people preparing for their first careers face a major challenge in the years ahead in preparing themselves to meet the major and novel demands placed on them by people 55 and older who increasingly will come to them for help.     

Retirement Adjustment Quality: Optimism and Self-Efficacy as Antecedents of Resource Accumulation

The resource-based dynamic perspective posits that retirement adjustment quality is a direct result of an individual’s access to valuable resources during transition and in the post-retirement phase, while at the same time underscoring the need to explore the distal antecedents of adjustment quality. The present study aims to examine how distal antecedents—dispositional traits and motivational variables—influence older workers’ resource accumulation and, ultimately, how it affects retirement adjustment quality, under the resource-based dynamic perspective and Hobfoll’s resource theory. A three-wave study was designed with older Spanish workers (N = 455), who were still in active employment at time 1 and time 2 but who had retired within the last 4 months at time 3. Dispositional traits like optimism have predictive power as a gauge of resource accumulation in the short run, although not all of them were fully significant. Some unexpected findings are the limited impact of personal finances on retirement adjustment quality and the absolutely nugatory influence of cognitive resources on quality of life. The present study employs a widely validated measure of retirement adjustment quality, which should ensure comparability of findings with evidence obtained from other studies.     

The Influence of Preretirement Planning and Transferability of Skills on Naval Officers' Retirement Satisfaction and Adjustment

Although there is a plethora of research regarding civilian retirees' satisfaction and adjustment, there has been very little systematic research on the same issues for military retirees. Therefore, we sought to determine if preretirement planning and having knowledge, skills, and abilities (KSAs) that are readily transferable to civilian work affected the retirement satisfaction and adjustment of retired naval officers. Data (N=672) from a large scale, longitudinal study of naval officers' career development was used. Results indicate that both preretirement planning and transferability of KSAs influence the retirement satisfaction and adjustment of naval officers. The authors discuss how these findings add to our understanding of both military retirement and civilian late career transitions.     

Effects of age on symptoms of anxiety and depression in a sample of retired police officers

This study addressed the effects of age on anxiety and depressive symptoms. The analysis was based on the responses of 1,334 retired male Scottish police officers (34-94 years old) to the Hospital Anxiety and Depression Scale. Multiple regression analysis was used to determine the partialed linear and curvilinear effects of symptoms of, separately, anxiety and depression on age and retirement variables. Significant partialed effects of retirement type and present age were found. Early retirement was a vulnerability factor for both disorders. The authors found a consistent linear reduction in anxiety across age and a U-shaped function for depression across age. The differing profiles and independent effects of age on anxiety and depression are consistent with their status as separate entities. Respondents were increasingly susceptible to depression from the mid-50s onward, whereas susceptibility to anxiety was reduced with age.     

Perceptions of and satisfaction with retirement: a comparison of six European union countries

The main aim of this study was to assess perceptions of and satisfaction with retirement among 1,686 recently retired people from 6 European Union countries. The authors compared their responses to a set of questions taken from the Retirement Satisfaction Inventory (F. J. Floyd et al., 1992). The first significant result was that Belgian, British, Finnish, French, and Spanish retirees all expressed very similar assessments of life satisfaction, whereas Portuguese retirees expressed a lower level of satisfaction. The 2nd result was that the major determinants of overall satisfaction in the 6 countries were (a) health and resources and (b) anticipated satisfaction. Finally, the data revealed that cultural background only accounted for a limited amount of variance in overall satisfaction with retirement.     

中国城镇低龄退休老年人工作与幸福感的关系

为探讨老年人工作与幸福感的关系,并对其机制作出解释,本研究利用中国家庭追踪调查(CFPS)数据,选取具有城镇户籍、60~69周岁的男性和50~69周岁的女性,形成3406人的样本,通过独立样本t检验和回归发现,我国城镇低龄退休老年人工作与幸福感负相关;交互效应分析指出这种关系随着老年人社会地位的提高逐渐弱化;工作对幸福感的中介效应分析结果显示,经济收入、人际交往、积极心态中介效应不显著,闲暇活动中介效应显著。因此,由前三者构成的工作对幸福感的正效应无法抵消因为闲暇损失所造成的负效应。     

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     

Involuntary retirement, Type A behavior, and current functioning in elderly men: 27-year follow-up of the Western Collaborative Group Study

Data from 1,103 community-dwelling male participants (mean age = 71.7 years) in a 27-year cardiovascular disease follow-up were used to examine health and mental health sequelae in voluntarily and involuntarily retired Type A individuals. After controlling for age, education, and occupation, Type A subjects, determined both at intake (1960-1961) and at follow-up (1986-1987), reported significantly more frequently that retirement was involuntary. Regardless of Type A status, those reporting involuntary retirement also tended to have poorer adjustment to retirement, more illness, poorer physical status, and more depressive symptomatology. Minimal evidence was obtained on a broad array of indicators for psychological, physical, cognitive, and health status that Type As who retired involuntarily fared worse in retirement than those who retired voluntarily.     

Perceptions of conjugal relations among Israeli males: Pre-retirement versus early and late retirement phases

Attitudes of Israeli males toward conjugal life in preretirement versus the early and late phases of retirement were studied. Several differences appear between pre-retired and retired males, particularly in the late retirement phase. Compared with the pre-retired, late phase retirees expressed more conservative attitudes toward gender roles, increased emotional commitment toward the wife, greater expected dependence on the wife, a decline in health resources, and a greater power advantage in social aspects of conjugal life. Practical suggestions for family therapists dealing with couples in the later stages of married life include being aware of the differences between the stages of retirement and their effect on marital dynamics, giving particular attention to the effects of the increasingly conservative tendencies of the retired male and his anticipated power advantage in the social aspects of marriage on conjugal dynamics, and capitalizing on the increased emotional commitment of the male partner toward his wife in the later phase of retirement.Research interests include women at work and gender roles in the family.This article is a partial report of the findings presented in a doctoral dissertation written at Bar Ilan University under the supervision of Dr. H. Bareli and Dr. M. Katz.