When I First Learned about Retirement: Financial and Retirement Concept Recognition among College Students

It has long been argued that financial literacy education should begin in childhood or adolescence, but little is currently known about the ages at which individuals come to understand basic retirement and financial planning concepts. The primary goal of the present investigation is to provide data that reflect the reported ages at which key general and technical retirement planning concepts are acquired. A secondary goal is to identify individual difference dimensions—including one’s financial literacy level and early parental learning experiences—that are associated with the age at which key concepts are reportedly acquired. Retrospective reports obtained from a sample of 646 college students revealed that an understanding of general concepts was widespread and took place during the pre-teen and early teenage years. Understanding of the technical concepts was suboptimal, however. Nearly half of the sample were unfamiliar with most of the technical terms. Among those who were familiar with the technical concepts, learning reportedly occurred later in adolescence. Understanding of both sets of concepts was linked to higher financial literacy scores and saving lessons learned during childhood from one’s parents. Results have implications for financial literacy intervention programs designed to target children, adolescents, and young adults.     

Psychological Foundations of Financial Planning for Retirement

Little is known about the psychological mechanisms that underlie financial planning for retirement. Most studies of financial planning and investing have used demographic indicators (e.g., age, gender, income) to predict individual differences in saving. In the present study, a model of planning is tested in which psychological indicators (future time perspective, retirement goal clarity, and self-rated financial knowledge) are posited to mediate the relationship between demographic indicators and saving behaviors. Path-analytic techniques were used to test the model, based on data from 265 middle-aged working adults. Analyses revealed substantial support for the role of psychological factors in the retirement planning process. Findings have theoretical implications for the development of psychologically based models of planning, as well as applied implications for those who seek to understand the psychomotivational forces that underlie tendencies to plan and save.     

Authoritarianism as an Agent of Status Quo Maintenance: Implications for Women's Careers and Family Lives

We examined how right-wing authoritarianism (RWA) influenced career and family plans and life outcomes in 2 samples of educated women. In the college-aged sample, participants who planned to earn professional degrees scored higher on RWA than those who planned to earn graduate degrees in the humanities or social sciences. RWA was also positively related to the expression of preferences for male partners who possess masculine characteristics. In the midlife sample, RWA scores were higher for participants with traditional career and family outcomes at midlife. For midlife participants following a nontraditional career path, RWA was positively related to compartmentalizing career and family responsibilities and finding role combination stressful. Authoritarianism is important for understanding women's decisions about combining career and family.     

The Role of Self-Efficacy in Explaining Psychological and Financial Preparation for Retirement: A Behavioural Study of Retirement Transitioning in Uganda

The individual’s level of perceived self-efficacy could be an important driver for early retirement preparation. Most employees in Ugandan organisations reach that age of retirement without sufficient knowledge on how they will survive during their post-retirement life. This study sought to examine whether self-efficacy predicts psychological preparation and financial preparation for retirement. The sample of 924 employees aged 24–60 years selected voluntarily from four three service-oriented organisations participated in this study. Confirmatory factor analysis was run to confirm whether the factor indices (latent variables) extracted from exploratory factor analysis were actually measures of psychological preparation and financial preparation for retirement. Structural equation modelling was used to test regression relationships, and correlation between latent variable of the dependent constructs was tested using Pearson product moment correlation coefficients. The findings indicated a four-factor model for psychological preparation and a two-factor model for financial preparation. Self-efficacy predicted only three factors of psychological preparation and finance management mediated the relationship between self-efficacy and personal initiative. With these findings, it was concluded that individuals with capacity to adapt new changes can easily re-engage in other jobs. Similarly, those concerned with their social identity will focus on developing career skills that would yield the same level of importance in society. However, finance management training is crucial to the development of strategies and competences that empower people to maintain satisfying lifestyles after retirement. Finally, self-efficacy is a driving factor of personal initiative but the relationship is reinforced when finance management competences are acquired.     

Mental Health Inequalities During COVID-19 Outbreak: The Role of Financial Insecurity and Attentional Control

The COVID-19 pandemic and subsequent lockdowns negatively impacted the mental health of populations. This impact is not equally distributed and increases existing mental health inequalities. Indeed, government restrictions and the economic consequences of the pandemic affect more the less educated and less wealthy people. However, psychological processes implicated in this increase of mental health inequalities during the COVID-19 pandemic remain unexplored. The present study (N=591) tested the role of financial insecurity and attentional control in the relation between socioeconomic status and mental health, along with the influence of trait anxiety. Based on Structural Equation Modelling, findings showed a mediation effect of financial insecurity, but not of attentional control, in the relationship between socioeconomic status and mental health. In addition, exploratory analyses suggested that financial insecurity also mediated the effect of attentional control on mental health. Results of the present research point at the importance of understanding psychological processes implicated in the effect of economic crises on mental health inequalities.     

Careers guidance and choosing a job

Data from the 16-year-old follow-up of the National Child Development Study relating to certain aspects of careers guidance are examined. These include the proportion of the 12,000 study children who were in schools with teachers responsible for careers guidance, the amount of training these teachers had received, and whether they were paid a special salary. The children's expected age of leaving school, their plans for further education and work, and their choice of likely first full-time jobs, are considered in relation to the presence of teachers with some training in careers guidance and to contacts with careers officers. The use made of sources of information about job choices is also described.     

Careers education and the informal economies

It is suggested that careers education tends to be preoccupied with the bureaucratised sector of the formal economy. The importance of the free' sector of the formal economy is outlined, as is the growing importance of three informal economies: the 'black' economy, the 'communal' economy, and the 'household' economy. The implications for careers education of these alternative economies are discussed.     

Careers Guidance and Counselling in England

This article gives a brief background on the history and recent developments in career counselling for young children, high school students, unemployed teenagers, and university undergraduates.     

Conversion and Attachment Insecurity Among Orthodox Jews

Radical conversion, which entails a sweeping transformation of existing meaning systems, is often precipitated by emotional distress. Nevertheless, although many individuals turn toward religion when distressed, few undertake total and radical conversions. Previous research suggests that insecurely attached individuals—who resemble James's disillusioned, doubting, and divided sick souls—may be particularly prone to radical conversions. Thus, the present research examined insecure parental attachment history and convert status among 122 Orthodox and 31 non-Orthodox Jews, hypothesizing that converts to and from Orthodox Judaism, who undertake an all-encompassing transformation of beliefs, behaviors, values, and life's purpose, would report greater insecurity in parental attachment history than nonconverts. Results indicate that converts report greater maternal and paternal insecurity, as compared to both nonconverts and those with intra-Orthodox religious change. Thus, further research examining insecure attachment, and associated religious stressors and doubts, may uncover some of the individual differences underlying radical conversions.     

Computer-Assisted Careers Guidance Systems and Organisational Change

This article describes a study conducted to identify the range of potential influences that a computer-assisted careers guidance system (PROSPECT (HE)) had on the functioning of organisations (careers services in higher education). Data from six institutions indicated that use of PROSPECT (HE) was associated with important and varied change within the organisations. It appears that when a careers service seeks opportunities for change, CACG systems can be an important catalyst for change in two respects: by providing a focal point for achieving previously established goals; or, as a consequence of system use, by making staff aware of the potential for new organisational goals.     

Culturally Sensitive Dementia Caregiving Models and Clinical Practice

Family caregiving for individuals with dementia is an increasingly complex issue that affects the caregivers' and care recipients' physical, mental, and emotional health. This article presents 3 key culturally sensitive caregiver models along with clinical interventions relevant for mental health counseling professionals.     

Job Insecurity and Well-Being: Moderation by Employability

The present study investigates the relationship between job insecurity and well-being (psychological distress and life satisfaction), and the potential role of employability in this relationship. With regard to job insecurity, we hypothesize that job insecurity may be related to poor well-being. Regarding employability, two avenues are taken. First, we argue that employability may be beneficial in much the same way that job security is. Second, we suggest that employability may mitigate likely unfavourable consequences of job insecurity for employees’ well-being. Hypotheses are tested with a sample of 639 Belgian employees from six organizations. The results suggest that job insecurity is related to poor well-being, while no such association is found for employability. Furthermore, employability moderates the relationship between job insecurity and life satisfaction, as expected. Specifically, the model accounts for 8% of the explained variance. However, this pattern of results is not replicated for psychological distress.     

Careers lessons and career awareness of fifth-form students

A questionnaire designed to assess the 'career awareness' of fifth-form students was completed by 274 students from six different schools. The results were used to investigate differences between students who were having and not having regular careers lessons. The results indicated: (a) that those having regular careers lessons, especially the less-able, had a greater knowledge of the world of work than their peers who had no such lessons; (b) that those having regular careers lessons were less reliant on their family for careers advice, and in general used a wider range of sources for career knowledge; and (c) that those having regular careers lessons were more aware of the preparations necessary for job interviews.