Male & Female Retirees and Quality of Life Amber Kelly & Dr. Jan Stewart

Overview In Australia, growing number of people retiring Number of retirees experience adjustment problems (Swanson & Tripp–Reimer, 1999) Important that research examines retirement and interrelationship with wellbeing. Ref:

Retirement Role theorists: Employment fundamental role, central to an individual’s identity (Kim & Moen, 2001). Retirement - Identity crises (Miller, 1965) more likely for male retirees Women more flexible due to need for role modifications (Brown, 1994)

Quality of Life Interest in factors that predict quality of life in retirement (Gall & Evans, 2000) Quality of life has objective and subjective axes (Cummins, 1995) SWB indicator of quality of life – a multidimensional evaluation of people’s lives (Eid & Diener, 2004)

Subjective Well Being (SWB) Major life transition can affect SWB (Heady & Wearing, 1992) Set point for SWB, within the positive range of 50 –100, to which people generally return (Mellor, Cummins, & Loquet, 1999) 70%SM to 80%SM homeostatic range of SWB (Cummins, 1995)

Demographics and SWB Females have been found to score higher than males on SWB (Cummins et al., 2001) People from different locations appear to respond differently on measures of SWB (Cummins et al., 2001) Thus the relationships between SWB and urban/rural populations, and gender were examined

Maintaining SWB Individuals’ internal resources can impact SWB Influence the way people approach life circumstances (e.g., retirement) Internal resources measured: Levels of Sense of Coherence (SOC) and Optimism, and having a sense of meaning and purpose in life

Sense of Coherence (SOC) SOC plays a role in health and SWB (Antonovsky, 1979, 1987) Generalised, enduring way of seeing the world. Three elements: Comprehensibility Manageability Meaningfulness

Optimism Implicated in the maintenance of SWB Linked to positive mood and good morale (Peterson, 2000) Global expectation good things will be plentiful and bad things scarce (Scheier & Carver, 1992) A more optimistic outlook reduces the impact of negative events on SWB by the prospect that the difficulties being experienced will not last (Cummins & Gullone, 2002)

Purpose in Life (PIL) Defined as: having sense of directedness, meaning to present and past life, aims and objectives for living (Ryff, 1989) Age-associated events deprive person of important sources of PIL (Baumeister, 1991) Employment may have been an important source of purpose - loss of this role may cause a decline in PIL Older adults have experienced much that life can offer, & achieved most of their life goals (Ebersole & DePaola, 1989)

Conclusions from Previous Research Different factors promote or predict successful adjustment Holistic understanding of retirement required Psychological mechanisms were examined for impact on individuals’ SWB, and sense of purpose and meaning in life

Hypotheses It was predicted that: 1.There would be a positive association between Sense of Coherence (SOC) and Subjective Well-Being (SWB) 2.PIL would relate to retirees’ global life satisfaction 3.Greater Purpose in Life (PIL), SOC, and Optimism would predict greater SWB 4.Male retirees would have less PIL than female retirees 5.Females would have higher ratings of SWB than males 6.Urban and rural differences, and occupation prior to retirement would relate to SWB and PIL

Method Participants 100 male (n=40) and female (n=60) retirees, 66 – 75 years. Self funded or government funded retirees Urban (Melbourne, n=32) and rural (Warrnambool and surrounding areas, n=68)

Demographics Age Gender Location Marital status Health Status Occupation prior to retirement Income prior to retirement Length of time and years employed Reason for retirement Years retirement Preparation Retirement related relocation (Qualitative question) Living arrangement Children in home (Qualitative question) Grand parenting role (Qualitative question) Community Involvement (Qualitative question)

Independent Variables Sense of Coherence Sense of Coherence scale (SOC; Antonovsky, 1987). Optimism Life Orientation Test (LOT; Scheier & Carver, 1986 ) Purpose in Life Purpose in Life test (PIL; Crumbaugh, 1968)

Dependent Variables Subjective Well Being Personal Well-Being Index (PWI; Cummins, 1995) Satisfaction with standard of living, health, life achievements, personal relationships, safety, security, and community Global Life Satisfaction: Single item scale

Major Variables in the Study ScaleM (N = 97) SDRangeCronbach Alpha Sense of Coherence (SOC) Purpose in Life (PIL) Life Orientation Test (LOT) Personal Well – Being Index (PWI)

Hypothesis 1 A positive association would exist between Sense of Coherence (SOC) and Well-being (QoL) Bivariate Pearson product- moment correlation Positive relationship existed between SOC and SWB (r =.50, p <.01) Higher SOC scores were associated with higher SWB scores

Hypothesis 2 Purpose in Life (PIL) would relate to retirees’ global life satisfaction Bivariate Pearson product-moment correlation Positive relationship existed between PIL and global life satisfaction (r =.31, p <.01) Higher PIL scores were associated with higher life satisfaction

Hypothesis 3 Purpose in Life (PIL), Sense of Coherence (SOC), and Optimism would predict increases in SWB Standard multiple regression (MRA) Together Optimism, SOC, and PIL predicted 43% of the variance for SWB (R² =.43, R² adjusted =.41) Individually, the IVs were all significant predictors of SWB, contributing: Sr 2 (unique variance): PIL.32, SOC.25, LOT.21

Hypothesis 4 Male retirees would have less purpose in life (PIL) than female retirees Women had slightly greater purpose in life (M =90.27) than males (M = 87.56) However, results of an Independent samples t-test revealed a non- significant difference in PIL scores for males and females

Hypothesis 5 Females will have higher ratings of SWB than males Independent samples t-test Non-significant difference in SWB for males and females Males (M = 56.72, SD = 10.80) & females (M = 56.39, SD = 11.95), were comparable on their ratings of SWB. Males 78.93%SM; Females: 78.39%SM

Hypothesis 6 Urban and rural differences and occupation prior to retirement would relate to SWB and PIL Multivariate analyses of variance (MANOVA) Significant difference between rural/urban located retirees for SWB Significant interaction between prior occupation and location for SWB There were no significant findings for PIL Thus, retirees’ SWB was significantly influenced by their location (urban or rural), and the particular occupation they were involved in prior to retirement (white collar or blue collar)

Qualitative Results Grand-parenting involvement: 50 % in sample involved in grand-parenting role Community involvement: 89% of the respondents were involved in community activities Relocation in retirement: 21 % relocated for retirement

Limitations of Present Study Methodological limitations: Cannot to generalise to retirees who are not linked to community activities Over-representation of rural participants Low response rate (N=97) Causal interpretations cannot be made

Summary and Implications of Present Study Summary Differences in SWB between urban/rural retirees Interaction between location and occupation prior to retirement No gender differences in SWB Internal resources impacted on SWB, but not PIL, for retirees Implications: Retirement transition is a complicated time Need ongoing research to understand the experience in its entirety

References