1. GRT2100B PSYCHOSOCIAL ASPECTS OF AGING
PROFESSOR: MELISSA BRASGOLD
RETIREMENT PART III
October 11, 2014
CLASS #12

2. REMINDER: MID-TERM EXAM
Will consist of multiple choice questions, and short answer questions (e.g. True or False, Matching and or/ Fill in the blank exercises).
Covering: Class #7– Class #15 incl.
Worth: 39%
Location: In class
Date: November 1st
Time: 11:30-12:50

3. IMPORTANT For Mid-Term:
Info regarding the mid-term is posted on virtual campus.
In terms of coursepack readings, don’t worry about knowing any numbers – THIS ONLY APPLIES TO THE READINGS! Specifics regarding the information you must know from each class will be outlined in a document posted on Blackboard by Oct. 14th.

4. TODAY’S OUTLINE Video – The gift of Time
Retirement: Effects on the Individual
Health
Adjustment
Gender Differences
Video – The gift of Time

5. SOCIAL CLASS & RETIREMENT
Good income & middle/upper class occupations more satisfied.
Pre-retirement expectations influence one’s experience of retirement (Gall & Evans, 2000).
Income and social roles change when you retire.
Those with good income or middle/upper class people have more money and can do more with retirement thus they are usually happier. (more leisure activities)
Those who have less funds, poorer pensions or no savings may actually be unable to retire and must actually keep working. (ex: people making poor investments…).
Pre-retirement expectations: if you think that retirement will be crappy… you will probably experience it as crappy! (self-fulfilling prophecy). It is all about mindset and pre-expectations!
Gall& evans looked at a sample of 224 men and found that those who seemed to have a good outlook on retirement seemed to have a pretty happy life in all aspects (6-7 years after retiremetn)

6. EFFECTS ON THE INDIVIDUAL: SOCIAL ROLES
Does the loss of work role cause changes in mental and physical health?
Do age related loses in functioning precede retirement or is there no relationship between changes in work patterns and health later in life?
3 Theoretical Perspectives of the effects of retirement on the individual:
1) Role Theory
2) Continuity Theory
3) Life Course Perspective
First point: which comes first? Do you retire due to health concerns, or do we retire first then have health concerns
The perspectives looks on how retirement effects individuals

7. ROLE THEORY I
Roles or normative expectations for behavior provide source of integration.
More roles you fill = higher physical & psychological well-being.
Work role defines persons:
Daily Activities
Status
Social Group
Source of fulfilment in their life.. Because it gives them guidance! It integrates them into the society. You know what you need to do when you have a role… (roles come with guidelines)
The more roles you have, the more guidance you have and thus you will be a happier person physically and mentally. The work role is one of the most important roles you can fulfill!. This is why people are so concerned about finding the perfect job to fit them.
What should be constant in your life is your FAMILY…. Not your work role… but we still think of it as the most important. Why? It defines you. It defines what your daily activities will be (when someone asks you if you are available to meet… you can say NO because you know what your daily activities are--- in the summer, you don’t have solidified daily activities depending on your job). It solidifies your status and social group as well.
You spend a lot of time with the people you work with (social group) (ex: events, meetings etc…).

8. ROLE THEORY II Loss of worker role = loss of integration.
Retirement = depression, anxiety, isolation, unimportance = poor health & higher mortality risks.
As we lose our role as a worker, we tend to lose our integration within society. Work is a big role, so it makes sense that when you lose that role, you lose a bit of who you are. If the loss is caused by retirement, it can cause the person to feel unimportant, depressed etc… (especially if the retirement is FORCED- places with MANDATORY RETIREMENT---- it is not a choice!). Even if you “decide” to retire… it isn’t necessarily a choice! (ex: being in an environment where you don’t feel welcomed– not giving people training because they might retire soon… you don’t value them and they are more likely to leave… they don’t feel like they belong-- if you were to give them training, you could set the stage for them to stay even longer!)
If you lose your work role due to someone forcing you, or if you don’t really “choose to” you can get depression, feeling unimportant and this can lead to poor health.

9. EFFECTS OF RETIREMENT ON HEALTH: THE EGG OR THE CHICKEN THEORY
Role theory states loss of work role may lead to poor mental & physical health.
Does research show this as being true??
This is a MYTH!
We actually see older individuals decline in health and have greater mortality… but it is a result of old age and not retirement… (we are saying there is a causal relationship when there really isn’t… they just happen to co-exist).
Note: a lot of the people who choose to retire do so because of health issues! Most people choose to keep working because they feel fullfilled by that role.
Research: those in poor health tend to retire. There is actually research that shows that people with poor health who retire see an increase in their health (less stress associated with their jobs).

10. CONTINUITY THEORY I Counters role theory.
Changes in work patterns doesn’t cause serious disruptions.
Retirees maintain:
Previous goals
Patterns of activities
Relationships
This is the opposite of role theory! Losing your work role won’t lead to depression. In fact, it says that people who retire maintain their goals prior to retirement, their patterns of activity don’t change and neither do their relationships.
These theories are based on difference research data! (ex: based on people who are prepared for retirement and those based on people who aren’t prepared)
They don’t take the research and put it together to look at it as a whole.

11. CONTINUITY THEORY II Retirement: A different stage in one’s career.
A different level of work involvement.
It says that even in retirement, you are still « working » … everything in your life is a career! You just change the stages… Continuity theory takes into account the “PREPARATION” for retirement. You anticipate entering this stage. By individuals, it is simply seen as a different level of work involvement (ex: volunteering, learn new things, do things that are not always considered a full time career, but it can be). It is a work involvement that is generally not as stressful.

12. LIFE COURSE THEORY I: IT’S ALL IN THE TIMING
Normative stage of vocational development.
Next logical step.
Normative Timing is key.
It views retirement similarly to continuity theory! (look at the titles of the theory… and you will understand what it talks about)
They word it a bit differently… it is not the next stage of your career… but it is a NORMATIVE stage of your career development. Next logical step to take based on previous life events. Normative timing: if the timing of retirement is expected, you will experience it more positively, if it is unexpected it will be experienced more negatively/difficult.

13. ADJUSTING TO RETIREMENT
People vary in their adjustment to retirement.
Factors that put an individual at greater risk for negative consequences in retirement:
Retiring Early
Amount of Planning Time
Socioeconomic Level
Work Ethic Beliefs
Continuity of Work Career
Loss of Income
But People vary in their adjustment to retirement.
In fact Research does show that even though some people do not experience retirement as stressful, 1 out of 3 retired individuals do experience work role loss as a stressful life event. (they don’t say that they are depressed, just more stressed)
There are a number of Factors that appear to put an individual at greater risk for negative consequences in retirement:
Retiring Early
Amount of Planning Time
Socioeconomic Level
Work Ethic Beliefs
Continuity of Work Career
Loss of Income

14. ADJUSTING: RETIRING EARLY & PLANNING
Off time event.
Exception.
2) Amount of Planning Time:
2 yrs.
In terms of the life course theory… retiring early is OFF TIME (not normal) and it will lead to negative consequences.
However, the exception is: If your health is poor, or you must take care of someone who has poor health, then retiring early can actually be a relief! (struggling to work, while taking care of someone or your own health… you may experience improvements in your health or psyche following retirement).
Most research says that you need a minimum of 2 years to plan for your retirement. This is necessary to ease your transition into retirement. If there is any predictor of satisfaction in retirement… is how long you plan for it!

15. ADJUSTING: SOCIOECONOMIC LEVEL & WORK ETHIC
4) Work Ethic Beliefs
3) Those that are higher on the SES scale (income, or status) are more satisfied with retirement. These people are also more liekly to retire at earlier stages BECAUSE they can… if they are making more money. Typically, if you are higher on the SES scale… and don’t retire early, you are staying because you like your job. If you are lower on the SES scale, you will most likely experience retirement negatively… or you can’t retire early cuz you poor bitch
4) Play a role in terms of what you enjoy. If you don’t like your job, you will be very happy the moment you can retire! If you believe that your work role plays an important part in who you are… you will stay working! All of these play a role in how you feel after retirement…. If you have a high work ethic belief… you will most likely come out of retirement.

16. ADJUSTING: CONTINUITY & LOSS OF INCOME
5) Continuity of Work Career
Orderly career
= higher attachments to communities,
friends & social activities.
= Healthier, physically and mentally.
6) Loss of Income
5) If you have more of an orderly career (not hectic), no unexpected things… (logically connected)… you will typically have a higher attachment to your community, friends and more social activities. Why? Because when you have an orderly career, you can focus on those things, and you tend to make friends with those that you work with for such a long time… also, you start working outside of work… (ex: an engineer thinking as he drives by a construction building… « i can do this better than them »). These people have a lot of things to fall back on in retirement and therefore it will ease their transition. They will be healthier physically and mentally.
6) Final factor that plays a role in your adjustment to retirement. If you don’t have enough income in retirement, it can be a very stressful time. (ex: can’t afford healthcare, or generally necessities of life…) you will be disadvantaged and will experience the negative impacts physically and mentally. If you have enough income to meet your BASIC necessities… you will be okay… (money just amplifies who you are… if you are a dick and you win the lottery you will be an even bigger dick)

17. ADJUSTING: PERSONALITY & RETIREMENT
Retirement self-efficacy
Psychological factors like
Self esteem
One’s own perception
can effect adjustment in retirement.
PERSONALITY PLAYS A ROLE IN EVERYTHING. It helps you adjust. If you are someone who has a high self-eficacy, if you think you can tackle anything… you will have a satisfactory adjustment to retirement (lower levels of anxiety). Your self-perception… your perception of life can also affect your adjustment to retirement. If you don’t believe that you can do something… then you can’t do it… you need to believe in yourself!

18. POPCORN TIME 

19. READING AHEAD Today & last class
Retirement & Pensions, Course pack pp , 31-33,
Class #14
Leisure & Recreation pursuits in later life, course pack pp
Class #15
Alcohol & Aging, Course pack pp

20. READING AHEAD Class #19 & 20, 21 & 22
Stress & Coping - Course pack pp
Housing - Course pack pp
Class #24 – Elder Abuse
Course pack p.35