DePaul University Contemporary View on Retirement Discussion

Kim and Moen (2001) discuss many different factors that can have an effect on the quality of life of someone going through the retirement process but indicated that there are some areas of the research that support opposite sides of the same argument. Based on the evidence found through their research please consider the following questions:

Almost all of the sources used in this research date to around the mid-1990s, do you think these findings still hold true to this day and will they hold to when we are at retirement age?

Since this is an older study, what changes would you make if you could do the ideal study? (unlimited money, any participants needed, IRB already approved it)

They stated that there or clear differences between men and women when it comes to dealing with retirement in both single and marital cases. Based on this how would same sex couples react to this situations? How about non-binary gendered people?

Since people live to be much older than they did when the original retirement age of around 60-65 was set, what effects could you see from raising the retirement age so it is proportionately similar today?

Let’s look at this from the perspective of an Industrial/Organizational Psychologist working in the HR department of a business. What types of things could you do to help alleviate some of the problems and stress of retirement? (information sessions, workshops, maybe it’s best to stay out of it? Or any other ideas you have) Why did you choose this solution over others?

As this study was older, and looking at people of retirement age, it doesn’t accurately factor in the current availability of digital socialization. One of the main considerations looked at in this article was social relationships. Technology is only getting better and better by the day and socialization is easier than ever; so do you think that these social relationships are still an issue to be considered given the ease of communication? What about looking forward to the future when technology is even more advanced?

2. Wellbeing and retirement

Kim and Moen (2001) deliberated the psychological advantages and disadvantages of retirement. They point to empirical evidence that suggests that there are three main factors that contribute retiree’s wellbeing: economic resources, social relationships (e.g., marriage and family), and personal resources (e.g., personality traits). Throughout the paper, they revert to the idea that retirement is not an event, and is considered a process. It highly depends on events that happened prior to retirement and extraneous events during retirement, that would determine their well-being.

a. After reading this article, how might you implement this knowledge when clinically working with retiring adults?

b. Do you think the factors (i.e., economic resources, social relationships, personal resources) apply when working with working individuals who feel burned out or unmotivated?

c. An interesting finding they shed light on was that individuals who were least satisfied were women who were still in the workforce, while their husbands were retired. Why do you think this phenomenon exists?

d. What other life-span stages are occurring during retirement that could contribute to the subjective experience?

g. As a millennial, reflect on your own experience thus far. How do you anticipate yourself to react to retirement?