StudentShare
Contact Us
Sign In / Sign Up for FREE
Search
Go to advanced search...
Free

How Is Psychological Adjustment Likely to Be Affected by Retiring from Work - Assignment Example

Cite this document
Summary
The paper "How Is Psychological Adjustment Likely to Be Affected by Retiring from Work" states that many retirees have felt that it got a little better as they aged with social support and good humor. The emotional impact of retirement, thus, it can be said is multidimensional…
Download full paper File format: .doc, available for editing
GRAB THE BEST PAPER96.6% of users find it useful

Extract of sample "How Is Psychological Adjustment Likely to Be Affected by Retiring from Work"

Running head: RETIREMENT Consider cross-nation and ethnic/cultural factors that make the transition from employment to retirement easier or more difficult for individuals. How is psychological adjustment and functioning likely to be affected by retiring from work? David The University of Queensland Course: Psyc3152 Tutor: Mark Consider cross-national and ethnic/cultural factors that may make the transition from employment to retirement easier or more difficult for individuals. How is psychological adjustment and functioning likely to be affected by retiring from work? Retirement is fraught with multiple pathways that lead one’s transition from active working life to the one not so active; often psychologically disruptive and full of roller coaster instances where a retiree finds it difficult to accept or reject changes that crop up as soon as retirement begins. This is one of the most difficult segments of a working human being’s life – one that dramatically and suddenly changes the retiree’s work role, his relationships, his assumptions and his routines. However, what can be debated is that present day retirements are drastically different from the traditional retirement of yesteryears on account of certain cross-national and ethnic/ cultural factors influencing the same. Earlier career patterns were, in a sense, sort of predefined – moving on smoothly over a fixed stable career path; each year adding up to that graceful year of around 65 years of age when one would retire. Over the years globalization has de facto attempted to change that, and the meaning of retirement has undergone changes depending on how easier or difficult have cross-national and ethnic/ cultural factors rendered the transition. Even though there haven’t been any direct and explicit researches conducted over the impact of these factors over retirement, yet the effect can be gauzed by the fact that work culture that these factors have resulted on a global front have, to some extent, left retirees open with multiple job choices even after they have retired. In the highly industrialised countries retirees are finding a new course of life waiting for them when it would seem to them the previous one has hit an endpoint. Earlier on, retirement was considered to be the beginning of a strange type of instability that, apart from having financial impact, had a tremendous psychological impact; mostly negative that led to increased mortality (Marshall & Clarke, 1996). But, there has always been a flip side to this traditional theory. It has been termed by Doeringer (1990) as an "economic security package". This is on account of the stable work culture that led to pensions after retirement both at the government and the private level. This was over and above the benefits of job-based health insurance, no fear of layoffs, and predictable seniority-based promotions. Doeringer contests that as years passed by; they developed in the employee an extra sense of security through seniority, higher wages, and promotion. Retirees, in this manner, ended up being more economically secure. Furthermore, how difficult or easier might a retiree find his retirement depends on a number of factors; primarily one of which is a secure future, post-retirement time full of activity, and psychological adjustment. Secure future can be proportionate to the saving that the employee has made or re-employment. Ethnicity is said to be linked to the savings people make. Since different ethnic groups have variable incomes, their propensity to save gets respectively determined. If two different ethnic groups have similar incomes, it is not necessary that both will save equally. For the group that saves less, adaptation to the retirement transition gets naturally difficult. The transition could even get difficult for those who, irrespective of their ethnicity, retire earlier. This is actually dependent on variables as life course instability and health. Elder and Pavalko (1993) studied cohorts from two generations to understand their retirement transition patterns. Of the two cohorts one retired at an early age and another at a later age; while for the former the transition was complex, for the latter it was spontaneous. Ethnicity has also to be seen through the present globalized multicultural world. At present people in the developed world are retiring at a time when these nations are becoming ethnically and culturally more diverse. The transition for the retired from active work involvement to a relatively sedentary lifestyle and pressure exerted by the cross-national multicultural way of life is determined for its ease or difficulty by what can be termed as a retirement wealth. To understand the ease and difficulty of the transition, it is important to assess the socio-economic determinants of retirement. Le, Scobie & Gibson (2007) argue that wealth at retirement is a very useful and important indicator revealing a household’s saving behavior, Hong & Jensen (2003) say that such a behavior can provide a deep insight into whether or not an individual is prepared for retirement. Naylor and Lotoala (2011) studied the ethnicity variable among four ethnic groups, which were New Zealand European, Pasifika, Maori, and Asian. The Asian group was mainly migrants from Middle East countries, some European countries, South and North America, and Australia, and all were asked their attitudes to retirement centered around their saving behavior, result of expectation, tradition and culture. Cultural values, when analyzed from a macro-social point of view provide some evidence on how they affect retirement. Unfortunately, despite their importance in this transition research has often neglected to study them. McCallum (2008) attempted to study this vis-à-vis retirement in Japan; a country that the researcher choose because of its unique culture and yet developed economy to act as a strong comparison with other developed countries. In comparison to other countries, Japan work culture is supposed to be based on a strong group dynamics and less individualism. This is as against to what is found in other developed countries, where individualism is rampant. This tends to make Japanese inclined towards two specific traits; one, they are not willing to separate from their work group, and two, leisure is something they would not be willing to socialize for. Clearly, even though Japanese have ample wealth security needed for retirement, cultural values are more binding on them with regard to the retirement decisions. It must also not be discounted that a lot of how transition can turn out to be exclusively rests on the retiree. Irrespective of the factors like ethnicity, cross-national background, or culture, if a retiree’s own self-esteem plummets, the transition can never be expected to be easy. Retirement is a milestone and if a retiree views it as loss of income, role, or socially recognised productivity (Nock, 1992), the transition would not only be difficult but also pathetically negative. Psychologically it could get worse for the retiree. Until recently not enough research was done and not many studies conducted on the psychological impact of retiring, not to speak of overcoming the same. It has now come to be understood that retirement follows a similar pattern of adjustment (or lack of it) as do other matters with an underlying emotional influence – like family-related issues, marriage or divorce. Broadly, retirement can be broken down into six stages, which begin with the ‘pre-retirement’ stage and end with the ‘routine’ stage. Those that fall in-between are ‘the big day (the day employment ceases; the day of smiles, handshakes and farewells), ‘honeymoon phase’ (days giving a strange sense of freedom), ‘disenchantment’ (when things don’t seem to be as good as they looked during the honeymoon phase), and then ‘reorientation’ (when the retiree accepts the new way of life and starts building a new identity out of it. Then the ‘routine’ follows. This is a typical sequence through which each retiree must pass post-retirement, but it is not mandatory that each one of them would react to the stages with the same emotional intensity. Retirement is a social change and not merely a stoppage of employment, and each social change, in whatever form it comes, brings with it certain emotional challenges triggered by the thoughts of ‘status change’, ‘standard of life change’, and ‘social status change.’ The loss of employment leads to the absence of a daily stimulant that the retired person has been living on throughout his life. This leads to problems in cognitive and social functioning; sometimes giving the retiree a feeling of ‘social identity crisis’ resulting from the lack of occupational attainment. Retirees in whom such feelings manifest beyond limits feel deprived at almost all areas in which they were previously active. One interesting observation that has been made about emotional effects of retirement has linked post-retirement well-being with pre-retirement resources. A study by Kubicek et al (2011) derived data from a Wisconsin Longitudinal Study from gendered division of labor hypothesized that if a retiree possesses key resources before retirement, it is likely that the negative impact of retirement on him would not be as much as on the one who lacked key resources prior to retirement. This hypothesis also applies to whether or not the person loses these key resources in the transition. Life circumstances that the retiree has passed through pre-retirement are also responsible for emotional states triggered by the retirement. Surprisingly it has been found that it is the daily and minor negative events that pose a deterrent to post-retirement adjustment as against any major events that occur once a while. And with regard to the quality of life, many retirees have felt that it got a little better (instead of worse) as they aged with social support and good humor. Emotional impact of retirement, thus, it can be said is multidimensional and varies from one retiree to another. References Bettina, K. Christian, K., James M. R., Peter, H. (2011). Psychological well-being in retirement: The effects of personal and gendered contextual resources. Journal of Occupational Health Psychology, Vol 16(2), 230-246. Doeringer, P.B. (1990). Bridges to retirement: Older workers in a changing labor market. Ithaca, NY: IRL Press of Cornell University. Elder, G.H. and Pavalko, E.K. (1993). Work careers in men’s later years: transitions, trajectories, and historical change. Journal of Gerontology: Social Sciences 48 (4), pp. S180-S191. Hong, B. and Jensen, J. (2003). Assessing the Adequacy of Private Provision for Retirement: A Living Standards Perspective, Social Policy Journal of New Zealand, 1- 30. Le, T., Scobie, G., and Gibson, J. (2007). The accumulation of retirement wealth: evidence for New Zealand. Paper prepared for the 15th Australian Colloquium of Superannuation Researchers, University of New South Wales. Marshall, V.W. and Clarke, P.J. (1996). Health and the Transition from Employment to Retirement. IESOP Research Paper No. 6 September 1996 McCallum, J. (2008). Japanese Teinen Taishoku: How Cultural Values Affect Retirement. Ageing and Society, 8: pp 23-41. Naylor, M.J. and Lotoala, F. (2011). Ethnicity and Retirement Wealth, Available http://economics-finance.massey.ac.nz/documents/seminarseries/manawatu/Ethnicity_and_retirement%20wealth%20(2).pdf. Accessed December 27 2011 Nock, S. (1992). Sociology of the family, 2nd ed., Englewood Cliffs, NJ: Prentice Hall. Read More

This is on account of the stable work culture that led to pensions after retirement both at the government and the private level. This was over and above the benefits of job-based health insurance, no fear of layoffs, and predictable seniority-based promotions. Doeringer contests that as years passed by; they developed in the employee an extra sense of security through seniority, higher wages, and promotion. Retirees, in this manner, ended up being more economically secure. Furthermore, how difficult or easier might a retiree find his retirement depends on a number of factors; primarily one of which is a secure future, post-retirement time full of activity, and psychological adjustment.

Secure future can be proportionate to the saving that the employee has made or re-employment. Ethnicity is said to be linked to the savings people make. Since different ethnic groups have variable incomes, their propensity to save gets respectively determined. If two different ethnic groups have similar incomes, it is not necessary that both will save equally. For the group that saves less, adaptation to the retirement transition gets naturally difficult. The transition could even get difficult for those who, irrespective of their ethnicity, retire earlier.

This is actually dependent on variables as life course instability and health. Elder and Pavalko (1993) studied cohorts from two generations to understand their retirement transition patterns. Of the two cohorts one retired at an early age and another at a later age; while for the former the transition was complex, for the latter it was spontaneous. Ethnicity has also to be seen through the present globalized multicultural world. At present people in the developed world are retiring at a time when these nations are becoming ethnically and culturally more diverse.

The transition for the retired from active work involvement to a relatively sedentary lifestyle and pressure exerted by the cross-national multicultural way of life is determined for its ease or difficulty by what can be termed as a retirement wealth. To understand the ease and difficulty of the transition, it is important to assess the socio-economic determinants of retirement. Le, Scobie & Gibson (2007) argue that wealth at retirement is a very useful and important indicator revealing a household’s saving behavior, Hong & Jensen (2003) say that such a behavior can provide a deep insight into whether or not an individual is prepared for retirement.

Naylor and Lotoala (2011) studied the ethnicity variable among four ethnic groups, which were New Zealand European, Pasifika, Maori, and Asian. The Asian group was mainly migrants from Middle East countries, some European countries, South and North America, and Australia, and all were asked their attitudes to retirement centered around their saving behavior, result of expectation, tradition and culture. Cultural values, when analyzed from a macro-social point of view provide some evidence on how they affect retirement.

Unfortunately, despite their importance in this transition research has often neglected to study them. McCallum (2008) attempted to study this vis-à-vis retirement in Japan; a country that the researcher choose because of its unique culture and yet developed economy to act as a strong comparison with other developed countries. In comparison to other countries, Japan work culture is supposed to be based on a strong group dynamics and less individualism. This is as against to what is found in other developed countries, where individualism is rampant.

This tends to make Japanese inclined towards two specific traits; one, they are not willing to separate from their work group, and two, leisure is something they would not be willing to socialize for. Clearly, even though Japanese have ample wealth security needed for retirement, cultural values are more binding on them with regard to the retirement decisions. It must also not be discounted that a lot of how transition can turn out to be exclusively rests on the retiree.

Read More
Cite this document
  • APA
  • MLA
  • CHICAGO
(Please See The Attachment For Choosing The Topics Assignment Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1500 words, n.d.)
Please See The Attachment For Choosing The Topics Assignment Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1500 words. https://studentshare.org/psychology/2059633-please-see-the-attachment-for-choosing-the-topics
(Please See The Attachment For Choosing The Topics Assignment Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1500 Words)
Please See The Attachment For Choosing The Topics Assignment Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1500 Words. https://studentshare.org/psychology/2059633-please-see-the-attachment-for-choosing-the-topics.
“Please See The Attachment For Choosing The Topics Assignment Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1500 Words”. https://studentshare.org/psychology/2059633-please-see-the-attachment-for-choosing-the-topics.
  • Cited: 0 times

CHECK THESE SAMPLES OF How Is Psychological Adjustment Likely to Be Affected by Retiring from Work

Culture Shock and Poor Adjustment

from the paper "Culture Shock and Poor Adjustment" it is clear that unless and until one learns to adapt and adjust to the new culture it will be increasingly difficult for the individuals whether personal or on behalf of the company to accept and live happily.... In the context where multicultural exits culture shock is a sudden immersion to a nonspecific condition of uncertainty mainly as the individuals are not certain as to the expectation from them and from the person around them....
11 Pages (2750 words) Essay

British Expatriate Managers Coping with Culture Shock in the USA

In order to achieve this goal, the organizations must necessarily send their chosen representatives for the various foreign projects, in order to oversee the work at site locations and maintain the product and service standards in these foreign countries.... Expatriate managers who are on foreign assignments must work in a completely new culture and work environment, with which they must cope well to function effectively as managers and succeed professionally....
60 Pages (15000 words) Dissertation

Family Variations and Implications to Children

Such children are likely to be morally responsible according to stable upbringing, or the favorable atmosphere in these families; they have to learn their cultural orientations and the expected code of behaviors in the society.... , racial variations, economic factors, and family structures portray great influences on behaviors that are adopted by children in different backgrounds, which are also affected by the social and economic status of families.... Children from single parenting portray different characteristics from children with two parents, with the gender of the child being a factor in determining how the family structure and relationships affect children in particular families....
9 Pages (2250 words) Essay

Human Behaviour & Health

I believe that I will have to consider the mind-body connection, psychological adjustment, optimism, and social relationships in this case.... his mind-body connection is also very much related to her psychological adjustment.... It shall discuss how I can determine the scale of any of her problems, who will need to be involved in the return-to-work process, what form a return-to-work process can take.... This frame of mind often affects a person's daily activities the outcomes of such, including work and social activities....
14 Pages (3500 words) Essay

PTSD: Treatment of Soldiers Returning from The Middle East

The essay analyzes a wide range of people, including car accident victims, victims of violent crime, and soldiers returning home from conflicts in foreign countries.... The author of the essay "PTSD: Treatment of Soldiers Returning from The Middle East" thinks that post-traumatic stress disorder is a condition that occurs following a major traumatic event and includes re-experiencing phenomena, avoidance of distressing thoughts, detachment from other people, sleep disturbance, hypervigilance, and increased irritability....
7 Pages (1750 words) Term Paper

Brain Drain: Inclination to Stay Abroad After Studies

That is because the article to be reviewed identifies how social ties and perseverance on the part of the expatriate workers and how uncertainty on the part of the recruiting agencies affects the decisions made by expatriates to stay and work in the host countries or go back to their home countries.... Black and Porter stress that managerial behaviors vary hugely from country to country and if the managerial behaviors of some American expatriate managers in Hong Kong remain just the same as they were while they worked in the US....
8 Pages (2000 words) Literature review

The Need for Counselling for Young Sikhs in a Multi-Cultural Society

here is an internal and external struggle for young Sikhs which stems from the restriction their religion imposes upon them and then their own personal choice which is secondary.... Some religious restrictions are that:The Sikh religion restricts young Sikhs from smoking or participating in any form of drug habits, this is a further frustration for them as they have no release mechanism when dealing with difficult or stressful situations – the choice is withdrawn....
82 Pages (20500 words) Research Paper

Family Variations and Implications to Children

Such children are likely to be morally responsible according to stable upbringing, or the favorable atmosphere in these families; they have to learn their cultural orientations and the expected code of behaviors in the society.... Children from single parenting portray different characteristics from children with two parents, with the gender of the child being a factor in determining how the family structure and relationships affect children in particular families....
8 Pages (2000 words) Essay
sponsored ads
We use cookies to create the best experience for you. Keep on browsing if you are OK with that, or find out how to manage cookies.
Contact Us