title: Psychological obstacles to job or career change in late life.
abstract: Four studies involving middle-aged and older workers were conducted to (a) explore perceived obstacles to adaptive job or career changes in later-life, and (b) develop an instrument with which to identify older adults who might be more sensitive to such obstacles. A reliable instrument was developed which reflected three broad categories of perceived risk: (a) age-inappropriateness of the change, (b) potential for age-discrimination, and (c) risk of hastened obsolescence. As evidence for the convergent validity of the instrument, the results indicated a heightened sensitivity to job change obstacles among respondents with: (a) age-sensitized concerns about job and financial security, (b) poorer psychological adjustment to a plateaued career, and (c) poorer psychological and social adjustment to their own aging.
authors.affiliation: FAA Civil Aeromedical Institute, Oklahoma City, USA.
authors.forename: L L
authors.initials: LL
authors.lastname: Bailey
authors.forename: R O
authors.initials: RO
authors.lastname: Hansson
mesh_terms: D000367:Age Factors; D000368:Aged; D000375:Aging; D002321:Career Choice; D002322:Career Mobility; D005260:Female; D006304:Health Status; D006801:Humans; D007588:Job Satisfaction; D008875:Middle Aged; D012917:Social Adjustment