Anticipated and experienced changes in activities after husbands retire.
As an element of anticipatory socialization, ability to predict future roles accurately may impact subsequent adaptation. Part of a larger study of retirement and marital quality, this longitudinal research examined husbands' and wives' (n = 61 couples) anticipations of change (more/less/same) in six individual and joint activities following husbands' retirement, and compared them with couples' reported experiences a year after husbands had retired. With the exception of household tasks, continuity in levels of activity from pre-to post-retirement was greater than couples had anticipated. Cross-classification of responses at baseline and Time 2 indicated only modest congruence between anticipated and experienced change in activities. Accuracy of anticipation was not related significantly to retirement satisfaction as hypothesized, but direction of retirement-satisfaction mean scores, especially among wives, suggest that future testing would be warranted.
Fitzpatrick
Tanya R
TR
Arizona State University West, Department of Social Work, Phoenix, AZ, 85069, USA. Tanya.Fitzpatrick@asu.edu
Vinick
Barbara H
BH
Bushfield
Suzanne
S
D000368:Aged; D001900:Boston; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D007407:Interviews as Topic; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D012179:Retirement; D012917:Social Adjustment; D018454:Spouses; D011795:Surveys and Questionnaires