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Retirement has become a common phenomenon in our society. However, it still is a major life transition especially to older adults, since it affects their lives in many ways.Antonovsky (1987) asserted that coping well with such a significant transition depends on sense of coherence (SOC), or how we view the situation/world. While diverse resources could determine SOC, the relationships between SOC and leisure related resources have been overlooked. Therefore, this study explored the roles of leisure attitudes and leisure self-efficacy on attitudes toward retirement using SOC theory. Moreover, it examined how retirement decision (retired voluntarily or forcedly) influenced the relationships among the main factors.In this study, a total of 423 respondents who are aged between 55 and 75, retired from their primary career and now residing in Illinois State were recruited through an on-line survey venue. The respondents were asked to complete the on-line questionnaire including the questions related to demographic information, leisure attitudes (LA), leisure self-efficacy (LSE), sense of coherence (SOC) and attitudes toward retirement (ATR). The data was analyzed employing structural equation modeling (SEM) and an Independent T-Test using both SPSS and AMOS software.The results showed that leisure variables (i.e., LA and LSE) were substantial resources for the respondents' SOC and ultimately contributed to a positive ATR. Moreover, SOC played a partial mediator role between leisure variables and ATR, which indicates that it is a prominent determinant of ATR. Lastly, voluntary retirees showed (statistically?) significantly higher scores on all the main factors and were more likely to utilize leisure sources actively than forced retirees. This study contributes to the SOC and leisure literature as it expands SOC theory by applying it to different population and context. Moreover, it confirmed the possible relationship iii between SOC and ATR, the reliabilities and validities of the main factors as well as their components. Furthermore, this study not only sheds the light on the importance of leisure in retirement, but also highlights the necessity of promoting leisure-focused retirement planning programs.

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Background Still, a considerable number of older adults hardly meet the daily physical activity recommendation. The current study examined how the elderly’s attitudinal and perceptional aspects were associated with their Leisure-Time Physical Activity (LTPA) participation in order to provide insight into the physical activity promotion. Methods Study used a total sample of 10,700 older adults aged 65+ drawn from the Health and Retirement Study (HRS) 2014–2015 in USA. Multiple questionnaire items were employed to assess older adults’ attitudes and outlook across different life domains. LTPA participation was measured using two indicators—walking and sports/exercise. A technique of adjusted multivariate analysis was employed to examine the relationships between predictors and outcome variables. Results Results indicated that psychosocial indicators were significantly associated with older adults’ LTPA: self-perception of ageing, self-efficacy, intrinsic motivation, spiritual engagement, perceived social tie and neighbourhood safety; while measures of perceived social relations and neighbourhood safety demonstrated different associations with walking and sports/exercise on its intensity. Conclusions Health professionals should be well-informed about psychosocial roles, either as facilitators or constraints, in older adults’ physical activity participation. Incorporation of psychosocial intervention into physical activity promotion can help older adults develop positive attitudes and inner strength linked to their health behaviour.

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