Resolution of Conjugal Role Adjustment after Retirement

Actor and Partner Effects Among Marital Dyads in Retirement Adjustment and Well-being

“…The authors measured number of complaints relative to husbands' 32 working or retired work status and found no variability. These findings conflict with evidence of marital discord prompted by retirement found in the literature (Ballweg, 1967;Cliff, 1993), in which husbands' presence complicated wives' routines, thereby requiring a period of marital adjustment. Ekerdt and Vinick's findings of minimal disruption are supported by findings of beneficial effects of retirement on marriage (Dressler, 1973;Keating & Cole, 1980;Moen et aI., 2001;Szinovacz, 1980Szinovacz, ,2000, especially in dual-earner couples (Lee & Shehan, 1989).…”

Marital role expectations for middle-aged and older men and women

“…Kerckhoff (1965) and Ballweg (1967) reported little such participation among their samples of older husbands, but Lipman (1961Lipman ( , 1962 noted a large amount of involve ment in household tasks by the husbands in his study. Ballweg's (1967) data also suggested that older retired husbands participate somewhat more than older employed husbands.…”

“…The impact of an expanded housekeeper role for the husband on the housekeeper role of the wife and on her sense of well-being has also been discussed (Aldous, 1978;Ballweg, 1967;Bengtson et al, 1977;Cavan, 1962;Crawford, 1972;Kerckhoff, 1964Kerckhoff, , 1966Lipman, 1960Lipman, , 1961Lipman, , 1962. Although there may be some difficulty in initially adjusting to the husband's changed household role, most couples report little conflict from the husband's increased participation in household tasks.…”

“…Several writers (Ballweg, 1967;Donahue et al, 1960;Friedmann and Havighurst, 1963;Kerckhoff, 1966;Lipman, 1960Lipman, , 1961Lipman, , 1962Morse and Weiss, 1955;Nimkoff, 1962) in fact suggest that the retired husband may aid his ad justment to retirement by replacing his occupational duties with house hold tasks. For example, Lipman (1961:269) stated that an increase in performance of household chores by retired men allows "the creation of a new meaningful and functional role to replace the occupational one.…”

“…Studies of general normative expectations are few (Britton et al, 1961a(Britton et al, , 1951bBritton and Britton, 1972;Bultena and Wood, 1969;Havighurst, 1954Havighurst, , 1957Havighurst and Albrecht, 1953;Neugarten, 1968;Neugarten et al, 1965;Streib, 1958;Streib and Thompson, 1960;Troll and Schlossberg, 1970;Wood, 1971;Wood and O'Brien, n.d.), and investigations of the more narrow area of changing marital role expectations with age are also scarce (Ballweg, 1967;Hill, 1965;Kerckhoff, 1964Kerckhoff, , 1965Kerckhoff, , 1966Lipman, 1960Lipman, , 1961Lipman, , 1962Silverman and Hill, 1967). Thus little is known about the extent to which this role is differentiated on the basis of sex, and the ex tent to which it is discontinuous from the role of middle-aged persons.…”