Understanding retirement: the promise of life-span developmental frameworks

Abstract

The impending retirement of large population cohorts creates a pressing need for practical interventions to optimize outcomes at the individual and societal level. This necessitates comprehensive theoretical models that acknowledge the multi-layered nature of the retirement process and shed light on the dynamic mechanisms that drive longitudinal patterns of adjustment. The present commentary highlights ways in which contemporary life-span developmental frameworks can inform retirement research, drawing on the specific examples of Bronfenbrenner's Ecological Model, Baltes and Baltes Selective Optimization with Compensation Framework, Schulz and Heckhausen's Motivational Theory of Life-Span Development, and Carstensen's Socioemotional Selectivity Theory. Ultimately, a life-span developmental perspective on retirement offers not only new interpretations of known phenomena but may also help to identify novel directions for future research as well as promising pathways for interventions.

Psychological Health in the Retirement Transition: Rationale and First Findings in the HEalth, Ageing and Retirement Transitions in Sweden (HEARTS) Study

“…However, there are still substantial gaps in the current literature on how individuals experience and cope with the retirement transition ( Shultz and Wang, 2011 ; Wang et al, 2011 ). As emphasized by Shultz and Wang (2011) and Löckenhoff (2012) , we need to know more about continuity and change in psychological health before, during, and following retirement. The aim of the present paper is threefold: (a) to outline the rationale of the HEalth, Ageing and Retirement Transitions in Sweden (HEARTS) study; (b) to describe the study sample, and (c) to present some initial results from the two first waves in terms of the association of retirement status and psychological health.…”

Task Performance Among Employees Above Age 65: The Role of Cognitive Functioning and Job Demand-Control

“…These studies showed that SOC behavior support older employees to cope successfully with job demands (Zacher & Frese, 2011), and that job control fosters the efficient application of SOC in senior employees (Weigl et al, 2013). Along with recent lifespan developmental frameworks, a SOC perspective is expected to benefit retirement research because it would, for example, help to better understand the reorganization of the work of older employees in retirement (Löckenhoff, 2012).…”

“…To summarize, from the broader perspective of COR theory (Hobfoll & Wells, 1998), there seems to be a meaningful interaction between intra-individual resources (such as cognitive functioning), job demands, and contextual job resources, and the efficient use of intra-individual resources in terms of adjustment processes for favorable work-related outcomes. This dynamic lifespan resource perspective might guide future research endeavors regarding age-adequate job design (Truxillo et al, 2012), retirement adjustment (Löckenhoff, 2012), and adjustment to bridge employment specifically (Rudolph et al, 2015).…”

Aging Workers and the Employee-Employer Relationship

“…Recently, Löckenhoff (2012) proposed that SOC could provide the bases for understanding adjustment to bridgework, particularly with respect to the shift between full-and part-time employment. Specifically, Löckenhoff (2012) argues that individuals who adopt optimization-like adaptive coping strategies may be less likely to fully disengage from paid work when compared to individuals who rely on compensatory coping strategies. Importantly, there is some research that has suggested that SOC coping strategies could be trained and developed .…”

“…Before the deadline, primary goal strategies are more effective at maintaining a sense of well-being, whereas secondary control strategies tend to be more effective after a goal deadline has passed (Wrosch, Miller, Scheier, & de Pontet et al, 2007). To this end, Löckenhoff (2012) has suggested that retirement can represent an impending and salient deadline for career related goals. Here, we suggest that engagement in bridge employment may help individuals achieve unmet goals from their prior career roles.…”