Retirement Is An Important Life Transition - 1741 Words

Retirement is recognised as being an important life transition (Szinovacz, 1980), associated with a number of adjustments including social roles, income and daily routine adaption’s (Pinquart Schindler, 2007). Although there is no single definition of what retirement is within existing literature (Denton Spencer, 2009), it can arguably be best understood as an subjective journey involving a psychosocial transition rather than a single event of exiting work or an objective life transition (Matour Prout, 2007, Kim Moen, 2002). Future retirees consider retirement to be a huge decision where they envisage what their daily life would be after exiting the work force, as well as the physical and emotional effort to make the transition†¦show more content†¦However, due to the limited qualitative research, quantitative research has been supplemented to provide an understanding of the retirement transition. Even though quantitative literature will be reviewed, a critical st ance is taken due to the different assumptions and philosophical underpinnings which are highlighted throughout. Firstly, retiree’s can experience some losses during the retirement transition. It can be suggested that work is more than just bringing home an income (Kleiber Linde, 2014). For example, many individuals significantly identify with a work role which may have implications when adjusting to retirement life. Osborne (2012) suggests during the retirement transition, individuals can experience partial identity disruption. Identity refers to â€Å"cognitive and effective meanings that an individual attributes to one’s self in a role† (Reitzes Mutran, 2006, p. 336). One explanation of this disruption is provided by role theory (George, 1993) which suggests individuals’ former roles within employment may form an integral part of their identity (Price, 2003). Therefore, it is suggested that psychological distress can occur due to the loss in retiree’s previous work role which may disrupt their identity (Kim Moen, 2002). However,