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Expectations and impact of retirement preparation programs

Jiska Cohen-Mansfield

Irit Regev

The Herczeg Institute on Aging

Tel Aviv University

02 May 2011

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Abstract

Work retirement is one of the chief life transitions that symbolize entering into a new period

in life. As one retires from work, one parts from a significant activity that affects many of

his\her life domains. The scientific literature portrays the transition from a worker's life to

retiree's life as a significant one, often accompanied by a decline in life-satisfaction, self-

evaluation, and quality of life (Atchley, 1989; 1998). Thus, having adequate coping skills in

the transition to retirement could affect the outcome of this transition. Despite the centrality

of this life-event, preparation towards it is often insufficient. Retirement preparation and

retirement counseling programs aim to enhance participants’ adaptation to retirement and

provide assistance in managing this new phase in life. Pre-retirement courses use a variety of

methods: cognitive, affective, and behavioral. Their main purpose is to form realistic

perception of retired life and reduce anxiety about retirement.

The current study focused on employees who approached retirement from work. We

conducted an investigation of the effect of retirement preparation programs on the retirees'

life satisfaction levels and coping skills. We examined expectations from retirement as well

as the immediate and relatively long-term effect of retirement preparation programs. The

main objective was to examine the contribution of retirement preparation programs to the

retiree. Several indicators of life satisfaction were examined: participant's coping skills, self-

evaluation, and sense of control over one's life. In order to portray participant's process of

adaptation to retirement, the time frame of the current study was from the date of the pre-

retirement course to 6 months post-course completion.

Data collection is still ongoing. We have collected pre-course questionnaires from 106 pre-

retirement workers who participated in 5 different courses, 79 post-course questionnaires, and

20 6-month follow-up questionnaires. Half of the sample were female; the mean age was 65

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(median and mode were 66, range: 56-69); as for marital status, the majority (76%) were

married with children, Close to half the sample (49.5%) had post high school education. In

this report we present preliminary data on the retirement expectations and pre-retirement

wellbeing in this sample as well as changes following participation in the retirement

preparation courses.

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Introduction

Theoretical background

Retirement is a major and fundamental life change that affects numerous areas. The transition

from a life of work to one of retirement has both practical and emotional implications (e.g.

coping with lower income, having numerous leisure hours, having to leave a familiar, well-

known world), and the responses to it are individual and unique. The professional literature

describes a wide range of responses to this fundamental change as well as differences in

intensity and style of response among individuals involved in the retirement process. The

research literature describes the following elements as exerting the most influence on each

individual’s response: the individual’s attitude towards retirement; the meaning of the role of

work for him; the level of control over the time of retirement; family status (married or not);

role as main caregiver for parents and/or spouse; the intergenerational relationship;

agreement between the couple regarding the time of retirement; social support system

(friends, relatives, neighbors); personality type and how the individual coped with previous

life transitions; socio-economic state and state of health (Mullins, Mushel, Cook & Smith,

1994; Atchley, 1998).

To our surprise, we discovered in literature search conducted in January 2010 Innovation.

that hardly any studies have been carried out to examine the impact of retirement-preparation

programs on retirees. The only study to examine the effect of a psycho-educational retirement

program was conducted in the context of a Ph.D. dissertation in Australia, but its results have

not yet been published in a professional journal (Glenn Gold, 2007). That study presented

positive results of an intervention program with a population of retirees involving six

sessions, with the participants in the program showing a decrease in depression indices, as

compared to a group of non-participants in the program. In light of the centrality of

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retirement in the life of the older individual, preparation for retirement has the potential to

create a significant change in the retirement process and living experience following

retirement. This explains why it is so important to understand the impact that retirement-

preparation programs may have.

The importance of preparation for retirement. Retirement is very significant in the social,

familial and personal context. It involves a number of processes that underscore the need for

preparation towards it:

Retirement from work is often perceived to represent a transition to old age, a time

when people feel that economic, social and family security and stability may be

undermined.

The amount of free time available to the individual increases in retirement. This

change requires preparation and guidance to manage this free time (Schlossberg,

2004).

Retirement from work is a one-directional change that does not define future roles

and social tasks, and consequently causes feelings of uncertainty.

Many workers employ denial mechanisms, believing that retirement and old age will

not happen to them. The results of this denial can be seen in the absence of any

planning for the new life period, which limits the options and opportunities for

meaningful activities, all of which may damage feelings of self-worth (Monk, 1972).

spreparation program-etirementR

The goal of pre-retirement preparation and counseling is to ease the adjustment to the

transition and to help individuals plan their lives at this new life stage. The findings of a study

carried out by the Israel Central Bureau of Statistics shows that only 15 percent of Israel’s

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population at or after retirement age have participated in pre-retirement preparation programs

(CBS, 2003). Most people do nothing to prepare themselves for this period in their lives. This

lack or insufficient preparation is explained by King (1985) as resulting from several factors:

Retirement as a social phenomenon is relatively new; society is work oriented and not

oriented towards periods of leisure and retirement; also, youth is glorified, whereas retirement

is identified with the entry into a period of old age and the end of life. Successful preparation

could help the retiring worker prepare for this new chapter in his life, help develop self-

awareness and realistic goals that are appropriate to this stage of life. The pre-retirement

preparation program is a training course designated for workers who are a year to two years

away from retirement.

The goals of specific retirement preparation programs can include the following:

1. To provide knowledge and practical information on a wide range of aspects

relevant to the retiree’s life during retirement.

The topics covered are varied and relate to the individual’s needs; they are selected

based on the type of course, its scope and orientation. The most common topics are:

financial resources and budgeting during retirement; a healthy emotional, cognitive

and physical lifestyle: in particular, proper nutrition and physical activity; legal issues

such as wills and inheritance; National Insurance Institute rights, pension rights and

issues related to taxation; the use of the computer and Internet after retirement;

volunteer organizations; leisure activities including studies; living arrangements.

2. To help the retirees overcome their anxiety regarding retirement and develop

a positive attitude towards it.

On the assumption that the transition process from the role of a worker to that of a

retiree can provoke a wide range of individual doubts and interpersonal conflicts, the

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main goal is to help the retiree to no longer view his work as his main role in life and

to create various activities as a source of feelings of self-worth and satisfaction; to

accept necessary changes in one’s self-identity and develop a positive worldview; to

strengthen the inner locus of control and consolidate a sense of meaning in life.

3. To enrich the retiree’s personal and familial toolbox to develop coping skills

to deal with potential problems likely to come up during this period.

In this context, the programs expand knowledge, understanding and skills in a number

of areas: skills related to interpersonal communication, skills needed to manage the

family budget and in decision-making.

4. To reinforce family relations.

The retiree’s relationships with meaningful members of his family influence the

processes of adjustment to life after retirement. The goal of the preparation is to help

the retiree map out these people, their meaning for the person and major milestones in

the relationships.

5. To help consolidate programs for the management of life after retirement.

The consolidation of programs begins with planning. Planning must begin with the

perception of the self, an examination and investigation of one’s value system, needs

for quality of life and desires. The goal is to help the retiree set personal goals and

make decisions that will lead to the fulfillment of those personal goals (Sterns &

Kaplan, 2003; Sterns & Subich, 2005). At the second stage, the retiree builds a new

life plan that is appropriate to his personal desires and aspirations.

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Satisfaction from life after retirement

Satisfaction from life after retirement is explained by various theoretical approaches. Two of

these are role theory and continuity theory. The role theory maintains that human behavior

is guided by expectations of the individual and others around him. These expectations shape

and direct the roles that people carry out in their lives, such as father, employee, friend, son,

etc. Based on this approach, the loss of one’s role as a result of retirement can cause a person

to feel anxiety and depression and can lead to a decrease in one’s self-esteem. The more

meaningful the work role is for the individual, the more stressful the feelings of loss will be.

Among the variety of roles, the role of worker is one of the most important because it defines

the individual’s daily activities, his status, and his peer group. In accordance with role theory,

retirement can undermine the older worker’s feeling of integration with society (Rosow,

1974). These negative feelings can adversely affect the retiree’s health and even increase the

risk of death. People who are most strongly invested in their jobs are at the greatest risk of

suffering from loss of role after their retirement.

Continuity theory focuses on the feelings of identity and self-image and maintains that these

remain stable, as a result of which life patterns remain stable too. The feeling of continuity

that accompanies the individual helps in life transitions. People at retirement and old age tend

to maintain an inner continuity (which includes positions and attitudes to the world) and

consequently maintain external continuity (which includes ties with the social environment

and maintenance of lifestyle) too. According to continuity theory, the period of retirement

provides an opportunity to maintain one’s previous lifestyle and life patterns. The transition

from a life of work to retirement does not have to harm the individual’s feeling of identity,

his social ties or feeling of productivity and self-image. Most retirees maintain continuity in

the goals of their lives, modes of action and coping, as well as of the fabric of their previous

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social ties. Their retirement is consequently portrayed as a continued phase in their career,

one that they anticipate and are largely prepared for. Maintaining continuity is critical for the

retirees: Those who maintain their lifestyle or who view retirement as an opportunity to fulfill

previous goals (or who plan their retirement) will not feel any lessening in satisfaction with

their lives (Atchley, 1989).

When focusing on the assessment of life in an individual’s later years after retirement from

work, and when taking an interest in the individual’s ability to adjust to and cope with new

challenges, two distinct psychological mechanisms that help to maintain or achieve good

levels of satisfaction are involved. Adaptation is characterized in the literature as a natural,

automatic process which is at work when close to retirement; the emotional responses tend to

be intense while after a not-too-long period, the intensity of the negative reactions that

threaten the sense of well-being generally abates. The rate of adaptation to life events is

related to the type of event and its intensity (Loewenstein & Frederick, 1999). Identical

importance is attributed to coping, except that it – unlike adaptation – does not happen on its

own, but is rather characterized by an active process on the part of the individual facing

desirable or undesirable life challenges. From among the many coping mechanisms discussed

in the literature, a number of strategies were found to be of importance in the context of

subjective well-being, such as giving positive meaning to events, regulating emotions as well

as beliefs of a spiritual nature (Diener et al., 1999; Suh, Diener & Fujita, 1996).

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The Research

This study investigates the effects of retirement-preparation programs on the retirees’ life

satisfaction levels and wellbeing. We examined expectations of retirement as well as the

immediate effect of retirement-preparation programs. In the future we plan to examine a more

long term effect.

Research questions:

1) What are participants’ expectations of pre-retirement courses?

2) How does participation in a pre-retirement course affect the participant?

Methods

Participants. 106 pre-retirement workers who participated in 5 different courses responded

to the pre-course questionnaire. 79 participants completed the post-course questionnaires, and

20 participants completed the 6-month follow-up questionnaires. Half of the sample were

female; the mean age was 65 (median and mode were 66, range: 56-69); as for marital status,

the majority (76%) were married with children, Close to half the sample (49.5%) had post

high school education. Characteristics of participants who completed the pre-course and the

post-course questionnaires are presented in Table 1.

Pre-retirement courses. The most common format for the programs is a series of sessions

spread out over a fixed period of time. The programs that were chosen for this study involved

six to seven days of eight hours each. The organizations sponsoring the courses were:

Maccabi Healthcare Services, Israel Aerospace Industries, HP Israel, the Israel Medical

Association, and Tel-Aviv University.

A comparison group. The study was planned with a comparison group of persons retiring

without taking a pre-retirement group. At this point we have not been able to obtain such a

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group, though we are still making efforts to do so. In order to identify the comparison group

– a group of workers that did not participate in pre-retirement programs – we approached

both organizations that hold pre-retirement programs as well as to those that do not. The

identification of a comparison group turned out to be more difficult than expected. In those

organizations that hold these programs and whose employees participated in the study in the

context of the first group (the participants in the pre-retirement programs), it emerged that

most employees indeed participate in the program and only a small number do not. Of a

handful of employees, who were approached by representatives of the company’s human

resources department and who agreed to be interviewed, 106 were interviewed and a few

ultimately refused to participate in the study for reasons of lack of interest or anger at their

employer. In an attempt to find additional employees that did not participate in pre-retirement

courses, we turned to numerous additional organizations and companies such as Electra, the

University of Haifa, the Israel Railway, the Technion, Strauss, Egged, Meuheded Health

Services, the Tel-Aviv Sourasky Medical Center, Ormat, Orbotech, Elisra, Elbit, El-Op,

Tnuva, Nesher, the Ministry of Defense, Bank Discount, Beit Shemesh Engines, Ltd., Ashot

Ashkelon Industries, Ltd., the Israel Craft Association. In most places, we received a negative

response for various reasons such as: We do not currently have any employees facing

retirement; we have no information regarding who is and who is not participating in courses;

our employees are young and are not at retirement age; we have difficulty finding people

willing to be interviewed; or a lack of motivation on the part of the human resources manager

to invest time and effort in the subject. Ultimately, we received the consent of Elisra, Egged

and the Israel Craft Association to help us locate workers who are not participating in pre-

retirement courses and who would agree to be interviewed for the study.

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Assessments:

Independent Variables:

1. Socio-demographic variables include gender, age, education, marital status,

profession, income, and ethnicity.

2. Health and function variables.

Intervening Variables:

1. Planned retirement date and actual retirement date or, alternatively, the amount of

time the participant has before retiring or the time elapsed since retirement.

Dependent Variables:

1. Sense of Control was measured using the Self Mastery Scale, a questionnaire

developed by Pearlin and Schooler (1978), and translated to Hebrew by Hobfoll and

Walfish (1984) which concerns the extent to which one regards one's life-chances as

being under one's own control in contrast to being fatalistically ruled (Pearlin and

Schooler, 1978). It consists of a 7 statement index (for example "I have little control

over things that happen to me" or " What happens to me in the future mostly depends

on me") requiring Likert responses on a scale from 1 (strongly agree) to 5 (strongly

disagree). Cronbach's alpha coefficient of this measure was 0.88 based on Hobfoll and

Walfish's study (1984). A mean score for each participant was calculated, based on

his/her responses to the seven indexes, so that the scores ranged from 1-6, a higher

score indicating a greater sense of mastery over one's life.

2. Self Esteem was based on the Rosenberg Self Esteem Scale (1965) which was

translated into Hebrew by Hobfoll and Walfish (1984). The questionnaire includes 10

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items (such as "I feel that I am a person of worth, at least on an equal plane as

others"). The participant was asked to rate each statement on a Likert scale with

responses ranging from 4 (strongly agree) to 1 (strongly disagree). Cronbach's alpha

coefficient of this measure was 0.95 based on Hobfoll and Walfish's study (1984). A

mean score for each participant was calculated, based on his/her responses to the ten

indexes, such that the scores ranged from 1-4, a higher score indicating greater self

esteem.

3. Life satisfaction was measured using the Satisfaction with Life Scale developed by

Diener, Emmons, Larsen, & Griffin (1985). The scale consists of five questions

regarding one's perspective on his/her life requiring responses on a scale of 1

(strongly disagree) to 7 (strongly agree). An Israeli study by Shmotkin and Lomranz

(1998) found the alpha coefficient for this study to be 0.76.

4. Depressed affect was measured using the five-item Geriatric Depression Scale (Hoyl

et al., 1999) which includes the following five questions: "Are you basically satisfied

with your life?”, “Do you often get bored?”, “Do you often feel helpless?”, “Do you

prefer to stay home rather than going out and doing new things?”, and “Do you feel

pretty worthless the way you are?”. Positive answers for depression screening are

“no” to the first question and “yes” to the other questions.. Alpha coefficient for this

study was 0.80 (Hoyl et al., 1999).

5. The Measurement of Meaning- (Osgood, Suci & Tannenbaum, 1957) utilizes the

semantic differentia to examine the meaning of retirement for participant. The

questionnaire asks the participant to position retirement on 7 point evaluation scales

ranging between two bipolar adjectives (good-bad; happy-sad). The scale consists of

eight items.

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6. The Self-Anchoring Scale (SAS) assesses quality of life using a 10-point scale

ranging from 10 (best life) to zero (worst life). The tool was designed by Cantril and

is used widely in research (see Shmotkin, 1991).

Results

Background – Work experience. Participants have spent close to 30 years at work and

are currently working around 9 hours a day. Overall they are satisfied with their work (Table

2).

Background – wish to retire and reasons for retirement. Among the participants who

completed the pre-course questionnaire (n=106), about two thirds (68%) reported wanting to

retire, whereas close to a third, did not. (Table 2) The main reasons for retirement were:

retirement age (77%), and personal desire to retire (20%). Much smaller proportions reported

other reasons including forced retirement, wanting to rest, negative feelings about work,

organizational downsizing and medical reasons. Those who wanted to continue working

reported the following reasons for wishing to continue their employment, habit – difficulty

stopping, financial reasons, interest in work and liking their work, and using work as a way to

fill their leisure time (Table 3).

Expectations of retirement. Participants’ expectations of retirement are presented in

Table 4. The most common expectations were to enjoy themselves, such as travel, see

moves, or go to the theatre, devote time to spouse, children or grandchildren, spend time with

family, get involved with personal enrichment activities, such as reading or writing or study.

All of those were reported by close to 60% to 70% of participants. Lower rates were reported

for volunteering, relaxing, and improving quality of life, all checked by about 40% or

participants. A third of the participants expected to continue working. Only 6% had no

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expectations. Family members’ expectations usually received similar rates of endorsement,

with some notable exceptions. Generally enrichment activities, such as reading, writing or

studying were expected by family only at about half the rate as endorsed by participants.

Similarly, volunteering, noted as an expectation by 44% of participants was anticipated by

only 20% of family members. Relaxing also was more likely to be reported as a personal

expectation (43%) than as a family one (28%). In contrast to these categories, spending time

with family was more often endorsed as a family expectation (65%) than as a personal one

(60%), though the difference is small.

Following participation in the course there were some changes in expectations of

retirement (Table 4). Changes that involved 10% or more of the participants are listed below:

there was a decrease in work expectations (from 36% to 26%) following the course, while

there was an increase in those who expected to enjoy themselves, such as through travel,

movies or theater from 73% to 84%. Participants were more likely to expect to volunteer

(50% to 60%) yet were less likely to expect to get involved in the community of public

affairs (18% to 8%).

Expectations from the course. The most highly endorsed expectation from the course

was to learn the rights of the retiree (Table 5), which was shared by over a half of the

participants. Between 40% and 50% of the participants had the following expectations: hear

about other’s ways of coping and get ideas for new activities, get support in coping with

retirement process, assist in developing a positive approach towards retirement, and receive

help in handling the financial aspects of retirement. We hope to explore the relationships

between participants’ background and expectations and between expectations and outcomes.

Immediate changes following the course. In table 6 we present summary scores for the

outcome variables, including cronbach alpha for the various scales and pre and post course

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scores for all those who completed the questionnaire both before and after the course. Most

means are in the expected direction of greater wellbeing after the course as compared to

before the course. Three of these differences reached statistical significance: at post-course

measurement, participants reported (1) significantly higher levels of self-mastery after the

course (t62= 2.214, p<.05); (2) lower levels of depressive symptoms after the course (t59=

2.312, p<.05); and (3) more positive perceptions of their quality of life (t55= 2.986 p<.05),

compared to pre-course measurement.

Discussion

While this research is still ongoing, a few topics are highlighted by the results. First

there is a sizable proportion, about a third, of retiring persons who do not want to retire. This

stems mostly from Israel’s law of a compulsory retirement age. Those who wanted to keep

working had a variety of reasons for wishing to do so, including lifestyle, financial and

interest in work reasons. While some of those could potentially be handled with appropriate

counseling, such as the reason of habit, others may not. We plan to analyze the results of this

subgroup separately to see if there is a differential effect of the pre-retirement course on

those.

Second, even before participating in a course, these pre-retirees had a wide range of

aspirations for their retirement, with only 5% having no expectations at all. The most

commonly voted were hedonistic expectations of enjoying oneself in one way or another.

While a substantial proportion considered giving to society either through volunteering or

involvement in community work, it was much lower than the proportion endorsing activities

for one’s own enjoyment.

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About a third planned to continue working after retirement. We plan to check whether

those are the participants who wanted not to retire.

There seems to be a reasonable congruence between family and participants on the

expectations from retirement, with the exception of enrichment activities, such as reading and

writing and study as well as volunteering which received much higher rates of endorsement

by participants than by family member.

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Table 1. Participants’ background characteristics

Pre-course N=106

Post-course N=80

Both pre-and post-course

N=65

Difference between pre-course and those who responded at

both times Age –mean (s.d.) 65 (2.5) 65 (2.4) 65 (2.4) .515 (102) NS

Women (%) 50% 45% 46.2 χ2

1=.994 NS

Place of birth

Israel (%) 38.8% 40% 49.2

Europe including the former soviet union (%)

48 29 29

Asia and N. Africa (%) 13.2 15.1 12.2

North America 1.9 1.4 1.5

South America 2.8 4.8 4.6

Marital status .9 .4 2.5

Single 2.8 2.5 3.1 χ2

4= 3.655NS

Married 36.3 33.8

Married with children 76.4 38.8 41.5

Divorced 8.5 12.5 10.8

Widowed 11.3 7.5 7.7

Number of children 2.8 (1.2) 3 (1.4) 3 (1.4) t100-2.343*

Education

Elementary school 1% .6 1.6

Partial high-school 4% 4.7 4.2 χ2

4= 4.452NS

High-school 17% 12.5 12.5

Post high-school 29% 31.3 31.3

University studies 50% 50 50

Main source of income

Salary 80% 63.9 74.1 64 χ2

3= .885NS

Pension

11% 16.1 12.5 16.9

National Insurance

Financial Assistance from family

1% 1.3 1.6 1.5

Other- combination 8% 17.6 7.8 15.4

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Working status – yes 81% 68.8 78.5 66.2 χ2

1= .687NS

Place of residence

City 85% 79.7 χ2

4= 4.706NS

Religiosity

Secular 74% 76.4 76.2

Traditional 21% 17.5 17.5 χ2

2= 2.028NS

Religious 5% 6.3 6.3

Self report of health 5= excellent

3.36 (.95) 3.59 (.90) A/B 4.0 (.90) t102=2.882**

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Table 2. Work background

Pre-course

N=106

Post-course

N=79

Pre-course scores of

participants who only

responded at pre-course

Pre-course scores of participants

who responded both at pre-and

post-course

Difference between pre-course and

those who responded at both

times Work Satisfaction N=102

1.45 (.57)

N=76

1.49 (.62)

N=39

1.31(.47)

N=63

1.54(.62)

t95.87=2.15, p<0.05

No. of years at work N=106

29.46(10.68)

N=79

26.96(11.13)

N=41

31.17(9.70)

N=65

28.38(11.19)

t93.94=1.36, n.s.

Daily hours at work N=75

9.14(2.91)

N=76

8.53(2.26)

N=26

8.94(2.91)

N=49

9.25(2.94)

t 73=.43, n.s.

Want to retire – yes N=71

67.6%

N=58

75.3%

N=40

60.0%

N=65

72.3%

χ2

1= 1.71, n.s.

Reasons for retirement

N=101 N=77 N=38 N=63

Retirement age 77.2% 79.2% 81.6% 74.6% χ2

1= 0.66, n.s. Forced retirement 5.9% 5.2% 7.9% 4.8% χ

21= 0.42, n.s.

To rest 5.0% 7.8% 7.9% 3.2% χ2

1= 1.12, n.s. Medical reason 2.0% 2.6% 0.0% 3.2% χ

21= 1.23, n.s.

Organizational downsizing

3.0% 1.3% 2.6% 3.2% χ2

1= 0.02, n.s. Personal desire to retire

19.8% 13.0% 18.4% 20.6% χ2

1= 0.07, n.s.

Negative feelings about current work

5%

Family 0.0% 2.6% 0.0% 0.0% -

Other reasons 2.0% 6.5% 0.0% 3.2% χ2

1= 1.23, n.s.

a” I am satisfied with my life” scored on a scale of 1-4, where 1 is “absolutely agree and

4=absolutely disagree

23

Table 3. Reasons for wanting to continue to work

Reason N

Financial 12

Use of leisure time 7

Habit and difficulty stopping 15

Interest in work, like working 10

Other – finish my obligations and I am still fit 2

24

Table 4. Retirement expectations

Family expectations Personal expectations

Those with both pre-

course and post course

scores

Total

sample

Those with both

pre-course and post

course scores

(n=62)

Total

sample

Post course %

Pre-course

%

Pre-course

%

Post course %

Pre-course %

Pre-course

%

Expectation

58.6 65.5 63 83.9 72.6 69 Enjoy: travel, movies, theatre 65.5 75.9 60 72.6 74.2 64 Devote time to with spouse,

children or grandchildren 60.3 72.4 65 69.4 67.7 60 Spend time with family 51.7 36.2 30 64.5 67.7 59 Enrichment activities (reading,

writing, painting, sculpture, photography) 32.8 31.0 25 59.7 62.9 58 Study

32.8 25.9 20 59.7 50.0 44 Volunteering

29.3 34.5 28 50.0 50.0 43 Rest and relax 46.6 43.1 43 48.4 38.7 41 Improve quality of life 24.1 27.6 26 25.8 35.5 33 Work

3.4 3.4 2 8.1 17.7 11 Involvement in community/public work 1.7 1.7 1 6.5 6.5 7 Other

6.9 5.2 4 3.2 3.2 6 No expectations

25

Table 5. Expectations from course

% Expectation

42 Support in coping with retirement process

20 Help cope with anxieties about retirement

42 Assist in developing a positive approach towards

retirement 31 Assist in obtaining tools that will help cope with the

social aspects of retirement 6 Assist in obtaining tools that will help cope with the

social aspects of retirement – develop new friendships 9 Assist in obtaining tools that will help cope with the

social aspects of retirement – Improve family

relationships

41 Help me handle the financial aspects of retirement

34 Help me cope with retirement in terms of activities

21 Help me cope with retirement in terms of activities-

leisure activity options 13 Help me cope with retirement in terms of activities –

gainful employment options 18 Help me cope with retirement in terms of activities-

volunteering options 25 Help me cope with retirement in terms of activities –

planning of leisure time 1 Help me cope with retirement in terms of activities –

other, trips 54 Learn about my rights as a retiree

49 Hear about other’s ways of coping and get ideas for

new activities

36 Increase awareness of difficulties around retirement

25 Find inner strengths

26

Table 6. Outcome variables

those with both pre-course and post

course scores

Total

sample

Paired t-test Post course

Pre-course

Pre-course

Scale Alpha #of items

Scale

t63=1.187,n.s. 3.90(.69) 3.81(.71) 3.79(.66) 1 – 6 .60 9 Feeling-retirement

t62= 2.214,

p<.05

4.56(.62) 4.37(.72) 4.39(.67) 1- 6 .73 6a

Self mastery scale

t63=.021, n.s. 3.37(.38) 3.37(.37) 3.38(.38) 1- 4 .77 11 Self esteem Scale

t63=1.08, n.s. 5.48(.93) 5.41(.95) 5.50(.86) 1 -7 .83 5 Life satisfaction

t63=1.726,

n.s.

3.95(.46) 3.86(.48) 3.78(.45) 1- 5 .53 11 Cognitive appraisal

t59= 2.312,

p<.05

.038(.11) .085(.17) .083(.18) 0=no; 1=yes .57 4 Geriatric Depression

Scaleb

t50=.518, n.s. 2.10(.83) 2.16(1.03) 2.22(1.18) 1-6 1 Negative feelings about retirement

t54=1.281,

n.s.

5.48(1.34) 5.31(1.32) 5.21(1.34) 1-7 .73 7 a The measurement of meaning

0-10 3 Self anchoring scale

t60=.055, n.s. 7.43(1.413) 7.44(1.44) 7.47(1.535) Past (5 years ago)

t61=.558, n.s. 7.77(1.2) 7.69(1.236) 7.86(1.201) Present

t55= 2.986

p<.05

7.83(1.18) 7.38(1.409) 7.38(1.705) Future (in 5 years)

aItem 5 was deleted because of low internal consistency with scale bItem 4 was deleted because of low internal consistency with scale