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Retirement Adjustment
A Review of Theoretical and Empirical Advancements
In this article, we review both theoretical and empirical nition of the fact that the impact of retirement may vary not
advancements in retirement adjustment research. After re- only across individuals but also within individuals over
viewing and integrating current theories about retirement time. Thus, empirical studies have started to probe and
adjustment, we propose a resource-based dynamic per- examine this heterogeneity in retirement adjustment (e.g.,
spective to apply to the understanding of retirement adjust- Pinquart & Schindler, 2007; van Solinge & Henkens, 2005,
ment. We then review empirical findings that are associ- 2008; Wang, 2007). Nevertheless, little effort has been
ated with the key research questions in this literature: (a) invested in integrating the different theoretical perspectives
What is the general impact of retirement on the individual? used by researchers to study this heterogeneity in retire-
and (b) What are the factors that influence retirement ment adjustment. Therefore, the first purpose of this article
adjustment quality? We also highlight important future is to review and integrate current theories about retirement
research directions that may be fruitful for psychologists to adjustment and establish a resource-based dynamic per-
pursue in this area. spective as a coherent theoretical framework to guide fur-
Keywords: retirement adjustment, older workers, resource ther research on retirement adjustment. In particular, we
perspective argue that retirement adjustment is a longitudinal process
during which retirees’ levels of adjustment (i.e., psycho-
R etirement from work is one of the major life course logical comfort regarding the retirement life) may fluctuate
transitions in late adult life. Associated with this as a function of individual resources and changes in these
transition, the question of how well individuals resources. Further, as in most other studies on this topic, we
adjust to retirement has been a focus of interest to research- assume that adjustment is reached when individuals are not
ers as well as to the popular media (Wang & Shultz, 2010). preoccupied with the retirement transition but are comfort-
Although retirement has received extensive study, the im- able with the changed circumstances of life in retirement
pact of retirement on the individual and the factors impor- (i.e., are able to integrate retirement into their lives; Good-
tant for a successful adjustment in retirement still remain man, Schlossberg, & Anderson, 2006; Schlossberg, 1981).
less clear than other aspects of retirement phenomena (e.g., The second purpose of this article is to review empir-
retirement decision making and retirement planning; ical findings in retirement adjustment research. To organize
Wang, 2007). It is important to study retirement adjustment these empirical findings, we make a distinction between
because it directly provides information about how to im- retirement adjustment as a process of getting used to the
prove the quality of postretirement life. In addition, study- changed circumstances of life and the outcomes of this
ing retirement adjustment provides an opportunity for re- process in terms of retirement adjustment quality. The
searchers to understand how people simultaneously adjust retirement adjustment process may be more or less chal-
to internal (i.e., physical and psychological aging) and lenging to retiring individuals, and this variability may
external (i.e., lifestyle and societal norms) challenges in translate into differences in retirement adjustment quality
their later life. Findings from this research have the poten- over time and across individuals. Consequently, the key
tial to yield information about other complex adjustment questions addressed in this review of empirical findings
processes people experience when facing significant inter- include the following: (a) What is the general impact of
nal and external changes.
Until the 1960s, studies on retirement adjustment typ-
ically viewed retirement as a “crisis” event that created a Mo Wang, Department of Psychology, University of Maryland, College
challenge to personal well-being (van Solinge & Henkens, Park; Kène Henkens, Netherlands Interdisciplinary Demographic Insti-
2008). Although researchers still view retirement as a chal- tute, The Hague, The Netherlands, and Tilburg University, Tilburg, The
lenging, life-changing event, it has been acknowledged in Netherlands; Hanna van Solinge, Netherlands Interdisciplinary Demo-
graphic Institute, The Hague, The Netherlands.
recent studies that retirement may also have beneficial Correspondence concerning this article should be addressed to Mo
effects (e.g., Mein, Martikainen, Hemingway, Stansfeld, & Wang, Department of Psychology, University of Maryland, College Park,
Marmot, 2003; Wang, 2007). There is also growing recog- MD 20742. E-mail: mwang@psyc.umd.edu
ment. As time passes, retirees enter a reorientation stage, The Resource Perspective
during which they reevaluate their life status, accept limi-
tations, and focus on further adjustment to retirement. Although the life course perspective provides a general
Eventually, retirees enter the stability stage, settling into a framework for analyzing retirement adjustment and points
predictable daily life pattern until death or disability ter- to the utility of studying a broad range of variables, it offers
minates their retirement. So far, stage theory has received few concrete hypotheses about how these variables impact
little direct support from empirical studies. The strength of retirement adjustment (Wang, 2007). Consequently, re-
this theory (i.e., making specific predictions regarding the searchers often rely on a resource perspective to predict
dynamic nature of retirement adjustment) may also be its how variables may be associated with retirement adjust-
weakness because of the stringent pattern it predicts. Fur- ment. According to Hobfoll (2002), resources can be
ther, the specific time course for each stage is also unclear. broadly defined as the total capability an individual has to
fulfill his or her centrally valued needs. Reviewing differ-
The Life Course Perspective ent types of resources studied in previous retirement re-
The life course principle of “human agency within struc- search, Wang (2007) suggested that this total capability
ture” implies that individuals have plans, make choices, may include the individual’s physical resources (e.g., mus-
and undertake actions within the opportunities and con- cle strength; McArdle, Vasilaki, & Jackson, 2002), cogni-
straints of their social worlds, which are shaped by personal tive resources (e.g., processing speed and working mem-
history and social circumstances (Settersten, 2003). The ory; Park, 2000), motivational resources (e.g., self-efficacy;
life course perspective thus emphasizes that life transitions Bandura, 1997), financial resources (e.g., salary and pen-
are contextually embedded, which implies that the experi- sion; Hobfoll, 2002), social resources (e.g., social network
ences of retirement adjustment are contingent on the spe- and social support; S. Kim & Feldman, 2000), and emo-
cific circumstances under which the adjustment occurs. For tional resources (e.g., mood and affectivity; Wang, Liao,
example, a growing body of literature has revealed that Zhan, & Shi, in press). The central premise of this resource
perceived control over the departure from the workforce is perspective for studying retirement adjustment is that the
crucial to retirement adjustment (e.g., Henkens, van ease of adjustment is the direct result of the individual’s
Solinge, & Gallo, 2008; van Solinge & Henkens, 2005). access to resources. Specifically, when people have more
These circumstances may also include individual attributes resources to fulfill the needs they value in retirement, they
(e.g., demographic characteristics, finance and health sta- will experience less difficulty in adjusting to retirement. On
tus, and transition related abilities and skills; J. E. Kim & the other hand, decreases in retirees’ resources will have
Moen, 2002), individual history factors (e.g., how people adverse effects on their retirement adjustment. Therefore,
dealt with previous transitions, their work and leisure hab- according to this perspective, to understand retirement ad-
its, and their previous workforce participation patterns; justment, researchers should focus on examining variables
Orel, Ford, & Brock, 2004), and current and past job- that have a direct impact on retirees’ different types of
related experience (e.g., former job attitudes, former job resources.
Figure 1
Illustration of the Resource-Based Dynamic Perspective for Understanding the Retirement Adjustment Process
Potential Antecedents*
Physical Resources
Macro Level Cognitive Resources
Societal Norms Motivational Resources
Government Policies Financial Resources
Social Resources
Organizational Level
Emotional Resources
Organizational Climate
Human Resource Practices
Level of Adjustment
Job Level
Resource Resource Resource
Job Conditions
Decrease Increase Unchanged
Job Attachment
Household Level
Marital Quality
Caregiving Demands
Individual Level
Health Behaviors
Psychological Resilience
Time
t1 t2 t3 t4 t5
social resources, may predict how fast the turning points & Tekawa, 1995). These studies have in common that they
will be reached for retirees who experience negative infer adjustment indirectly via outcome measures. Recent
change first but later experience positive change in their literature has suggested more direct measures of adjust-
well-being. This is because these individual differences and ment, such as retirees’ own evaluation of the difficulties
environmental factors all facilitate retirees’ obtaining more they had in adjusting to retirement and the amount of time
resources, which leads them to be more likely to switch adjustment took (e.g., van Solinge & Henkens, 2005,
from the downward trend to the upward trend. Therefore, in 2008).
future studies, applying this resource-based dynamic per- The literature has demonstrated a noticeable hetero-
spective may further improve researchers’ understanding geneity of findings in terms of the impact of retirement.
about the form and the nature of the retirement process. Some research has found that retirees, in comparison with
workers, tend to report greater depression and loneliness,
Empirical Findings lower life satisfaction and happiness, a less positive view
The empirical studies in the field of retirement adjustment about retirement, and lower activity levels (e.g., J. E. Kim
have mainly focused on seeking answers for the following & Moen, 2002; Richardson & Kilty, 1991). In contrast,
two research questions: (a) What is the general impact of other research has found that most individuals tend to look
retirement on the individual? and (b) What are the factors forward to retirement (e.g., Dorfman, 1992) as well as to
that influence retirement adjustment quality? Therefore, we report being satisfied with retirement (e.g., Calasanti,
organize our review by examining empirical findings that 1996). Finally, retirement has been shown to be a benign
answer each of these two questions separately. event with no apparent impact on an individual’s well-
being (e.g., Gall et al., 1997). Minimal differences in mea-
The Impact of Retirement sures of mental health, coping, and health behaviors were
A large body of literature has considered the extent to reported between workers and retirees within a similar age
which retirees are psychologically comfortable with the range (e.g., Wu, Tang, & Yan, 2005).
changed circumstances of life in retirement. Indicators of To reconcile these inconsistent findings, Wang (2007)
this psychological comfort have included happiness (Beck, hypothesized that multiple forms of retirement transition
1982), emotional well-being (Richardson & Kilty, 1991), and adjustment coexist in the retiree population. Using
retirement satisfaction (Gall et al., 1997; Quick & Moen, longitudinal data from two nationally representative sam-
1998), life satisfaction (Calasanti, 1996), as well as mental ples obtained by the U.S. Health and Retirement Study and
health and depression (e.g., Midanik, Soghikian, Ransom, the growth mixture modeling technique (Wang & Bodner,
2007), he was able to consistently demonstrate that over an lives. For example, individuals who smoothly complete the
eight-year period in the retirement adjustment process, process of social and psychological detachment from work
about 70% of retirees experienced minimum psychological may feel healthier. This may be reinforced whenever their
well-being changes; about 25% of retirees experienced postretirement lifestyle includes opportunities for positive
negative changes in psychological well-being during the health behavior, such as exercise-related leisure activities.
initial transition stage but then showed improvements af- Adjustment quality may also indirectly affect health. Re-
terward; and about 5% of retirees experienced positive tirees’ lack of adjustment to their retirement life often
changes in psychological well-being. These findings sug- manifests as a risk factor for them to engage in maladaptive
gest that retirees do not follow a uniform pattern of retire- coping behaviors. For example, empirical studies found
ment adjustment. that lower levels of adjustment to retirement were associ-
Wang’s (2007) findings were further corroborated by ated with increased alcohol use (Perreira & Sloan, 2001)
Pinquart and Schindler (2007). They used a nationally and increased smoking (Henkens et al., 2008).
representative sample of German retirees from the German
Socioeconomic Panel Study and found that during retire- Factors That Influence Retirement Adjustment
ment transition and adjustment, about 75% of German Quality
retirees experienced trivial changes in life satisfaction;
about 9% of German retirees experienced a significant Much research has been conducted in recent decades to
decrease in their life satisfaction during the initial transition identify factors that influence retirement adjustment qual-
stage but continued on a stable or increasing life satisfac- ity. However, the theoretical basis of most of these studies
tion trajectory thereafter; and about 15% of German retir- remains rather implicit, with few hypotheses explicitly
ees experienced significant increases in their life satis- formulated (Wang & Shultz, 2010). Further, these studies
faction. usually focus on a relatively narrow set of explanatory
Taken as a whole, both studies suggest that multiple factors, despite the fact that a wide variety of predictors of
longitudinal change patterns in retirees’ psychological retirement adjustment quality have been considered in the
well-being exist during the retirement adjustment process literature. These predictors can be summarized in five
and that these patterns correspond to different subpopula- broader categories: individual attributes, preretirement
tions of retirees. As such, these findings support the mul- job-related variables, family-related variables, retirement-
tiple-pathway dynamic nature of retirement adjustment, transition-related variables, and postretirement activities
illustrating that the same retirement decision may lead to (Wang & Shultz, 2010). Table 1 presents a summary of T1
different adjustment processes in retirement for different these predictors’ effects on retirement adjustment quality,
retirees (Wang & Shultz, 2010). These findings also di- as well as citations of sample empirical studies in which
rectly support the dynamic perspective we endorsed earlier, these effects were identified.
because they demonstrate systematic changes in retirees’ In reviewing these empirical findings regarding the
well-being over time. predictors of retirement adjustment quality, it is important
A separate area of research focuses on the impact of to note that most of them are directly associated with
retirement on health, as well as on more distal outcomes,
different types of resources that retirees have during the
such as longevity and mortality. Similar to what we con-
retirement adjustment. For example, retirees’ physical and
cluded with regard to studies on retirement and psycholog-
mental health, preretirement work stress and psychological
ical well-being, the empirical findings on this issue are also
and physical job demands, and postretirement leisure ac-
mixed. For example, Westerlund et al. (2009) investigated
more than 14,000 members of a French occupational cohort tivities are associated with their physical, emotional, and
seven years before and after retirement and found that cognitive resources. Retirees’ financial statuses, unemploy-
retirement was associated with a decrease in suboptimum ment before retirement, number of dependent children,
health. However, a longitudinal study of British civil ser- retirement planning, and bridge employment activities are
vants by Mein et al. (2003) found that retirement had no associated with their financial resources. Retirees’ marital
effect on physical health but was associated with an im- status, spouses’ working status, marital quality, and post-
provement in mental health. Finally, using data from seven retirement volunteer work and bridge employment are as-
longitudinal waves of the Health and Retirement Study, sociated with their social resources. Retirees’ work role
Dave, Rashad, and Spasojevic (2008) found that complete identity, preretirement job dissatisfaction, and retirement
retirement was associated with increases in illness condi- motivations are associated with their motivational re-
tions and difficulties in mobility and daily activities as well sources. Finally, involuntary retirement, losing one’s part-
as with a decline in mental health over an average postre- ner during the retirement transition, and anxiety associated
tirement period of six years. with the retirement transition are linked with retirees’ emo-
Adding uncertainty to these inconsistent findings is tional resources. Therefore, the empirical findings in gen-
the fact that none of these studies explicitly examined the eral are consistent with the resource-based dynamic per-
extent to which retirees were psychologically comfortable spective we proposed earlier. All in all, these findings
with their retirement life. Therefore, we simply still do not suggest that resource change in important life domains is
know whether retirees who had higher levels of adjustment associated with the variation in retirement adjustment
to retirement enjoyed better health in their postretirement quality.
Table 1
Summary of Variables That Influence Retirement Adjustment Quality
Predictor categories Variables Effect Sample empirical studies
Individual attributes Physical health ⫹ Dorfman, 1992; S. Kim & Feldman, 2000; van
Solinge & Henkens, 2008
Mental health ⫹ J. E.Kim & Moen, 2002; Wang, 2007
Financial status ⫹ Gall et al., 1997; Pinquart & Schindler, 2007;
Quick & Moen; 1998
Physical health decline ⫺ J. E. Kim & Moen, 2002; van Solinge &
Henkens, 2008; Wang, 2007
Preretirement job-related Work stress ⫹ Wang, 2007
variables Job demands ⫹ Quick & Moen, 1998; Wang, 2007
Job challenges ⫹ van Solinge & Henkens, 2008
Job dissatisfaction ⫹ Wang, 2007
Unemployment before retirement ⫹ Pinquart & Schindler, 2007
Work role identity ⫺ Quick & Moen, 1998; Reitzes & Mutran, 2004
Family-related variables Marital status (married vs. single/ ⫹ Pinquart & Schindler, 2007
widowed)
Spouse working status (working vs. ⫺ Wang, 2007
not)
Marital quality ⫹ Szinovacz & Davey, 2004; Wang, 2007
Number of dependent children ⫺ S. Kim & Feldman, 2000
Losing a partner during the transition ⫺ van Solinge & Henkens, 2008
Retirement transition- Voluntariness of the retirement ⫹ Reitzes & Mutran, 2004; van Solinge &
related variables Henkens, 2005, 2008
Retirement planning ⫹ Reitzes & Mutran, 2004; Wang, 2007
Retiring earlier than expected ⫺ Quick & Moen, 1998; Wang, 2007
Retiring for health care reasons ⫺ Quick & Moen, 1998
Retiring to do other things ⫹ Quick & Moen, 1998
Retiring to receive financial incentives ⫹ Quick & Moen, 1998
Postretirement activities Bridge employment ⫹ S. Kim & Feldman, 2000; Wang, 2007; Zhan,
Wang, Liu, & Shultz, 2009
Volunteer work ⫹ Dorfman & Douglas, 2005; S. Kim & Feldman,
2000
Leisure activities ⫹ Dorfman & Douglas, 2005; S. Kim & Feldman,
2000
Anxiety associated with social ⫺ van Solinge & Henkens, 2005, 2008
activities
Note. Plus sign (⫹) denotes positive effect on retirement adjustment quality, and minus sign (⫺) denotes negative effect on retirement adjustment quality.
Future Directions in Retirement exception is the study by Reitzes and Mutran (2004) that
Adjustment Research showed a positive relationship between retirees’ self es-
teem and their retirement satisfaction. Another exception is
Now that we have reviewed both theoretical and empirical a study by Gall et al. (1997) that showed a positive rela-
advancements in the retirement adjustment literature, we tionship between retirees’ internal locus of control and their
propose several new research directions, based on the re- retirement adjustment quality. Given that personality vari-
source-based dynamic perspective, to help guide further ables and dispositional traits are important for people in
theoretical and empirical examinations on retirement ad- conducting emotional appraisals, setting up motivational
justment. First, although personality variables and disposi- priorities, and choosing coping strategies (Löckenhoff, Ter-
tional traits have been shown to be important individual racciano, & Costa, 2009), more research should focus on
resources that influence adjustment quality in other types of explicating how these variables may influence retirement
life transition and adjustment processes (e.g., adjustment to adjustment quality.
unfamiliar work and cultural environments; Wang & Second, an evaluation of the literature on the impact
Takeuchi, 2007), very few empirical studies have examined of retirement reveals that most studies adopting a resource-
them as predictors of retirement adjustment quality. One based perspective have concentrated only on a narrow set
of resources, in particular on retirees’ health and wealth associated with labor markets in which jobs are difficult to
(Wang & Shultz, 2010). As a result, social resources and find, thus saving retirees’ emotional and cognitive resources.
the spouse’s resources have received less attention. A Sixth, in terms of research designs, the vast major-
broader view that recognizes the impact of the social net- ity of previous studies in the field of employee retire-
work may advance the existing literature on the prediction ment research have relied on cross-sectional designs.
of retirement adjustment quality. In achieving this goal, the Although cross-sectional designs may be useful in es-
recent conceptulization of the role that “embeddedness” tablishing correlations between variables, it is difficult to
plays in an individual’s career adjustment may be particu- capture the dynamic nature of the retirement adjustment
larly relevant. Embeddedness refers to a number of factors process with them. Further, it is difficult to make sound
contributing to how enmeshed the individual is in his or her causal inferences on the basis of correlational findings.
job, organization, and community (Feldman, 2007). To the Indeed, to test the resource-based dynamic perspective
extent that retirees can draw resources from the social we are proposing here, one will need to directly examine
environment in which they are embedded their retirement how changes in resources over the course of retirement
adjustment may be facilitated. adjustment may lead to corresponding changes in retir-
Third, although Quick and Moen (1998) have already ees’ well-being. Modeling retirement adjustment as
demonstrated that it might be fruitful to systematically well-being change trajectories, as Wang (2007) and Pin-
examine the impact of different retirement motivations on quart and Schindler (2007) did, may help researchers
retirees’ adjustment quality, few studies have done so. As directly test this theoretical framework. Therefore, we
a result, despite the fact that motivation research has made recommend that future research use more longitudinal
significant theoretical progress in conceptualizing the ad- designs to provide more information for understanding
justment and coping process as a resource-based self-reg- the causal processes.
ulatory process (Wang et al., in press), this progress has not Another methodological issue in previous retirement
been applied to advance our understanding about the re- adjustment studies is that most studies rely on only a single
tirement adjustment process. Related motivational theories, or limited number of indicators of retirement adjustment
such as affective events theory (Weiss & Cropanzano, quality. However, different adjustment indicators may be
1996) and social cognitive theory (Bandura, 1997), may be sensitive to changes in different types of resources. For
able to tie the examinations of retirement motivations and example, retirees’ psychological well-being may be more
postretirement activities together and inform the processes sensitive to changes in emotional and cognitive resources,
that underlie retirement adjustment. whereas their physical well-being may be more sensitive to
Fourth, although many self-help strategies have been changes in physical resources. Therefore, to increase un-
proposed and described in popular media that aim to im- derstanding of the resource-based dynamic process in re-
prove adjustment to retirement, little research has been tirement adjustment, future studies should consider a more
conducted to specifically evaluate the effectiveness of these comprehensive view of the indicators of retirement adjust-
different self-help strategies. Given that many of these ment.
strategies have roots in established clinical and counseling
psychology practices, we are confident that they would be Conclusion
effective in terms of addressing the stress and anxiety
associated with the major life change embedded in the In summary, in this article we have reviewed both the-
retirement transition. Nevertheless, whether these self-help oretical and empirical research on the retirement adjust-
strategies may improve the adjustment to retirement in a ment process. Integrating theories that have been applied
more general sense is still unclear. We urge future re- to the study of retirement adjustment, we propose to
searchers to address this issue in a more systematic way. conceptualize retirement adjustment as a resource-based
Fifth, few studies have examined the effect of variables dynamic process in which retirees’ levels of adjustment
related to the socioeconomic context on retirement adjust- may fluctuate as a function of resource change. We also
ment. These variables may include labor market demands, summarized the up-to-date knowledge about the general
macroeconomic trends, government policies related to retire- pattern of retirement adjustment, as well as the predic-
ment (e.g., the Social Security and Medicare programs), and tors and consequences of retirement adjustment quality.
the social norms for retirement. To the extent that these Understanding these empirical findings is particularly
variables may directly or indirectly influence retirees’ re- important for helping to improve individuals’ adaptation
sources, they could have an important impact on retirees’ to retirement and their life quality in retirement. Finally,
adjustment quality. For example, the only study (Pinquart & we discussed several future directions for retirement
Schindler, 2007) that linked the regional labor force market to adjustment research based on the resource-based dy-
retirees’ adjustment showed that retirees who retired in a namic perspective. It should be noted that the theoretical
region where the unemployment rate was higher were more and empirical advancements reviewed in this article are
likely to experience increased life satisfaction than their coun- bounded by their specific socioeconomic and policy
terparts who retired in a region where the unemployment rate contexts. Changes have often occurred in these contexts
was lower. This finding might have resulted because retire- (e.g., Social Security reform, health care reform, and
ment constitutes an escape from the job insecurity and stress early retirement incentive practices), which can alter the
research questions investigators ask (Wang & Shultz, Midanik, L. T., Soghikian, K., Ransom, L. J., & Tekawa, I. S. (1995). The
2010). Researchers should be aware of the shift in these effect of retirement on mental health and health behaviors: The Kaiser
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