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Anticipated and experienced changes in activities after husbands retire
Tanya R Fitzpatrick1, Barbara H Vinick, Suzanne Bushfield
1Arizona State University West, Department of Social Work, Phoenix, AZ, 85069, USA. Tanya.Fitzpatrick@asu.edu
Journal of Gerontological Social Work
|December 22, 2005
Summary
Couples
Area of Science:
- Gerontology
- Sociology
- Family Studies
Background:
- Anticipatory socialization and accurate role prediction are key to adaptation.
- Retirement significantly alters roles and activities within marriage.
Purpose of the Study:
- To examine husbands' and wives' predictions of activity changes after retirement.
- To compare anticipated changes with actual experiences one year post-retirement.
- To assess the relationship between anticipation accuracy and retirement satisfaction.
Main Methods:
- Longitudinal study of 61 couples.
- Assessed anticipated changes in six activities pre-retirement.
- Compared anticipations with reported experiences one year post-husband's retirement.
Main Results:
- Activity levels showed more continuity than anticipated, except for household tasks.
- Modest congruence between anticipated and experienced activity changes.
- Accuracy of anticipation did not significantly correlate with retirement satisfaction.
Conclusions:
- Couples' predictions of post-retirement activity changes were not highly accurate.
- Further research is needed to explore retirement satisfaction, particularly for wives.