Locus of control and retirement preparation

Locus of desired control and participation in a retirement preparation program were investigated in relation to retirement attitudes and adjustment. Fifty-nine older workers and retirees, approximately half of whom had participated in a retirement preparation program, completed measures assessing locus of control, attitudes toward work and retirement, life satisfaction and self-esteem. Retirement preparation was found to maintain both the desirability and expectancy of internal control and positive retirement attitudes among the worker participants relative to controls. Retirees did not differ on measures of adjustment; those with retirement preparation, however, evidenced higher externality than those without. Although the results indicated that internal expectancies were associated with positive psychological functioning, the role of retirement preparation in maintaining such expectancies into retirement remained equivocal.