Sex Differences in Retirement

Although prior research points to the role of gender in influencing work careers and private routines, surprisingly few studies have explored the influence of gender on the sources of psychological well-being in retirement. Drawing on resource theories and theories on the gendered division of labor, a study published in a recent issue of the Journal of Occupational Health Psychology examines how preretirement resources relate to retirees' psychological well-being by using data from the Wisconsin Longitudinal Study.  In the study, the researchers hypothesized that possessing key resources prior to retirement as well as losing or gainingesources in the transition to retirement influence retirees' well-being and that these effects are partially conditioned by gender. Results indicated that preretirement physical health, tenacity in goal pursuit, and flexibility in goal adjustment are beneficial for men's and women's well-being alike. By contrast, financial assets and job dissatisfaction are more strongly related to men's psychological well-being in retirement and preretirement social contacts to that of women. Thus, the study underscores the importance of considering gendered resources in retirement research.

For the abstract.