Sage Journals: Discover world-class research

Abstract

Retirement anxiety represents a major challenge for older workers who hold negative expectations and concerns regarding the consequences of their future retirement. Although prior studies suggest that retirement is an age-related transition that may serve as a reminder that life is nearing its end, little is known about how subjective nearness-to-death is related to retirement anxiety, and the role of work group identification as a boundary condition. The current study draws on terror management and social identity theories to hypothesize and investigate these relationships. A three-way interaction model was tested on a sample of 327 Israeli older workers. We found a positive association between subjective nearness-to-death and retirement anxiety. Further, we demonstrated that the positive relationship between subjective nearness-to-death and retirement anxiety was more prominent for older workers whose work group self-definition and self-investment were both high or were both low. The theoretical and practical implications of these findings are discussed.

Keywords

retirement anxiety older workers subjective nearness-to-death work group identification terror management theory social identity theory

Get full access to this article

View all access options for this article.

References

Atewologun

Kutzer

Doldor

Anderson

Sealy

(2017). Individual‐level foci of identification at work: A systematic review of the literature. International Journal of Management Reviews, 19(3), 273–295. https://doi.org/10.1111/ijmr.12148

Baltes

B. B.

Rudolph

C. W.

Bal

A. C.

(2012). A review of aging theories and modern work perspectives. In Hedge

J. W.

Borman

W. C.

(Eds.), The Oxford Handbook of Work and Aging (pp. 117–136). Oxford University Press. https://doi.org/10.1093/oxfordhb/9780195385052.013.0069

Bergman

Y. S.

Bodner

(2020). Age is not just a number: Age awareness, subjective nearness-to-death, self-esteem, and depressive symptoms among older adults. Aging & Mental Health, 24(6), 906–913. https://doi.org/10.1080/13607863.2019.1566815

Bergman

Y. S.

Bodner

Haber

(2018). The connection between subjective nearness-to-death and depressive symptoms: The mediating role of meaning in life. Psychiatry Research, 261, 269–273. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.psychres.2017.12.078

Bergman

Y. S.

Bodner

Shrira

(2018). Subjective nearness to death and end-of-life anxieties: The moderating role of ageism. Aging & Mental Health, 22(5), 678–685. https://doi.org/10.1080/13607863.2017.1286459

Bergman

Y. S.

Segel-Karpas

(2020). Subjective nearness-to-Death, filial obligations, and depressive symptoms: The case of Jews and Arabs in Israel. Aging & Mental Health, 24(4), 557–563. https://doi.org/10.1080/13607863.2018.1547682

Bodner

Bergman

Y. S.

Ben-David

Palgi

(2022). Vaccination anxiety when vaccinations are available: The role of existential concerns. Stress and Health, 38, 111–118. https://doi.org/10.1002/smi.3079

Bohlmann

Rudolph

C. W.

Zacher

(2017). Methodological recommendations to move research on work and aging forward. Work, Aging and Retirement, 4(3), 225–237. https://doi.org/10.1093/workar/wax023

Bordia

Read

Bordia

(2020). Retiring: Role identity processes in retirement transition. Journal of Organizational Behavior, 41(5), 445–460. https://doi.org/10.1002/job.2438

10.

Carstensen

L. L.

Isaacowitz

D. M.

Charles

S. T.

(1999). Taking time seriously: A theory of socioemotional selectivity. American Psychologist, 54(3), 165–181. https://doi.org/10.1037/0003-066X.54.3.165

11.

Chiesa

Sarchielli

(2008). Prepararse para la jubilación: El papel del apoyo social en la gestión de la ansiedad [Getting ready for retirement: The role of social support in anxiety management]. Revista de Psicologia del Trabajo y de las Organizaciones, 24(3), 365–388. https://doi.org/10.4321/S1576-59622008000300006

12.

Eberhardt

Brüggen

Post

Hoet

(2019). The retirement belief model: Understanding the search for pension information. SSRN. https://doi.org/10.2139/ssrn.3205085

13.

Eismann

Henkens

Kalmijn

(2017). Spousal preferences for joint retirement: Evidence from a multiactor survey among older dual-earner couples. Psychology and Aging, 32(8), 689–697. https://doi.org/10.1037/pag0000205

14.

Eismann

Henkens

Kalmijn

(2018). Why singles prefer to retire later: The role of retirement anxiety and spousal pull. Innovation in Aging, 2(1), 1011. https://doi.org/10.1093/geroni/igy031.3734

15.

Fasbender

Wöhrmann

A. M.

Wang

Klehe

U.-C.

(2019). Is the future still open? The mediating role of occupational future time perspective in the effects of career adaptability and aging experience on late career planning. Journal of Vocational Behavior, 111, 24–38. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jvb.2018.10.006

16.

Fletcher

W. L.

Hansson

R. O.

(1991). Assessing the social components of retirement anxiety. Psychology and Aging, 6(1), 76–85. https://doi.org/10.1037/0882-7974.6.1.76

17.

Froidevaux

Hirschi

Wang

(2018). Identity incongruence and negotiation in the transition from work to retirement: A theoretical model. Organizational Psychology Review, 8(4), 228–255. https://doi.org/10.1177/2041386619830754

18.

Greenberg

Pyszczynski

Solomon

(1986). The causes and consequences of a need for self-esteem: A terror management theory. In Baumeister

R. F.

(Ed.), Public and Private Self (pp. 189–212). Springer-Verlag. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-4613-9564-5_10

19.

Griffin

Hesketh

Loh

(2012). The influence of subjective life expectancy on retirement transition and planning: A longitudinal study. Journal of Vocational Behavior, 81(2), 129–137. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jvb.2012.05.005

20.

Hart

Shaver

P. R.

Goldenberg

J. L.

(2005). Attachment, self-esteem, worldviews, and terror management: Evidence for a tripartite security system. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 88(6), 999–1013. https://doi.org/10.1037/0022-3514.88.6.999

21.

Hayes

A. F.

(2018). Introduction to mediation, moderation, and conditional process analysis: A regression-based approach (2nd ed.). Guilford Press.

22.

Henning

Lindwall

Johansson

(2016). Continuity in well-being in the transition to retirement. Journal of Gerontopsychology and Geriatric Psychiatry, 29(4), 225–237. https://doi.org/10.1024/1662-9647/a000155

23.

Hurtado

M. D.

Topa

(2019). Quality of life and health: Influence of preparation for retirement behaviors through the serial mediation of losses and gains. International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health , 16(9), Article e1539. https://doi.org/10.3390/ijerph16091539

24.

Jans

Leach

C. W.

Garcia

R. L.

Postmes

(2015). The development of group influence on in-group identification: A multilevel approach. Group Processes & Intergroup Relations, 18(2), 190–209. https://doi.org/10.1177/1368430214540757

25.

Koren

Shrira

Bodner

Bergman

Y. S.

(2020). Subjective nearness-to-death and negative attitudes toward persons with disability: Attachment patterns moderate. Death Studies, 44(5), 312–318. https://doi.org/10.1080/07481187.2018.1544949

26.

Kotter-Grühn

Grühn

Smith

(2010). Predicting one’s own death: The relationship between subjective and objective nearness to death in very old age. European Journal of Ageing, 7(4), 293––300. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10433-010-0165-1

27.

Kreiner

G. E.

Hollensbe

E. C.

Sheep

M. L.

(2006). Where is the “me” among the “we”? Identity work and the search for optimal balance. Academy of Management Journal, 49(5), 1031–1057. https://doi.org/10.5465/AMJ.2006.22798186

28.

Leach

C. W.

Van Zomeren

Zebel

Vliek

M. L.

Pennekamp

S. F.

Doosje

Ouwerkerk

J. W.

Spears

(2008). Group-level self-definition and self-investment: A hierarchical (multicomponent) model of in-group identification. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 95(1), 144–165. https://doi.org/10.1037/0022-3514.95.1.144

29.

Maxfield

Bevan

A. L.

(2019). Aging and coping with mortality: Understanding attitudes about aging and age-related differences in coping with death. In Routledge

Vess

(Eds.), Handbook of Terror Management Theory (pp. 391–415). Elsevier. https://doi.org/10.1016/B978-0-12-811844-3.00017-2

30.

Neimeyer

R. A.

(2015). Death anxiety handbook: Research, instrumentation, and application. Taylor & Francis. https://doi.org/10.4324/9781315800813

31.

OECD (2017). Pensions at a glance. https://doi.org/10.1787/pension_glance-2017-en

32.

OECD . (2020). Labour force participation rate (indicator). OECD. https://data.oecd.org/emp/labour-force-participation-rate.htm#indicator-chart

33.

Podsakoff

P. M.

MacKenzie

S. B.

Lee

J.-Y.

Podsakoff

N. P.

(2003). Common method biases in behavioral research: A critical review of the literature and recommended remedies. Journal of Applied Psychology, 88(5), 879–903. https://doi.org/10.1037/0021-9010.88.5.879

34.

Salisbury

L. C.

Nenkov

G. Y.

(2016). Solving the annuity puzzle: The role of mortality salience in retirement savings decumulation decisions. Journal of Consumer Psychology, 26(3), 417–425. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jcps.2015.10.001

35.

Segel-Karpas

Bergman

Y. S.

(2022). Retirement anxiety and depressive symptoms among middle-aged adults: An indirect effect through death anxiety. Death Studies, 46(1), 245–249. https://doi.org/10.1080/07481187.2020.1725933

36.

Snyder

J. L.

Cistulli

M. D.

(2021). Application of in-group identification to organizations: A study of the impact of self-investment and self-definition on key organizational outcomes. International Journal of Business Communication, 58(4), 516–535. https://doi.org/10.1177/2329488418777039

37.

Solomon

Greenberg

Pyszczynski

(1991). A terror management theory of social behavior: The psychological functions of self-esteem and cultural worldviews. Advances in Experimental Social Psychology, 24, 93–159. https://doi.org/10.1016/S0065-2601(08)60328-7

38.

Spector

P. E.

(2019). Do not cross me: Optimizing the use of cross-sectional designs. Journal of Business and Psychology, 34(2), 125–137. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10869-018-09613-8

39.

Szinovacz

M. E.

(2013). A multilevel perspective for retirement research. In Wang

(Ed.), The Oxford Handbook of Retirement (pp. 152–173). Oxford University Press. https://doi.org/10.1093/oxfordhb/9780199746521.013.0070

40.

Tajfel

H. E.

(1978). Differentiation between social groups: Studies in the social psychology of intergroup relations. Academic Press.

41.

van Solinge

Henkens

(2008). Adjustment to and satisfaction with retirement: Two of a kind? Psychology and Aging, 23(2), 422–434. https://doi.org/10.1037/0882-7974.23.2.422

42.

Wang

(2007). Profiling retirees in the retirement transition and adjustment process: Examining the longitudinal change patterns of retirees’ psychological well-being. Journal of Applied Psychology, 92(2), 455–474. https://doi.org/10.1037/0021-9010.92.2.455

43.

Wang

Beal

D. J.

Chan

Newman

D. A.

Vancouver

J. B.

Vandenberg

R. J.

(2017). Longitudinal research: A panel discussion on conceptual issues, research design, and statistical techniques. Work, Aging and Retirement, 3, 1–24. https://doi.org/10.1093/workar/waw033

44.

Wang

Shi

(2014). Psychological research on retirement. Annual Review of Psychology, 65, 209–233. https://doi.org/10.1146/annurev-psych-010213-115131

45.

Wang

Wanberg

C. R.

(2017). 100 years of applied psychology research on individual careers: From career management to retirement. Journal of Applied Psychology, 102(3), 546–563. https://doi.org/10.1037/apl0000143

46.

Yaakobi

(2015). Desire to work as a death anxiety buffer mechanism. Experimental Psychology, 62(2), 110–122. https://doi.org/10.1027/1618-3169/a000278

Subjective Nearness-To-Death and Retirement Anxiety Among Older Workers: A Three-Way Interaction With Work Group Identification

Abstract

Keywords

Get full access to this article

References