Research on the Health Effects of Retirement

An Uncertain Legacy

Bibliographic Data

ID2544993
AuthorsMeredith Minkler (0000-0002-7269-1221, corresponding author)
Year1981
Volume22
Issue2
Pages117
Publication date1981-06-01
Peer ReviewedYes
Open AccessNo
TypeARTICLE
VenueJournal of Health and Social Behavior (JOURNAL)
Journal identifiersISSN: 0022-1465 • E-ISSN: 2150-6000
PublisherSAGE Publications Inc (PUBLISHER)
DOI10.2307/2136288
PMID7240711
OpenAlexW2331292185
LanguageEN
Citations received35
References cited4

The contention that retirement may have an adverse effect on health has become increasingly popular with the recent categorization of this phenomenon as a stressful event. The small number of empirical studies examining the health outcomes of retirement, however, appear neither to support nor to refute this hypothesis. Moreover, the serious methodological problems inherent in most of these studies caution against the generalization of findings. This paper examines the existing research on the health and retirement relationship within the theoretical context of Atchley's process approach to retirement. Recent refinements in the study of life events (e.g., a focus on the timing of the event and the degree of control experienced) are seen as offering important potential contributions both to our understanding of retirement and to the development of more incisive and conceptually sound research in this area. At the same time, the inadequacy of existing life-events scales when applied to an older age group, and the generalfailure to view life changes within a broad sociostructural context are emphasized as weaknesses of the life-events approach that should be taken into account in future research on the complex retirement and health relationship

Categorization · Cognitive psychology · Context (archaeology) · Empirical research · Epistemology · Event (particle physics) · Generalization · Health and Retirement Study · Life course approach · Phenomenon · Strengths and weaknesses · Computer Science · Employment and Welfare Studies · Health disparities and outcomes · Medicine · Psychology · Retirement, Disability, and Employment · Social Psychology · Gerontology