COMPARISON OF EARLY RETIREES AND NON-RETIREES

A group of 250 early retirees and a similar group of 422 nonretired Civil Service employees were compared on demographic, experience and job attitude variables. Consistent with earlier published studies, demographic, health, and income variables accounted for approximately three times as much variance in the retirement status variable as did the motivational and attitudinal variables. Retirees reported that their jobs afforded less Autonomy, Skill Variety, Opportunity to Deal with Others, and less intrinsic satisfaction, but more Feedback from Others relative to nonretirees. Analysis of the demographic variables indicated retirees were more likely to be female, have less financial commitments, and have had more jobs in their career. It is suggested that the retirement decision may represent a positive attempt on the part of individuals to pursue more challenging, interesting activities, and that longitudinal research be initiated to explore in more detail the determinants of the retirement decision and subsequent retirement satisfaction. Copyright © 1979, Wiley Blackwell. All rights reserved