Retirees' social identity and satisfaction with retirement.

The purpose of this study was to examine the structure of retirees' social identity and its impact on satisfaction with retirement. From social identity theory formulations, we assumed that (1) retiree-identity was comprised of three distinct components (cognitive, evaluative, and affective), and (2) only the affective component would play a role in satisfaction with retirement. Results of the present study conducted with 154 retired people in France revealed only two components of social identity: a cognitive identity which refers to self-categorization as "retired people", and an affective identity which refers to evaluation of the group and affective involvement. As expected, regression analyses results indicated that only affective identity was a predictor of satisfaction with retirement. These results will be discussed in the framework of social identity theory literature.