Fletcher W L, Hansson R O
University of Tulsa, Oklahoma 74104.
Psychol Aging. 1991 Mar;6(1):76-85. doi: 10.1037//0882-7974.6.1.76.
In 4 studies involving 308 men and 384 women aged 25-76, a reliable instrument, the Social Components of Retirement Anxiety Scale (SCRAS), was developed to assess retirement anxiety. The 23-item SCRAS measures 4 factors:Social Integration and Identity, Social Adjustment/Hardiness, Anticipated Social Exclusion, and Lost Friendships. The scale strongly predicts fear of retirement and negative attitudes toward retirement. However, it seems not to be measuring simply a generalized emotional state, exhibiting only minimal correlations with more general measures of anxiety and depression. Elevated scores were observed particularly in persons for whom major social transitions are quite difficult--for example, those who were shy, lonely, had fewer instrumental or communal traits, or expected to have little personal control over their lives after retirement.
