The Human Flourishing Program, Institute for Quantitative Social Science, Harvard University.
Warwick Business School, University of Warwick.
Psychol Sci. 2021 Nov;32(11):1856-1864. doi: 10.1177/09567976211024248. Epub 2021 Oct 29.
Does retirement lead to an existential crisis or present an opportunity to experience a renewed sense of purpose in life? Prior research has documented a negative association between retirement and sense of purpose in life, suggesting that retirement could lead people to feel aimless and lost. We revisited these findings using a quasiexperimental approach and identified the causal impact of retirement on purpose in life. In a nationally representative panel of American adults ( = 8,113), we applied an instrumental-variable analysis to assess how Social Security retirement incentives in the United States drove differences in the likelihood of retirement. Results showed a sizable increase in purpose in life as an outcome of retirement. These improvements were driven by individuals with lower socioeconomic status who retired from dissatisfying jobs. The findings suggest that retirement may provide an opportunity to experience a renewed sense of purpose, especially among socioeconomically disadvantaged populations.
退休会导致存在危机，还是提供了一个重新体验人生目标感的机会？先前的研究记录了退休与人生目标感之间的负面关联，表明退休可能会让人感到漫无目的和迷失方向。我们使用准实验方法重新研究了这些发现，并确定了退休对目标感的因果影响。在一项针对美国成年人的全国代表性小组（n = 8113）中，我们应用了工具变量分析来评估美国社会保障退休激励措施如何导致退休可能性的差异。结果表明，退休会导致人生目标感显著提高。这些改善是由那些从不满意的工作中退休的社会经济地位较低的个体带来的。研究结果表明，退休可能提供了一个重新体验人生目标感的机会，尤其是在社会经济处于不利地位的人群中。
