Cox H, Bhak A
Int J Aging Hum Dev. 1978;9(3):279-86. doi: 10.2190/v0tp-17mk-04l0-j7j1.
Using a variety of indicators of retirement adjustment most studies have focused on two variables as the critical ones: the kind of work the individual was involved in prior to retirement with its concomitant style of life or the individual's pre-retirement attitudes. Focusing on the latter variable and using a symbolic interaction perspective, it was hypothesized that the individual's significant others are crucial to both the development of his pre-retirement attitudes and his post-retirement adjustment. The data upheld both the predicted relationships, and further suggest that the social world of older people is comprised of both primary groups and proximate others. The Lowenthal and Haven concept of confidants as a major factor in the adjustment of older people, though valuable, too narrowly defines their social world. The broader concept of significant others comprised of both confidants and proximate others seems more realistic.
运用各种退休适应指标，大多数研究都聚焦于两个关键变量：个人退休前从事的工作类型及其相应的生活方式，或者个人退休前的态度。聚焦于后一个变量，并运用象征互动视角，研究假设个人的重要他人对其退休前态度的形成和退休后的适应都至关重要。数据支持了这两个预测关系，并且进一步表明老年人的社会世界由主要群体和近邻他人组成。洛温塔尔和黑文将密友视为老年人适应的一个主要因素的概念虽然有价值，但对他们的社会世界定义过于狭窄。由密友和近邻他人组成的更宽泛的重要他人概念似乎更现实。
