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Do work ability and job involvement channel later personal goals in retirement? An 11-year follow-up study

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Abstract

Objective

The present study investigates the role of work ability and job involvement in personal life goals later in retirement.

Methods

The study is based on longitudinal research on Finnish employees working in managerial positions. At the study baseline (in 1996), 120 employed managers responded to a questionnaire regarding their work ability and job involvement, and 11 years later (in 2007) when they were retired, they responded to an open-ended question regarding their personal goals. The retired participants were 58–76 years old (M = 66 years), and they had been retired for 1–10 years (M = 4.3 years, SD = 2.9).

Results

On the basis of the participants’ responses to the open-ended question, six main content categories of personal goals were formed. According to these categories, the personal goals in retirement focused on (1) hobbies and leisure time, (2) social relationships, (3) health and well-being, (4) housing and finance, (5) self-development and ideology, and (6) other activities. The managers with better work ability and job involvement at the baseline of the study had fewer personal goals related to health and well-being later in retirement. In addition, better work ability predicted more personal goals related to self-development and ideology views.

Conclusions

The preceding work ability and job involvement seem to channel personal goal pursuit in retirement. Thus, sustaining employees’ work ability and job involvement are not only essential for developing employees’ ability to cope with work demands but also for their functional capacity in their later stages of life, such as in retirement.

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Acknowledgments

The present study was funded by the Finnish Work Environment Fund (project no. 105363).

Conflict of interest

The authors declare that they have no conflict of interest.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. University of Jyväskylä, Jyväskylä, Finland

    Taru Feldt, Katriina Hyvönen, Terhi Oja-Lipasti, Ulla Kinnunen & Katariina Salmela-Aro

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  1. Taru Feldt
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  2. Katriina Hyvönen
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  3. Terhi Oja-Lipasti
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  4. Ulla Kinnunen
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  5. Katariina Salmela-Aro
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Correspondence to Taru Feldt.

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Feldt, T., Hyvönen, K., Oja-Lipasti, T. et al. Do work ability and job involvement channel later personal goals in retirement? An 11-year follow-up study. Int Arch Occup Environ Health 85, 547–558 (2012). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00420-011-0705-9

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s00420-011-0705-9

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