By Cindy S.Y. Leung and Joanne K. Earl
Background
The Retirement Resources Inventory (RRI) questionnaire is a self-report measure that can be used by employers or older workers themselves in evaluating their available resources that are thought to contribute to wellbeing in retirement. The questionnaire is made up of 35 items that measure three different types of resources:
- Tangible resources - meaning physical (e.g. house) and financial resources;
- Psychological resources - relating to emotional, cognitive and motivational resources (i.e. psychological health and wellbeing); and
- Social resources – including sources (friends and family) and quality of social interactions and social support.
What was done?
The researchers (who are also the developers of the RRI) used the assessment tool to understand the relationship between availability of the three types of resources, adjustment to retirement and retirement well-being.
What did they find?
Based on the data provided by 267 members of the National Seniors Australia (NSA) who volunteered for the study, it was found that:
- Adjustment to retirement is more dependent on the availability of resources; whereas
- Contentment with one's life after retirement (satisfaction with retirement) is more dependent on demographic variables, for example, relationship status.
What does it mean?
The researchers also found that tangible resources (combined physical and financial resources) were the strongest predictor of both retirement adjustment and satisfaction with retirement, supporting the commonly held view that good health and financial resources are the most critical determinants of retirement well-being.
This summary is based on the paper:
Leung, C. S. Y., and Earl, J. K. (2012). Retirement Resources Inventory: Construction, factor structure and psychometric properties. Journal of Vocational Behavior, 81, 171-182. doi:10.1016/j.jvb.2012.06.00
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