Life-span developmental processes from the point of view of the elderly: An examination of vocational life

Abstract

The purpose of this study was to examine the experiences and meanings of crises and to clarify types of the vocational life-cycle the elderly recognized in life review. Subjects were 50 elderly persons at home (male: 39, female: 11, 66-79 years old), who took part in an individually semi-structured interview. Vocational life processes involved school decision making, career decision making, career development, retirement, and final retirement from the work. As a result, more than 50% of the elderly had experienced crises at final school decision making, and with career development in their thirties' and forties'. Moreover, four types of vocational life-cycles were found. They were the appreciating type, the decision making type, the career development type, and the moderate type. The appreciating type was further subcategorized into the consistent type, the modifying type, the overcoming type and the unfolding type. Finally, relationships between these types and attitudes toward retirement were examined. Positive attitudes toward retirement were high in the consistent type, while negative attitudes were high in the modifying type.