Abstract
Recent findings on preparation for retirement found its positive impact on psychological health of retirees (Yeung, 2013; Yeung & Zhou, 2017). Yet, individual attributes, such as retirement attitude, received less attention when investigating the mechanism of long-term effect of retirement preparation on psychological health. Attitude on aging and retirement significantly influences well-being and longevity of older adults (Lakra et al., 2012; Low et al., 2013; Ng et al., 2016). Retirement attitude, on the other hand, is affected by how prepared individuals are for retirement (Reitzes & Mutran, 2004). Reasoning from previous findings, we posit retirement attitude may explain the relationship between retirement preparation and long-term psychological health after retirement. A three-wave longitudinal study was conducted in a sample of 130 Hong Kong Chinese retirees (mean age=58.48, SD=3.44; 58.5% males). Data were collected 6 months prior to retirement (T1), and 6 and 12 months (T2 and T3) after retirement. We measured their pre-retirement preparation, retirement attitude, and psychological health. Consistent with our prediction, there is a significant indirect effect of T1 retirement planning on T3 psychological well-being (B = .007, SE = .004, [.001, .015]), life satisfaction (B = .023, SE = .011, [.005, .049]), and psychological distress (B = -.009, SE = .004, [-.017, -.002]) through T2 retirement attitude. These results remain significant even after controlling for age, gender, and the respective well-being variable and retirement attitude at T1. These findings reveal the role of retirement attitude in post-retirement adjustment. Implications for public health and policy making are further discussed.