Death and Dying in the media

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Fear as a Predictor of Life Satisfaction in Retirement in Canada

Satoko Nguyen

Social Studies, Sundai Michigan International Academy, Novi, Michigan, USA

Teresa S. Tirrito and William M. Barkley

School of Counseling and Social Service, Walden University, Minneapolis, Minnesota, USA

In developed countries, healthy retirees can fulfill their life, but may fear growing old. Yet, there is little empirical data on the relationship between this fear and life satisfaction. This cross-sectional, correlational survey study tested whether a new, summated measure of Fears About Growing Old (FAGO)—derived from exemplifications of Laslett, who posited the theory of the Third Age— significantly predicted life satisfaction and retirement satisfaction after adjusting for significant social participation covariates. A total of 190 Canadian retirees at three senior centers in Ontario, Canada, completed surveys. A pilot study established the reliability and validity of the scales, including the FAGO, used to assess the independent variable. In a regression analysis, fear (R2change = .06) w as found to be a statistically significant predictor of life satisfaction when controlling for five covariates (current activity, circumstance and pursuing own interest as two reasons for retirement, postretirement work, and perceived social support); overall R2 = .26. For retirement satisfaction, fear significantly explained variance in the outcome (R2change = .04) while controlling for two significant covariates (current activity and perceived social support); overall R2 = .14. A work by gender interaction on satisfaction was not found. Other than fear about loss of mobility, men rated loss of partner very high; women rated mortal disease very high. The lowest fear was loss of retirement income for men and loss of earning-power for women. Canada’s poverty preventive programs successfully supported senior postretirement life. The FAGO was useful to find senior needs.

This quantitative research conducted at three senior centers in Ontario, Canada. It is the first to examine postretirement life satisfaction, based on both positive and negative aspects of Laslett’s (1987, 1991) Aging Theory of the Third Age, which emerged in developed countries, such as Canada, the United States, and Japan. Upon retirement, individuals faced the threat of social

The authors very much appreciate the permission for this study from Mr. Calvin Little and Ms. Betty Lou Frith, directors of senior centers in Ontario, Canada.

Address correspondence to Satoko Nguyen, PhD, Social Studies, Sundai Michigan International Academy, 24277 Novi Road, Novi, MI 48375. E-mail: [email protected]

FEAR AS A PREDICTOR OF LIFE SATISFACTION IN CANADA 103

marginality (Weiss, 2005). Meanwhile, retirees might realize their desires, which they have never done before, for life fulfilment, but also experience fears for growing old (Kelly & Barratt, 2007). Indeed, Laslett (1991) exemplified 14 fears about growing old. Nonetheless, researchers mainly conducted qualitative studies with retirees from specific, positive perspectives (e.g., postretire- ment activities; Sadler, 2006; Trentin, 2004), ignoring factors for senior life and retirement satis- factions and fears for growing old. Moreover, Weiss, Bass, Heimovitz, and Oka (2005) found well-being in only male retirees actively working at a part-time job in Japan. Yet, interaction effect between gender and postretirement job was not clear in North America.

In this research, a nonprobability cross-sectional convenience sample of those retired from a full-time job and aged 50 years or older took a self-administered survey. Three objectives were (a) to test Laslett’s (1987, 1991) theory by examining if a set of social-participation- related covariates correlated to two dependent variables (i.e., life satisfaction and overall retire- ment satisfaction); (b) to determine to what extent fears about growing old predicted the two dependent variables after controlling for significant covariates; and (c) to establish whether a significant interaction effect between gender and postretirement work occurred on the depen- dent variables.

The data were analyzed with Pearson correlation coefficients and multiple regression models. The results reflected which specific areas (i.e., social participation, fears about growing old, or gender difference) needed improvement to increase life and retirement satisfactions in retirees in Canada.

LITERATURE REVIEW

Laslett (1987, 1991) posited that one’s life is comprised of four stages: the First Age for learning, the Second Age for working, the Third Age for fulfilling postretirement life, and the Fourth Age for unavoidably having declined health and death. For Laslett, retirement was a turning point for those with health, vigor, and positive attitudes to fulfill their life, although they might have fears about growing old. In North America, however, Third Age studies little achieved comprehensive results due to the qualitative methods (Narushima, 2004; Sadler, 2006) or a bias for cognitive decline in seniors (Hori & Cusack, 2006).

It was not clear whether retirees lose or maintain social participation. In the United States retirees faced the threat of social marginality (Weiss, 2005); thus, many of the recently retired sought prearranged activities, including part-time work, for satisfaction with both retirement and overall life (Kim & Feldman, 2000) or for continual social participation (Barth, McNaught, & Rizzi, 1995). Meanwhile, some older adults moved on to a creative job without manadatory retirement and thus a new path of life (Sadler, 2006).

In both Canada and Japan, Hori and Cusack (2006) found that senior program participants had (a) fears for declining mental ability and loss of memory and (b) negative views toward aging as a decline. For the former finding, both researchers emphasized that the participants needed learning programs to avoid forgetfulness. However, they did not examine other common fears for aging, including physical decline, falling status, and poverty.

The latter finding of Hori and Cusack (2006) was especially prominent in males who experi- enced falling social statuses after retirement. Moreover, Narushima (2004) in Canada found that older female activists with a full-time job had difficulties shifting from the working role to the

104 S. NGUYEN ET AL.

traditional female role after a compulsory retirement. However, interaction effect between gender and postretirement work was unknown.

Thus, this research was conducted in Canada to examine retiree satisfaction for life and retirement for the above-mentioned three objectives from both positive and negative perspec- tives of Laslett’s (1987, 1991) Theory of the Third Age. Recently, early retirement was preva- lent due to global economic recession (Curl & Hokenstad, 2006). Therefore, retirees were defined as those aged 50 years or older who retired completely or had a postretirement part- time job.

Two dependent variables were life satisfaction and overall retirement satisfaction. Barrett and Murk (2006) examined specifically life satisfaction in the Third Age and created a 35-item Life Satisfaction Index for the Third Age (LSITA) and its short version ([LSITA-SF], Barrett & Murk, 2009). Their original scale was derived from the Life Satisfaction Index A ([LSIA], Neugarten, Havighurst, & Tobin, 1961), which was one of the most frequently used instruments in geronto- logical studies (Lohmann, 1980). Floyd et al. (1992) investigated overall retirement satisfaction with their own scale called the Retirement Satisfaction Inventory (RSI).

A retirement issue, social marginality (Weiss, 2005), is a conception for loss of social partici- pation. To explore satisfaction with retirement and postretirement life in Canadian older adults from the perspective of social participation, considering gender difference, five suitable covari- ates were chosen. These were gender, current activity, reasons for retirement, perceived social support, and postretirement work (also a sociodemographic variable).

Current activity was a conception based on activity theory (Lemon, Bengtson, & Peterson, 1972). The premise of this theory was being engaged in different types of activities was influen- tial for older adults to cope with the aging process. Some contemporary researchers supported this theory and conducted senior activity studies (Lowis, Edwards, & Burton, 2009; Wahrendorf, Ribet, Zins, & Siegrist, 2008).

Floyd et al. (1992) examined reasons for retirement to assess how important each of the rea- sons in four areas was in one’s decision to retire with their measure Retirement Satisfaction Inventory (RSI). Specifically, the areas were (a) job stress (i.e., too much stress at work, difficulty with physical demands of job, and disliked job); (b) pressure from employer (employer’s pres- sure; incentives from company; lay-off, dismissal, or hours reduced; and difficulties with col- leagues); (c) pursuing own interest (time with my family, time to pursue interests, room for younger people, and spouse’s desire), and (d) circumstance (i.e., reached mandatory retirement age, poor health, spouse’s poor health, and could finally afford retirement).

Older adults’ social participation is also an issue related to social relationship, which consists of social network and social support. Individuals obtain social support from their own social network (Uchino, 2004). Social support perceived from major social network sources (i.e., family, friends, and significant other) was more meaningful than a simple network size (Magai, Consedine, King, & Gillespie, 2003).

Larson (1978) listed diverse variables found to affect subjective well-being in elders from major sociological studies of the past 30 years. Two most relevant studies for well-being in seniors and retirement (Lowis et al., 2009; Weiss et al., 2005) had useful independent and/or sociodemographic variables. Referring to these three studies, six sociodemographic variables chosen for this study were age (50 years or older); race, marital status (married, cohabitating, divorced, separated, bereaved, never married); educational background (final educational institution graduated); job status (completely retired, laid off and waiting/searching for a job,

FEAR AS A PREDICTOR OF LIFE SATISFACTION IN CANADA 105

part-time worker, full-time worker, on-call worker, volunteer, self-employed/freelancer, working for my family’s business, and never worked); and number of hours worked per week.

As Laslett (1991) posited, whether or not retirees had life/retirement satisfactions, accompa- nying fears about growing old was investigated. Thus, a set of these fears was the independent variable. To examine the independent variable, a new instrument, Fears About Growing Old (FAGO), was developed and used in this study. This new measure was based on Laslett’s (1991) 14 exemplifications. A pilot study confirmed both validity and reliability.

RESEARCH QUESTIONS

Three research questions and their corresponding hypotheses were analyzed with respective mul- tiple regression models. For each model, the level of significance was .05.

Research Question 1

Which set of covariates (gender, current activity, reasons for retirement [job stress, pressure from employer, pursuing own interest, and circumstance], perceived social support, and part-time work after retirement) significantly predicted life satisfaction and overall retirement satisfaction among Canadian retirees? Following are the corresponding hypotheses for Research Question 1:

H1A0: The covariates would not significantly predict life satisfaction as measured by the LSITA-SF (Barrett & Murk, 2009).

H1A1: A set of significant covariates would predict life satisfaction as measured by the LSITA-SF. H1B0: The covariates would not significantly predict overall retirement satisfaction as measured by

the RSI (Floyd et al., 1992). H1B1: A set of significant covariates would predict overall retirement satisfaction as measured by

RSI.

Research Question 2

To what extent did self-perceptions of Laslett’s (1991) fears about growing old predict life satis- faction and overall retirement satisfaction after controlling for significant covariates? Following are the corresponding hypotheses for Research Question 2:

H2A0: Self-perceptions of the fears would not significantly predict life satisfaction as measured by the LSITA-SF after controlling for significant covariates (R2change = 0).

H2A1: Self-perceptions of the fears would significantly increase the prediction of life satisfaction as measured by the LSITA-SF (R2change > 0) and would be negatively related to life satisfaction.

H2B0: Self-perceptions of the fears would not significantly predict overall retirement satisfaction as measured by the RSI after controlling for significant covariates (R2change = 0).

H2B1: Self-perceptions of the fears would significantly increase the prediction of overall retirement satisfaction as measured by the RSI (R2change > 0) and would be negatively related to overall retirement satisfaction.

106 S. NGUYEN ET AL.

Research Question 3

Was there a significant interaction effect of gender and working after retirement on life satisfac- tion and overall retirement satisfaction among these retired Canadians? Following are the corre- sponding hypotheses for Research Question 3:

H3A0: There would not be a significant interaction of gender and postretirement work with respect to life satisfaction as measured by the LSITA-SF (R2change for the interaction term = 0).

H3A1: There would be a significant interaction between gender and postretirement work with respect to life satisfaction as measured by the LSITA-SF (R2change for the interaction term > 0).

H3B0: There would not be a significant interaction of gender and postretirement work with respect to overall retirement satisfaction as measured by the RSI (R2change for the interaction term = 0).

H3B1: There would be a significant interaction between gender and postretirement work with respect to overall retirement satisfaction as measured by the RSI (R2change for the interaction term > 0).

Method

Covariates and Instruments

To assess the two dependent variables, life satisfaction and overall retirement satisfaction, five covariates and one independent variable were used as mentioned above. Table 1 shows details for all these variables. Contemporary studies regarding well-being, a concept close to life satisfac- tion, tend to use a four-point Likert scale (Lowis et al., 2009; Mulenga & Liang, 2008; Wahrendorf et al., 2008). In this research, thus, instruments with even-number Likert scales, and approved good reliability and validity were chosen or created (see Table 1).

Specifically, the LSITA-SF (Barrett & Murk, 2009) measured the dependent variable life sat- isfaction. The RSI (Floyd et al., 1992) was for the two covariates, that is, current activity compris- ing three items, whose reliability as one covariate was confirmed in the pilot study, and reasons for retirement; as well as the other dependent variable overall retirement satisfaction. To measure a covariate, perceived social support, the Multidimentional Scale of Perceived Social Support ([MSPSS], Zimet, Dahlem, Zimet, & Farley, 1988) was used. The FAGO, originated from Laslett’s (1991) exemplifications and prepared in the pilot study, measured the independent vari- able—fears about growing old (see Table 1).

Pilot Study

In April and May 2011, daily regular senior program participants and staff, recruited through senior center newsletters and posters, participated in the pilot study. Incentives were a Can$2 donation for their centers and a $2 coffee card for private use. Professional panellists comprising four staff (one male, three females) prepared 18 items from Laslett’s (1991) 14 fears about grow- ing old, and then they examined the content validity, which was 92.5%. Retiree panellists, con- sisted of nine seniors (three males, six females) aged 60 to 75 years, reworded the 18 items. Hence, a new 17-item instrument FAGO was complete (see Appendix).

For the reliabilities of FAGO and the composite of three items in the Current Activity section of Floyd et al.’s (1992) instrument RSI as one covariate, a total of 50 seniors (12 males, 38 females)

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FEAR AS A PREDICTOR OF LIFE SATISFACTION IN CANADA 109

had a test with a self-administered confidential questionnaire. Two or three weeks later, 41 of the seniors (nine males, 32 females) had a retest. Missing responses were found in only two out of 50 cases for the FAGO and one case for the Current Activity. The Cronbach alpha internal consis- tency reliability coefficient was .87 (acceptable) for the FAGO, but only .60 (very low) for Current Activity. The overall coefficients would not increase by eliminating any items in either instru- ment. The test-retest reliability was .73 for the FAGO and .78 for Current Activity, respectively.

Main Survey Participants

In June to August 2011, main survey participants were separately recruited similarly to the pilot study. Random sampling and mail survey were impracticable due to a senior center director’s decision not to open the senior member mailing list and a Canada Post strike. The minimum sample size of 109 subjects for the main survey was calculated, using the multiple regression analysis with five predictor variables, one of which comprised four subscales used as four vari- ables, a medium effect size, power of .80, and a .05 level of significance.

Of a total of 326 seniors who received a survey, 219 (44 males aged 53–96 years, 175 females aged 52–96 years) completed the self-administered confidential questionnaire (return rate: 67.2%). The completed questionnaires had very few missing values in 12 cases. The mean age was 71.71 (male: 71.43, female: 71.78). Most participants were White (80.8%) or Asian (11.4%). More than half (63.6%) of males and 42.3% of females were married. The ratio between those completed elementary/secondary education (n = 103, 47.0%) and higher education (up to PhD; n = 96, 43.8%) was almost 1:1.

Most participants (n = 150, 68.4%) were retired completely and had no job, and a total of 17 subjects had never worked or retired. Contrary to the initial expectation, only 12 subjects (5.4%) retired and then had nonfull-time, paid job. Therefore, data for both retirees with a nonfull-time, paid job and those having a volunteer job (n = 40, 18.2%) were integrated as those having post- retirement work and then analyzed. Only seven subjects reported postretirement paid working hours a week (8 to 30 hours).

Results

Descriptive Statistics

The target subjects of this research were older adults who retired from a full-time job. Therefore, the 17 cases for those who had never worked/retired were eliminated from the main study data. Moreover, 12 cases containing missing values were eliminated listwise. Thus, descriptive statis- tics were conducted for the data containing a total of 190 cases, including 39 males and 151 females (see Table 2).

Pearson Correlation Coefficients

Table 3 shows the results of Pearson correlation coefficient analyses for all research question variables with a two-tailed test. The dependent variable life satisfaction was significantly

110 S. NGUYEN ET AL.

TABLE 2 Descriptive Statistics of All Variables (N = 190)

M SD

Current activity; 0–3* 2.41 .486 Gender (1: male; 2: female) 1.79 .404 Postretirement work (0: no work; 1: work/volunteer) .263 .441 Perceived social support; 0–1* .826 .219 Reasons for retirement Job stress; 1–6* 1.84 1.18 Pressure from employer; 1–6* 1.59 1.06 Pursuing own interest; 1–6* 2.55 1.28 Circumstance; 1–6* 2.33 1.15 Life satisfaction; 1–6* 4.32 .858 Retirement satisfaction; 1–6* 5.06 1.11 Fears about growing old; 0–3 (0: not at all, 3: very much) 1.33 .633

Note. *A larger number indicates a more positive alternative.

correlated with the other dependent variable overall retirement satisfaction (r = .445, p = .000); five covariates current activity (r = .386, p = .000), circumstance (r = −.234, p = .001), job stress (r = −.189, p = .009) as two reasons for retirement, postretirement work (r = .200, p = .006), and perceived social support (r = .227, p = .002); and the independent variable fears about growing old (r = −.319, p = .000). The other dependent variable overall retirement satisfaction was signifi- cantly correlated with three covariates: gender (r = .183, p = .011), current activity (r = .243, p = .001), and circumstance as reason for retirement (r = −.160, p = .027); and the independent variable fears about growing old (r = −.174, p = .017).

Predicting Life/Retirement Satisfaction

Using the respective dependent variables life satisfaction and overall retirement satisfaction, and all covariates (for Gender, 0: male, 1: female), the data (n = 190) were analyzed with the stepwise method of multiple regressions in order to answer Research Question 1 and test the associated hypotheses H1A0 and H1A1, and H1B0 and H1B1, respectively.

For H1A, Model 1A, which included the dependent variable life satisfaction and the five sig- nificant covariates current activity, perceived social support, postretirement work, and circum- stance and pursuing own interest as reasons for retirement, predicted 26.6% of the variance (R² = .266; see Table 4). The ANOVA showed that the model was significant (p = .000). Thus, the null hypothesis 1A was rejected. Moreover, both H1A Histogram and Normal P-P Plot in Figure 1 were normally distributed. No outliers were found in the results.

For H1B, seven outliers were eliminated, and then the remaining 183 cases were analyzed. Model 1B—including the dependent variable overall retirement satisfaction and two covariates current activity and perceived social support—predicted 9.7% of the variance (see Table 4). The ANOVA showed that the model was significant (p = .000). Thus, the null hypothesis 1B was

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FEAR AS A PREDICTOR OF LIFE SATISFACTION IN CANADA 113

FIGURE 1 Histograms and normal P-P plots. (Color fi gure available online.)

rejected. Moreover, in both the H1B Histogram and the Normal P-P Plot in Figure 1, residuals were normally distributed. For both Models 1A and 1B, all tolerances (around .90) indicated an absence of significant multicollinearity among the predictor variables.

114 S. NGUYEN ET AL.

Effects of Fears About Growing Old to Life/Retirement Satisfaction

To answer Research Question 2 and test the associated hypotheses, the data for the respective depen- dent variables, the covariates that were significant in Models 1A and 1B, and the independent variable fears about growing old were analyzed with the hierarchical method of multiple regressions.

For life satisfaction, only one outlier was eliminated, and then the data from the remaining 189 respondents were analyzed. As Table 4 shows, Model 2A 1, including the dependent variable life satisfaction and the five covariates significant in Model 1A, significantly predicted 25.6% of the variance (R² = .256). Model 2A 2, including the dependent variable, the same five covariates, and the independent variable fears about growing old, significantly predicted 31.3% (R² = .313). The R squared change of Model 2A 2 increased by .058, compared to Model 2A 1. The ANOVA showed that both Models 2A 1 and 2 were significant (p = .000, respectively). Thus, the null hypothesis 2A was rejected. Furthermore, in both the H2A Histogram and the Normal P-P Plot in Figure 1, residuals were normally distributed.

FIGURE 1 (Continued) (Color fi gure available online.)

FEAR AS A PREDICTOR OF LIFE SATISFACTION IN CANADA 115

As Table 4 shows, the independent variable fears about growing old had a significantly nega- tive regression coefficient with the dependent variable life satisfaction (β = −.254, p = .000). All covariates in both Models 2A 1 and 2, except for pursuing own interest in the Model 2A 2 (β = .125, p = .053), had a respective significant regression coefficient with the dependent vari- able (see Table 4).

For overall retirement satisfaction, similarly, 15 outliers were eliminated, and then the data from the remaining 175 respondents were analyzed. Model 2B 1, which included the dependent variable overall retirement satisfaction and the two covariates current activity and circumstance significant in Model 1B, significantly predicted 13.8% of the variance (R² = .138); whereas, Model 2B 2, including the same dependent variable and two covariates, and the independent vari- able fears about growing old, significantly predicted 17.1% (R² = .171), respectively. The R squared change of Model 2B 2 increased by .033, compared to Model 2B 1. The ANOVA showed that both Models 2B 1 and 2 were significant (p = .000, respectively). Thus, the null hypothesis 2B was rejected. Furthermore, in both the H2B Histogram and the Normal P-P Plot in Figure 1, residuals were normally distributed.

The independent variable fears about growing old also had a significantly negative regression coefficient with the dependent variable overall retirement satisfaction (β = −.182; p = .010) in Model 2B 2. Both covariates in both Models 2B 1 and 2 had a respective significant regression coefficient with the dependent variable. For all Models 2A 1 and 2, and 2B 1 and 2, the tolerances (around .90) indicated an absence of significant multicollinearity among the predictor variables.

Descriptive Statistics for Fears About Growing Old

Fears about growing old significantly negatively predicted both life satisfaction and overall retire- ment satisfaction. Table 5 shows the results of descriptive statistics for the highest and lowest fears that the subjects (n = 190) had by gender and three ages (younger than the general preretirement age of 65 years, the young-old between 65 and 74 years, and the old-old 75 years or older).

Generally, both genders more highly indicated fears regarding loss of their independence or liberty, especially loss of mobility. Males in all ages had higher fear regarding loss of their close life assistant (i.e., loss of spouse, kin, or family); whereas, females in all ages highly indicated fears of mortal diseases (i.e., cancer, heart disease, Alzheimer’s disease, or dementia). Yet, both genders were less likely to have fears regarding falling social statuses, death-related concerns, and/or loss of beauty. Moreover, lower fears among both genders related to less income, that is, loss of retirement income for the males and loss of earning power for the females (see Table 5).

Gender Work Interaction Effects on Life/Retirement Satisfaction

To answer Research Question 3, the Gender × Postretirement Work interaction on the respective dependent variables life satisfaction and overall retirement satisfaction was used with the hierar- chical method of multiple regressions. To create a better interaction term, these values were used: 1: male and 2: female for gender, and 1: no work and 2: work for postretirement work.

To examine if there was a significant Gender × Postretirement Work interaction on life satis- faction, only one outlier was eliminated, and then the data from the remaining 189 respondents

116

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FEAR AS A PREDICTOR OF LIFE SATISFACTION IN CANADA 117

were analyzed. For Models 3A 1 and 3A 2, both of which included gender, postretirement work, and the dependent variable, adding the interaction term to Model 3A 2 did not significantly increase the R2 (R2change = .000; see Table 4). Thus, the null hypothesis 3A was not rejected. Only the ANOVA for Model 3A 1 was significant (p = .023). In both the H3A Histogram and the Normal P-P Plot in Figure 1, residuals were normally distributed. Yet, the only significant regres- sion coefficient (see Table 4) was for postretirement work (β = .202; p = .006); people who actively worked were more satisfied than those who did not.

Similarly, the data were analyzed for a significant Gender × Postretirement Work interaction on overall retirement satisfaction. Eight outliers were eliminated, and then the data from the remaining 182 respondents were analyzed. As Table 4 shows, Model 3B 1, including the depen- dent variable overall retirement satisfaction, gender, and postretirement work, barely predicted 1.3% of the variance (R² = .013). Meanwhile, Model 3B 2, including the same dependent variable and two covariates, and the interaction term thereof, barely predicted 2.1% of the variance (R² = .021). The R squared change of Model 3B 2 increased by just 0.08, compared to Model 3B 1. However, the ANOVA did not show a significant model, and nothing was significant in these models. Thus, the null hypothesis 3B was not rejected. No Gender × Postretirement Work inter- action was found either. For both the H3B Histogram and the Normal P-P Plot, residuals were not normally distributed.

Discussion

Factors for Life/Retirement Satisfaction

As Laslett (1987, 1991) posited, the results revealed that the subjects had life/retirement satisfac- tions involving various social participation-related factors. Current activity was the positive factor for both life and retirement satisfactions, and this finding supported the activity theory (Lemon et al., 1972). Taylor-Harris and Zhan (2011) found physical, emotional, and social ben- efits in African Americans who participated in senior center activities in Atlanta, Georgia. Moreover, eager participants in senior center programs in the Czech Republic chose active life- style the most desirable in old age (Marhankova, 2011).

Social support perceived from family, friends, and significant others (Zimet et al., 1988) was also a positive factor for both life and retirement satisfactions. Prominently, this finding matched the other finding in this study that the participants showed loss of spouse, family, or kin as one of the highest three fears for both genders in all ages, except for the old-old females (see Table 5). Some of the old-old females might have already been bereaved for their husband; thus, the pos- sibly showed less fears for loss of spouse, family, or kin. These results suggested that social sup- port perceived from other family members, friends, and significant others was especially vital for the old-old females.

Circumstance (e.g., reached mandatory retirement age) was the negative reason for retirement for both life and retirement satisfactions. This result revealed that seniors with circumstance reluctantly retired. It also supported Narushima’s (2004) findings in terms of disagreement with the existing mandatory retirement system in Canada. Job stress was a negative reason for retire- ment for only life satisfaction. Seniors who retired to avoid job stress seemed not to have satisfac- tory postretirement life but to regret retirement.

118 S. NGUYEN ET AL.

Importantly, retirees working at a postretirement job, regardless of volunteer or part-time job, showed their postretirement life satisfaction, not retirement satisfaction, unlike the finding of Kim and Feldman (2000). As Barth et al. (1995) found, a postretirement job is useful for senior social participation. The subjects might also have a postretirement job to compensate for reluc- tant retirement. Moreover, this finding corresponded to social expectations in the United States for third agers to stay productive through volunteerism (Carr, 2009).

Being female was a factor for only retirement satisfaction. Laslett (1991) mentioned that women tended to have a longer Third Age due to their earlier retirement and longer life, com- pared to men. Apparently, this result might imply that women in Canada tended to find a way to enjoy their postretirement life during their longer Third Age. Conversely speaking, men might be likely to have difficulties in adapting to retirement.

Fears About Growing Old

This study’s results supported Kelly and Barratt (2007) and Laslett (1991) suppositions of fears about growing old. Other than Hori and Cusack’s (2006) findings regarding fears for cognitive decline, the findings clarified various kinds of fears about growing old (see Table 5). Thus, the new instrument, FAGO, derived from Laslett’s (1991) exemplifications, was useful to identify senior needs and will help determine policy on aging society.

Both genders tended to have higher fears about irrevocably losing something and then having that loss cause great difficulties while aging (i.e., loss of mobility; blindness or deaf- ness; loss of spouse, kin, and family). Those fears specific to males were loss of life sup- porter (i.e., spouse, kin, and family) and loss of dignity (i.e., loss of home or institutionalization and contraction of the future); the fear specific to females was having a mortal disease. In contrast, lower fears for both genders related to something that inevitably happened while aging (i.e., loss of beauty) and something manageable in advance (i.e., funeral or estate plan- ning, loss of spiritual serenity to be mitigated with religious piety, and falling social statuses to be solved by having a part-time/volunteer job). Low fear for death was specific to the males. Most noticeably, loss of retirement income for long-term care before death for the males and loss of earning-power for the females were lower fears.

Generally, poverty rates among older women, especially among those divorced, widowed, never married, and in the old-old, were much higher than males, but much lower in Canada than in other six major rich countries including the United States (Butrica, Iams, & Smith, 2003/2004). In North America, poverty rates for general elders at the 40% and 50% poverty lines were 1.7 % and 7.8% for Canada and 15.0% and 24.7% for the United States, respectively.

Canada developed plans to (a) compensate older women, victimized during their working his- tory due to caregiving to young children or frail older adults, so that they could maintain their living standard in retirement similar to men; and (b) guarantee the financial life of low-income persons (Curl & Hokenstad, 2006). Moreover, Canada has a relatively steady public pension program to prevent seniors from having poverty issues (Human Resources Development Canada, 2001). Furthermore, Canada has a publicly-funded health care system, which is mostly free of charge and, thus, cost-effective for seniors, who tend to have poor health conditions. Thus; Canada is a country with successful poverty-preventing programs for seniors, who would least need to worry about loss of retirement income or earning-power, as this study result showed.

FEAR AS A PREDICTOR OF LIFE SATISFACTION IN CANADA 119

Although Hori and Cusack’s (2006) study participants who experienced falling social statuses seemed to view aging as a decline, the subjects in this research reported lower fears about falling social statuses. Having a postretirement job might be effective to mitigate falling social statuses and, thus, senior social marginality.

Interaction Effect of Gender and Postretirement Work

No significant Gender × Work interaction was found on both life and retirement satisfactions. Only postretirement work significantly positively predicted life satisfaction similarly to the Pearson correla- tion coefficient results (see Tables 3 and 4). In this study, the subjects having postretirement work were retirees with nonfull-time, paid jobs (n = 12, 5.4%) and those having volunteer jobs (n = 40, 18.2%). That is, 76.9% of the subjects with a postretirement job worked without payment. This result implied that having a job—even without a wage—increased Canadian retiree life satisfaction. This implication also supported the effectiveness of Canada’s three poverty-preventing programs mentioned above.

Unlike old women who tended to have poverty in other developed countries including the United States, those in Canada seldom experienced poverty (Butrica et al., 2003/2004) due to the three steady programs. With sufficient retirement income from these successful programs, Canadian retirees undertook postretirement work probably not for their retirement income, but for social participation. Moreover, unlike in Japan, where only male retirees sought part-time jobs for their improved well-being (Weiss et al., 2005), both male and female Canadian retirees could have postretirement work as part of life fulfillment.

Meanwhile, only the Pearson correlation coefficient results showed that gender (being female) had a correlation with overall retirement satisfaction. Moreover, the women in this study actually had lower fear for loss of earning power (see Table 5). This result was contrary to Narushima’s (2004) study regarding Canadian female activists who opposed Canada’s compulsory retirement system. This discrepancy could be attributed to views toward retirement that are different between two types of Canadian women. That is, those who experienced a long retiree life might already find and enjoy their good retiree role (e.g., a postretirement work and senior center program par- ticipation); whereas, those who recently retired or would imminently retire might have not real- ized their positive retiree life and role yet.

Implications for Social Change

Based on the study results, support for older adults is essential. Figure 2 shows recommended processes for older adults and retirees to have more life/retirement satisfactions through social participation in a community in Canada, as well as the United States and other developed countries.

Recommendations for Further Study

This study was conducted in Canada, based on Laslett’s (1987, 1991) Third Age Theory, which is originally British. To further closely examine factors for life/retirement satisfactions in retirees,

120 S. NGUYEN ET AL.

FIGURE 2 Flowcharts to increase life/retirement satisfaction.

it is recommended to conduct a similar study in the United Kingdom, European Union countries, the United States, and other countries having retiree-related measures (e.g., pension programs and retirement systems) different from those in Canada. Future research requires a random sam- pling, the inclusion of other races, a more balanced ratio of both genders, and the same instru- ments—including the FAGO (see Appendix) newly developed in this study. Furthermore, this

FEAR AS A PREDICTOR OF LIFE SATISFACTION IN CANADA 121

study partly contained elders’ preretirement conditions, that is, reasons for retirement. To help adults better adapt to their later life, conducting research for retirement planning, such as secure retirement in terms of finances and housing, with preretirees may prove informative.

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APPENDIX

Instrument for Fears for Growing Old (FAGO) survey, Revised after Pilot Study

Beside each of statements presented below, please indicate how much you have each fear about growing old.

1: Not at all 2: Little 3: Somewhat 4: Very much

PLEASE CIRCLE A NUMBER a. Death . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1 2 3 4 b. Alzheimer’s disease, dementia, or other mental decline . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1 2 3 4 c. Cancer, heart disease, stroke, or major debilitating disease . . . . . . . . . . 1 2 3 4 d. Blindness, deafness, lameness, or incontinence . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1 2 3 4 e. Loss of beauty, attractiveness, fertility, or potency . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1 2 3 4 f. Inability to recall names, events, people, or experiences . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1 2 3 4 g. Loss of keenness of hearing, eyesight, and smell . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1 2 3 4 h. Loss of physical mobility, being indoors, and the consequent loss

of choice of places to go and things to do . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1 2 3 4 i. Loss of earning-power, being retired, or unemployed

because of age . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1 2 3 4 j. Falling status, public status, and private status within the

family because of chronological age . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1 2 3 4 k. Loss of spouse, siblings, kin, friends, family, and

consequent desolation . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1 2 3 4 l. Loss of home, having to live with other people, or in an institution . . . . 1 2 3 4 m. The contraction of the future and frustration in fulfilling the

chosen plan of life . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1 2 3 4 n. Mental health issue (e.g., depression) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1 2 3 4 o. Funeral and estate planning . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1 2 3 4 p. Fears of running out of retirement income for long-term

care before death . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1 2 3 4 q. Loss of spiritual serenity when getting close to death . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1 2 3 4

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