The influence of subjective age and temporal focus on continuing work of the retireess: a psychological perspective

Abstract The demographic trend of population aging is a global phenomenon impacting the world community at large and individual national economies. Despite growing interest in the determinants of continued work among retirees, the internal (psychological) factors influencing an individual’s decision to retire after reaching retirement age have been inadequately studied. This study addresses this gap by examining psychological variables such as subjective age and temporal focus among working retirees. The results of comparing groups of working and non-working retirees revealed several key findings: 1) retirees who continue to work have a lower past focus compared to non-working retirees; 2) the subjective age of working retirees is lower (younger) than that of non-working retirees; 3) an association between a younger subjective age and current focus was found in non-working retirees, whereas in working retirees, no links were found between temporal focus and subjective age; and 4) the desire to stay young (younger social age) predicts the continuation of work in retirement. This study contributes to the development of ideas about the role of psychological time in motivating elderly people to continue their professional activities in retirement. The results strengthen the evidence that a younger subjective age, especially social age, is one of the reasons for continuing a professional career in old age. Additionally, the study enriches scientific understanding with new data on the role of temporal focus in the context of aging.