Fletcher, W. L., and Hannson, R. O. (1991). Assessing the social components of retirement anxiety. Psychology and Aging 6:76–85.
Comments: The 23-item Social Components of Retirement Anxiety Scale (SCRAS) examines the social aspects related to retirement anxiety.
Scale Construction: In order to develop and validate the SCRAS, four studies were conducted. In Study 1, a 30-item pilot scale was constructed and 56 workers participated. Based upon data analyses, the revised SCRAS contained 29 items. In Study 2, the construct validity of the scale was established with a sample of 175 workers from a restaurant chain, bank, and manufacturing company. Based on data analyses, the SCRAS was reduced to 23 items. In Study 3, discriminant and construct validity were examined further. In Study 4, the participants from Study 3 were combined with the participants from Study 4 in order to conduct factor analysis.
Sample: The sample for Study 3 consisted of 169 workers from a university and city government who were 50 years of age and older. The sample for Study 4 consisted of 292 workers from a manufacturing company, hospital, bank, oil company, and church groups who were 50 years of age and older. A combined sample of 461 people (Studies 3 and 4) was used for the factor analysis.
Reliability: For Study 1 the reliability was 0.90. For Study 2 the alpha coefficient was 0.87 and the Guttman split-half correlation was 0.82. For Study 3 the alpha coefficient was 0.87 and the Guttman split-half correlation was 0.82. For Study 4 the alpha coefficient was 0.84.
Validity: Study 1 and 2 established criterion, discriminant, and construct validity.
Factor Structure: A principal components factor analysis with a varimax rotation yielded four factors: Social Integra- tion (1, 3, 4, 5, 7, 9, 10, 11, 13, and 20); Social Adjustment/Hardiness (6, 12, 14, 16, 17, and 21); Anticipated Social
Exhaustion (2, 8, 15, and 19); and Lost Friendships (18, 22, and 23).
Data Analysis: Correlations with fear-of-retirement criterion items are presented for Studies 2 and 3. The results of ad- ditional correlational tests are also included as well as means and standard deviations.
References
Braithwaite, V. A., et al. (1986). An exploratory study of poor adjustment styles among retirees. Social Science and Medicine 23:493–99.
Cook, J., and Wall, T. D. (1980). New work attitude measures of trust, organizational commitment and personal need non-fulfillment. Journal of Occupational Psychology 53:39–52.
Karp, D. A. (1989). The social construction of retirement among professionals 50–60 years old. Gerontologist 29:750–60.
Russell, D., et al. (1980). The revised UCLA Loneliness Scale: Concurrent and discriminant validity. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology 39:472–80.
Watson, D., et al. (1988). Development and validation of brief measures of positive and negative affect: The PANAS scales. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology 54:1063–70.
Social Components of Retirement Anxiety Scale
1. I can’t imagine not working.
2. I am afraid I will lose all of my work friends as a retired person.
3. There really isn’t much for a retired person to do.
4. I am afraid I will be a burden on my family as a retired person.
5. My job has always been a source of my identity. I hate to lose that.
6. Retirement will not bother me because I am sure I can make new friends no matter where I go.
7. I am afraid I will feel lonely after I retire.
8. Many of my colleagues will not have time for me after I retire.
9. After retirement I am not sure I will know how to stay involved.
10. I don’t know what I am going to do without my job.
11. I worry that my family will not support me after I retire.
12. I have lots of friends I can depend on if I need them after I retire.
13. I will probably be sitting around alone after I retire.
14. I am too old to make new friends.
15. I won’t have much in common with my coworkers anymore.
16. Retirement will allow me to do things with friends that I wasn’t able to do while I was working.
17. I have already made plans for what I am going to do as soon as I retire.
18. It will be hard to replace my friends from work.
19. People will never call on me to do things with them after I retire.
20. My family does not want me to retire.
21. Retirement will give me new opportunities to make new friends.
22. Most of my friends have been my coworkers.
23. Keeping up with my friends will be difficult.
Scoring: A five-point Likert scale ranges from 1 = strongly disagree and 5 = strongly agree. The scoring is reversed for items 6, 12, 16, 17, and 21. Scores range from 23–115. The higher the score, the greater the retirement anxiety.