Hostname: page-component-745bb68f8f-5r2nc Total loading time: 0 Render date: 2025-01-15T17:58:30.607Z Has data issue: false hasContentIssue false
  • English
  • Français

In support of innovation theory: innovation in activity patterns and life satisfaction among recently retired individuals

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  03 November 2008

GALIT NIMROD
GALIT NIMROD*
Affiliation:
Department of Hotel and Tourism Management and Center for Multidisciplinary Research in Ageing, Ben-Gurion University of the Negev, Israel.
*
Address for correspondence: Galit Nimrod, Department of Hotel and Tourism Management, Ben-Gurion University of the Negev, POB 653, Beer-Sheva 84015, Israel. E-mail: galit_n@zahav.net.il, gnimrod@som.bgu.ac.il
Get access Rights & Permissions [Opens in a new window]

Abstract

A central theme of ‘innovation theory’, which the author and a colleague have proposed and which is concerned with the triggers, types and benefits of innovation in later life, is that adding brand-new leisure activities after retiring from work enhances post-retirement wellbeing. The study reported in this article aimed to examine this proposition using quantitative data from a nationwide sample in Israel of 378 recently retired individuals. The study explored the frequency of post-retirement innovation in people's leisure repertoires, the association between innovation and retirees' life satisfaction, and factors in the differing life satisfaction of innovators and non-innovators. The results indicate that the inclination toward innovation significantly associated with the respondents' work and retirement histories, as well as with their self-rated health and world region of origin. Innovators had significantly higher life satisfaction than non-innovators, but this difference could not be explained by the number of new activities. In addition, socio-demographic differences failed to explain innovators' wellbeing. While some support for innovation theory was provided, further research is required to explore the dynamics by which innovation at older ages contributes to retirees' wellbeing.

Keywords

retirementleisurelife satisfactioncontinuity theoryinnovation theory
Type
Research Article
Information
Ageing & Society , Volume 28 , Issue 6 , June 2008 , pp. 831 - 846
Copyright
Copyright © 2008 Cambridge University Press

Access options

Get access to the full version of this content by using one of the access options below. (Log in options will check for institutional or personal access. Content may require purchase if you do not have access.)

References

Andrews, F. M. and Inglehart, R. F. 1979. The structure of subjective well-being in nine western societies. Social Indicators Research, 6, 73–90.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Armstrong, G. K. and Morgan, K. 1998. Stability and change in levels of habitual physical activity in later life. Age and Aging, 27, Supplement 3, 17–23.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Atchley, R. 1999. Continuity and Adaptation in Aging. Johns Hopkins University Press, Baltimore, Maryland.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Atchley, R. 1993. Continuity theory and the evolution of activity in later adulthood. In Kelly, J. R. (ed.) Activity and Aging: Staying Involved in Later Life. Sage, Thousand Oaks, California, 5–16.Google Scholar
Atchley, R. 1989. The continuity theory of normal aging. The Gerontologist, 29, 2, 183–90.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Baltes, P. B. and Baltes, M. M. 1990. Psychological perspectives on successful aging: the model of selective optimization with adaptation. In Baltes, P. B. and Baltes, M. M. (eds) Successful Aging: Perspectives from the Behavioral Sciences. Cambridge University Press, New York, 1–34.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Baltes, M. M. and Carstensen, L. L. 1996. The process of successful ageing. Ageing & Society, 16, 4, 397–422.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Bennett, K. M. 1998. Gender and longitudinal changes in physical activities in later life. Age and Aging, 27, Supplement 3, 24–8.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Coleman, D. and Iso-Ahola, S. E. 1993. Leisure and health: the role of social support and self-determination. Journal of Leisure Research, 25, 2, 111–28.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Diener, E., Sandvik, E., Pavot, W. and Gallagher, D. 1991. Response artifacts in the measurement of subjective well-being. Social Indicators Research, 24, 1, 35–56.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Freund, A. M. and Baltes, P. B. 2002. Life-management strategies of selection, optimization and compensation: measurement by self-report and construct validity. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 82, 4, 642–62.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Gee, S. and Baillie, J. 1999. Happily ever after? An exploration of retirement expectations. Educational Gerontology, 25, 2, 109–28.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Gordon, C. 1980. Development of evaluated role identities. Annual Review of Sociology, 6, 405–33.Google Scholar
Gordon, C., Gaitz, C. and Scott, J. 1976. Leisure and lives: personal expressivity across the life span. In Binstock, R. and Shanas, E. (eds) Handbook of Aging and the Social Sciences. Van Nostrand Reinhold, New York, 310–41.Google Scholar
Herzog, A. R. and Rodgers, W. L. 1981. The structure of subjective well-being in different age groups. Journal of Gerontology, 36, 4, 472–9.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Horgas, A. L., Wilms, H. U. and Baltes, M. M. 1998. Daily life in very old age: everyday activities as expression of successful living. The Gerontologist, 38, 5, 556–68.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Hutchinson, S. L., Loy, D., Kleiber, D. A. and Dattilo, J. 2003. Leisure as a coping resource: variations in coping with traumatic injury and illness. Leisure Sciences, 25, 2–3, 143–61.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Iso-Ahola, S. E., Jackson, E. and Dunn, E. 1994. Starting, ceasing and replacing leisure activities over the life-span. Journal of Leisure Research, 26, 3, 227–49.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Israel Central Bureau of Statistics (CBS) 2000. Israel's Statistical Annual Review. CBS, Jerusalem, Israel [In Hebrew].Google Scholar
Janke, M., Davey, A. and Kleiber, D. 2006. Modeling change in older adults' leisure activities. Leisure Sciences, 28, 3, 285–303.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Katz, E., Hass, H., Weitz, S., Adoni, H., Gurevitch, M., Schiff, M. and Goldberg-Anabi, D. 2000. Leisure Patterns in Israel: Changes in Cultural Activity 1970–1990. The Open University, Tel Aviv, Israel [In Hebrew].Google Scholar
Kelly, J. R. 1987. Peoria Winter, Styles and Resources in Later Life. Lexington Books, Lexington, Massachusetts.Google Scholar
Kleiber, D. A., Hutchinson, S. L. and Williams, R. 2002. Leisure as a resource in transcending negative life events: self-protection, self-restoration and personal transformation. Leisure Sciences, 24, 2, 219–35.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Kozma, A. and Stones, M. J. 1987. Social desirability in measures of subjective well-being: a systematic evaluation. Journal of Gerontology, 42, 1, 56–9.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Lefrancois, R., Leclerc, G. and Poulin, N. 1998. Predictors of activity involvement among older adults. Activity, Adaptation and Aging, 22, 1, 15–29.Google Scholar
Levinson, S. 1986. Leisure Choices in Retirement: Spillover or Compensatory of Pre-retirement Activities? Unpublished Master's thesis, Bar-Ilan University. Ramat Gan, Israel [In Hebrew].Google Scholar
Long, J. 1987. Continuity as a basis for change: leisure and mail retirement. Leisure Studies, 6, 1, 55–70.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Lopata, H. Z. 1993. Widows: social integration and activity. In Kelly, J. R. (ed.) Activity and Aging: Staying Involved in Later Life. Sage, Thousand Oaks, California, 99–105.Google Scholar
McCrae, R. R. 1986. Well-being scales do not measure social desirability. Journal of Gerontology, 41, 3, 390–2.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
McGuire, F. and Norman, W. 2005. The role of constraints in successful aging: inhibiting or enabling? In Jackson, E. (ed.) Constraints to Leisure. Venture, State College, Pennsylvania, 89–101.Google Scholar
Neugarten, B. L., Havighurst, R. J. and Tobin, S. S. 1961. The measurement of life satisfaction. Journal of Gerontology, 16, 2, 134–43.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Nimrod, G. 2007 a. Expanding, reducing, concentrating and diffusing: post-retirement leisure behavior and life satisfaction. Leisure Sciences, 29, 1, 91–111.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Nimrod, G. 2007 b. Retirees' leisure: activities, benefits, and their contribution to life satisfaction. Leisure Studies, 26, 1, 65–80.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Nimrod, G., Janke, M. and Kleiber, D. A. 2008. Retirement, activity, and subjective well-being in Israel and the Unites States. World Leisure Journal, 50, 1.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Nimrod, G. and Kleiber, D. A. 2007. Reconsidering change and continuity in later life: toward an innovation theory of successful aging. International Journal of Aging and Human Development, 65, 1, 1–22.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Parker, S. 1982. Work and Retirement. George Allen and Unwin, London.Google Scholar
Parnes, H. S., Crowley, J. E., Haurin, R. J., Less, L. J., Morgan, W. R., Mott, F. L. and Nestel, G. 1985. Retirement among American Men. Lexington Books, Lexington, Massachusetts.Google Scholar
Parry, D. C., and Shaw, S. M. 1999. The role of leisure in women's experiences of menopause and mid-life. Leisure Sciences, 21, 3, 205–18.Google Scholar
Rapoport, R. and Rapoport, R. N. 1975. Leisure and the Family Life Cycle. Routledge and Kegan Paul, London.Google Scholar
Robinson, J. P. and Godbey, G. 1997. Time for Life: The Surprising Way Americans Use Their Time. Pennsylvania State University Press, University Park, Pennsylvania.Google Scholar
Rosenkoetter, M. M., Garris, J. M. and Engdahl, R. A. 2001. Post-retirement use of time: implications for pre-retirement planning and post-retirement management. Activities, Adaptation and Aging, 25, 1, 1–18.Google Scholar
Rubinstein, R., Kilbride, J. and Nagy, S. 1992. Elders Living Alone: Frailty and the Perception of Choice. Hawthorne, New York.Google Scholar
Sharpe, A., and Mannell, R. C. 1996. Participation in Leisure as a Coping Strategy Among Bereaved Women. Paper delivered at the Eighth Canadian Congress on Leisure Research, University of Ottawa, Ottawa, Canada, May 8–11, 1996.Google Scholar
Shmotkin, D. 1991. The structure of the Life Satisfaction Index A in elderly Israeli adults. International Journal of Aging and Human Development, 33, 2, 131–50.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Shmotkin, D. 1998. Declarative and differential aspects of subjective well-being and its implications for mental health in later life. In Lomerantz, J. (ed.) Handbook of Aging and Mental Health: An Integrative Approach. Plenum, New York, 15–43.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Stanley, D. and Freysinger, V. J. 1995. The impact of age, health, and sex on the frequency of older adults' leisure activity participation: a longitudinal study. Activities, Adaptation and Aging, 19, 31–42.Google Scholar
Strain, L. A., Grabusic, C. C., Searle, M. S. and Dunn, N. J. 2002. Continuing and ceasing leisure activities in later life: a longitudinal study. The Gerontologist, 42, 2, 217–23.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Thompson, P. 1992. ‘I don't feel old’: subjective aging and the search for meaning in later life. Ageing & Society, 12, 1, 23–47.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Vail, H. and Berman-Ashcenazi, A. 1976. Leisure Use of the 70+ Years-old. Brookdale Institute, Jerusalem [In Hebrew].Google Scholar
Verbrugge, L. M., Gruber-Baldini, A. N. and Fozard, J. L. 1996. Age differences and age changes in activities: Baltimore longitudinal study of aging. Journals of Gerontology Series B: Psychological Sciences and Social Sciences, 51B, 1, 30–41.CrossRefGoogle Scholar