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HRPYC81
Research report for PROJECT 4802
Assignment number: 812850
Exploring the Meaning and Life Satisfaction in Retirees between the
ages of 60 and 90 years.
Surname: Honiball Initials: M
October 2022
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CONTENTS
ABSTRACT..............................................................................................................................3
INTRODUCTION.....................................................................................................................5
PROBLEM STATEMENT………………………………………………………...…………6
RESEARCH QUESTIONS AND RESEARCH AIMS............................................................7
RESEARCH DESIGN..............................................................................................................7
RESEARCH METHOD............................................................................................................7
ETHICAL CONSIDERATIONS..............................................................................................9
THE INTERVIEWS…………………………………………………………………………10
RESULTS OF THIS STUDY…..............................................................................................17
LITERATURE REVIEW/ DISCUSSION………………………………………………..…18
• Frustration in old age due to mental, psychological and physical change…………...18
• Forced retirement and the lack of proper preparation………………………………..20
• Covid-19 (Pandemic) and how it affects the self…………………………………….22
• Healthy lifestyle and staying active…………………………………………………..24
• Religion and how this can improve one’s perspective in life……………………...…25
• Relationships with family and friends……………………………………………..…26
CONCLUSION………………………………………………………………………………28
PLAGIARISM DECLARATION……………………………………………………………29
REFERENCES……………………………………………….................................................30
APPENDIX A..........................................................................................................................32
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Exploring Meaning and the Life Satisfaction in Retirees Aged 60 to 90.
ABSTRACT
This project explores themes associated with the life satisfaction of retired individuals
between the ages of 60 and 90 years old. I implemented the grounded theory approach to
report the presiding themes from the concrete realities of these individuals’ stories. I will
emphasize and discuss factors that will not only challenge the meaning of retired life, but also
give us a clear understanding of what is important for retired individuals to have a fulfilling
existence. I have interviewed 3 retired individuals for this project, and all these individuals’
range between 75 and 76 years of age. Positive themes have been identified, namely the
importance of hobbies, religion, relationships, and physical/mental exercise, as well as
negative themes, such as the effects of Covid-19, the critical state of the country, physical and
mental change and forced retirement.
My focus was to be receptive to all information that was gained from the participants’ stories
in order to formulate helpful and assisting research. I have written down each participant’s
interview, and each interview was assessed and corrected by them afterwards, to collect as
much correct and accurate data as possible. Each participant has signed their corrected
version of the interview as well as agreed and confirmed to all information that has been
disclosed in this research study. Note that certain uncontrollable factors could influence the
quality of life for retired individuals, such as age of retirement, preparation measurements for
retirement, if they had a choice in retiring and what they connect to the meaning of living a
fulfilled life. However, a concrete conclusion cannot be drawn due to such a small pool of
candidates, so further and more in-depth investigation needs to be implemented. Kindly note
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that the names given to each person in this assignment are pseudonyms, and thus not their
real names for confidentiality purposes.
Keywords: life satisfaction, retirement, change.
Definition of Key Concepts
Life satisfaction means to live one’s life in such a manner that one gain fulfilment from your
everyday life. This does not necessarily mean that you only have good days and no bad days,
but that the accumulation of the two concepts balance each other out in such a manner that
you still have a dominant positive aspect flowing from it. The APA dictionary of psychology
defines life satisfaction as the extent to which an individual experiences life as rich,
meaningful and that one perceives it as full and of high quality. An interesting statement was
made by the APA dictionary – “Improved life satisfaction is often a goal of treatment,
especially with older people” which emphasizes our project theme and the focus of this
project. ("APA Dictionary of Psychology", 2022).
Retirement and retired individuals will be the main focus when it comes to exploring life
satisfaction in this project. Retirement, according to the Cambridge Dictionary, refers to one
permanently leaving one’s job, usually due to old age ("The meaning of Retirement", 2022).
Although it can be for a lot of reasons, old age is the most prominent reason for people to
leave the work environment.
Change happens all around us and in all facets of life. Change is inevitable, although it can
have different effects on the situation in different instances. Change means to alter or modify
an object or a concept to such an extent that it becomes different, according to the Merriam
Webster Dictionary ("Definition of change", 2022). Change is one of the key themes that will
be mentioned throughout this project and discussed later in this research project.
