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Understanding retirement: the promise of life-span developmental frameworks

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Abstract

The impending retirement of large population cohorts creates a pressing need for practical interventions to optimize outcomes at the individual and societal level. This necessitates comprehensive theoretical models that acknowledge the multi-layered nature of the retirement process and shed light on the dynamic mechanisms that drive longitudinal patterns of adjustment. The present commentary highlights ways in which contemporary life-span developmental frameworks can inform retirement research, drawing on the specific examples of Bronfenbrenner’s Ecological Model, Baltes and Baltes Selective Optimization with Compensation Framework, Schulz and Heckhausen’s Motivational Theory of Life-Span Development, and Carstensen’s Socioemotional Selectivity Theory. Ultimately, a life-span developmental perspective on retirement offers not only new interpretations of known phenomena but may also help to identify novel directions for future research as well as promising pathways for interventions.

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  1. Cornell University, Ithaca, NY, USA

    Corinna E. Löckenhoff

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  1. Corinna E. Löckenhoff
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Correspondence to Corinna E. Löckenhoff.

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Responsible editor: H.-W. Wahl

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Löckenhoff, C.E. Understanding retirement: the promise of life-span developmental frameworks. Eur J Ageing 9, 227–231 (2012). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10433-012-0241-9

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