The relationships between life in retirement and the quality
of marriage among retirees were examined-- specifically the
effects of selected factors associated with retirement on measures
of dyadic quality.
Two self-administered questionnaires were mailed to each of
522 households of retired Oregon educators and their partners.
Households were randomly selected from a list of 1,347 retired
educators. Completed questionnaires from 261 couples -- 522
respondents -- provided the data base.
The 4-page questionnaire contained 18 items incorporating 38
independent variables. A 10-part variant of Spanier's Dyadic
Adjustment Scale (DAS) measured the dependent variable, dyadic
quality, and two of its subsets: dyadic cohesion and dyadic
satisfaction.
The study examined: (1) descriptive data of dyads and
individuals; (2) differences in dyadic quality among groups of
respondents differentiated by sex and retirement status; (3) differences
in dyadic quality among respondents reporting varying
levels of retirement satisfaction and life satisfaction; (4) significant
correlations between paired independent and dependent
variables; (5) percentages of variance in dependent variables
accounted for by independent variables.
Statistical procedures include One-way Analyses of Variance
(fixed model), Spearman Rho Correlation Coefficients, and Stepwise
Multiple Regressions. The regression model includes 20 independent
variables, each of which correlates with a dependent variable
at the .05 level. The descriptive data profile 17 dimensions of
typical, somewhat atypical, and very atypical characteristics of
this population of retired couples.
The findings include:
The regression equation of 20 independent variables explained
32% of the variance in dyadic quality. Three independent variables
emerged as the strongest predictors of dyadic quality:
emotional health; life satisfaction scores, and an active social
life.
Confirmed hypotheses found significant correlations between
dyadic quality and independent variables of physical health, emotional
health, health problems, satisfaction with income, and
financial problems.
Rejected hypotheses predicted significant correlations
between dyadic quality and independent variables of household
income, gender, age, and years in the marriage.
Also rejected were hypotheses predicting significant differences
in dyadic quality among groups of retirees and spouses
differentiated by retirement status and gender.
Some differences in dyadic quality were registered among
respondents reporting different levels of satisfaction with
retirement and with life but the results were inconclusive and
warrant further study. / Graduation date: 1985
| Identifer | oai:union.ndltd.org:ORGSU/oai:ir.library.oregonstate.edu:1957/38247 |
| Date | 24 October 1984 |
| Creators | Bogart, Victor |
| Contributors | Becker, Gerald |
| Source Sets | Oregon State University |
| Language | en_US |
| Detected Language | English |
| Type | Thesis/Dissertation |
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