Perceived psychological and social needs and their relationship with retirement anxiety and psychological well-being among those about to retire in the city of Riyadh

Abstract

This study sought to identify differences according to demographic factors (gender, age, economic level, social status, educational level, current workplace) to reveal the relationship between these variables and ascertain the impact of their interaction among those who are about to retire. Moreover, it sought to determine the level of psychological and social needs perceived for those who are about to retire and their relationship with anxiety and psychological well-being.

The study's findings suggested that if the arithmetic mean for psychological needs is reached (66.20) with a very high degree, as well as a standard deviation of 6.93, the most important needs of retirees are psychological in nature, while the arithmetic mean for social needs requires a high degree (54.81), and it was discovered that the highest dimension of the anxiety scale for those about to retire after feeling nervous had an arithmetic mean of 25.43 and a standard deviation of 1.43. Their highest levels of self-well-being (mastery of the environment) were 55.59 with a standard deviation of 5.09, with self-acceptance coming in last with an arithmetic mean of 34.29 and a standard deviation of 8.02.

The findings revealed a statistically significant negative relationship between all dimensions of the perceived psychological and social needs scale and all dimensions of the retirement anxiety scale in the target group at the level of 0.05, as well as a statistically significant positive relationship between the total score and all dimensions of the psychological well-being scale in the target group (total score and dimensions), and the findings showed that while there were no statistically significant differences for the influence of sex on social needs, there were significant variations for the impact of a particular variable (age, workplace, marital status, educational level) on the scale of degrees. The perceived psychological and social needs of retirees were more favourable for those between the ages of 55 and 59 than for the other category, governmental employees, the widower category, those with a secondary degree than for the other groups, and those with a university degree than for the other categories. However, there were no statistically significant differences for the effect of a variable (age, sex, marital status, educational level) according to the retirement anxiety survey. Additionally, there were statistically significant variations in the retirement anxiety scale depending on the variable (age, workplace, income level). 

Furthermore, there were differences in the variables (gender, income level, marital status) according to the subjective well-being variable in all dimensions and the overall degree of the instrument, but there were no differences for the effect of age and workplace on the subjective well-being of those who are about to retire in all dimensions and the overall degree of the instrument, nor was there a statistically significant effect at the level of significance (a=0.05) for the interaction between these variables and the variables.