The association between psychosocial work environment, attitudes towards older workers (ageism) and planned retirement

Abstract

Purpose: The aim of this study was to examine the association between psychosocial factors (in particular ageism) at the workplace and older workers' retirement plans, while taking health and workability of the employee into account.

Methods: In the fall and winter of 2008, self-report data on work environment, health, workability and retirement plans were collected in a representative national sample (n = 3,122) of Danish employees 50 years or older. Ordinal logistic regression was used to analyse associations in a cross-sectional design. Predictor variables were standardized.

Results: In analyses adjusted for socio-demography, socio-economy, health, workability and work performance, 4 out of 6 examined psychosocial factors (ageism, lack of recognition, lack of development possibilities, lack of predictability) were significantly associated with plans of early retirement (OR: 1.10-1.13). Stratified on gender, three psychosocial factors (ageism, lack of recognition, lack of development possibilities) remained significant for men (OR: 1.15-1.25) and none for women. In particular was the association between retirement plans and ageism highly significant in the male subgroup, but no association was found in the female subgroup.

Conclusion: Ageism, lack of recognition and lack of development possibilities are associated with older male workers' retirement plans in our analyses. Workability has the strongest association with retirement plans for both genders.