Comparative Study Of Self-Transcendence, Spiritual Well-Being, Optimism And Meaning In Life Among Retirees And Post-Retirement Employees.

Abstract

The purpose of this study was to investigate the inter-correlations of self-transcendence, spiritual well-being, optimism and meaning in life. Additionally, the aim was to find out the differences in mean scores of self-transcendence, spiritual well-being, optimism and meaning in life between retirees and post-retirement employees. The sample consisted of people with bachelor’s degree. Retirees sample consisted of 60 participants (52 men, and 8 women), while post-retirement employees consisted of 60 participants (all of them were men). The Self-Transcendence Scale (STS) (Reed, 2018), The Spirituality Index of Well-Being (SIWB) (Daaleman & Frey, 2004), The Life Orientation Test-Revised (LOT-R) (Scheier, Carver & Bridges, 1994) and Meaning in Life Questionnaire (Steger, Frazier, Oishi & Kaler, 2006) were used. The data were analyzed with Pearson correlation. The t-test was used. Findings indicated that there were significant positive correlations between self-transcendence, spiritual well-being, optimism and meaning in life. Self-transcendence correlated positively with spiritual well-being, optimism, and meaning in life. Spiritual well-being correlated positively with optimism and meaning in life. There were differences in mean scores of self-transcendence, optimism and meaning in life between retirees and post-retirement employees. However there was not difference in spiritual well-being between the two groups. Findings were discussed and conclusion was included.