Financial Self-Efficacy, Retirement Goal Clarity, and Preretirement Anxiety Among Nurses in Southeast Nigeria: The Mediating Role of Job Embeddedness.

Abstract

It has been evidenced that retirement transitions are accompanied by preretirement anxiety about transitioning from a work-oriented lifestyle to retirement. Most employees do not proactively address these concerns during this transitional period. Thus, identifying the factors inherent in preretirement anxiety is imperative for a positive retirement transition. This study explored the role of financial self-efficacy and preretirement goal clarity on preretirement anxiety and the mediating role of job embeddedness in such relationships among prospective retiree nurses in Sub-Saharan Africa. This cross-sectional study used self-report measures of the Pre-retirement Anxiety Scale, Financial Self-Efficacy Scale, Retirement Goal Clarity Scale, and Job Embeddedness Scale for data collection. A total of 236 nurses participated in the study. Descriptive analyses were done to determine the bivariate correlations among the study variables, while regression-based path analysis was carried out to test the hypotheses. Results revealed that goal clarity and financial self-efficacy showed a strong negative association with preretirement anxiety. Also, higher job embeddedness was negatively associated with preretirement anxiety. In addition, there was a significant indirect relationship between financial self-efficacy and preretirement anxiety, as well as preretirement goal clarity and preretirement anxiety through job embeddedness. Hence, the influence of financial self-efficacy and preretirement goal clarity on preretirement anxiety was mediated by job embeddedness. The results emphasized that financial self-efficacy and preretirement planning are imperative for a positive perception toward retirement transition. In addition, job embeddedness should be encouraged among employees because it facilitates connectedness and interrelatedness in social fusion, ideas, and projections toward retirement transition. This connotes that the development of attachment to place and the formation of strong social ties are sacrosanct for retirement transition. These results are crucial for developing a methodology for support services for prospective employees in retirement transition.