Retirement is associated with change in self-esteem

We examined the course of self-esteem during the transition to retirement in a sample of 690 retirees (ages 51-81) and a propensity-score matched-comparison group of 515 nonretirees drawn from a nationally representative longitudinal study in the Netherlands. The average retiree decreased in self-esteem in the 5 years before retirement and remained stable in self-esteem in the 5 years following retirement. We also found significant individual differences in retirees' self-esteem trajectories but failed to identify moderators that may account for these individual differences. We discuss the implications of these results for theory and future research on life span self-esteem development