Conscientiousness and preparedness for retirement and end of life

The population of the United States is growing older, and previous research has found that many do not appear to be well-prepared for retirement and end of life (EOL). The current research investigated how conscientiousness is related to preparedness for retirement and EOL in three different ways using data from the Health and Retirement Study (HRS) and Wisconsin Longitudinal Study (WLS). First, I examined the cross-sectional associations between conscientiousness and preparedness for retirement and EOL; these results indicated that there is an overall small, positive correlation between conscientiousness and preparedness for retirement and EOL. Second, I examined how conscientiousness interacts with other variables to predict preparedness for retirement and EOL. These other variables included perceived financial strain, both in adulthood and in childhood, and the other Big Five personality traits (agreeableness, extraversion, neuroticism, and openness). Interactions between conscientiousness and perceived adulthood financial strain predicting assets/net worth emerged in both data sets, but the forms of the interactions differed. Interactions were found between conscientiousness and other variables; however, they did not replicate across data sets. Third, I examined how changes in conscientiousness over time predict preparedness for retirement and EOL. Changes in conscientiousness did not predict any of the outcomes except net worth in the WLS, where an increase in conscientiousness was associated with greater net worth. These findings provided more evidence for the positive relation between conscientiousness and preparedness for retirement and EOL and suggest a variety of avenues for future studies in this area of research.

Name thesis:degree_name

Ph.D.

Level thesis:degree_level

Dissertation

Discipline thesis:degree_discipline

Psychology

Grantor

University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign

Year dc:date

2019

Author dc:creator

• Nickel, Lauren B.

Contributors dc:contributor

• Roberts, Brent W.
• Briley, Daniel
• Stine-Morrow, Elizabeth
• Xu, Yilan
• Zhan, Min

• Conscientiousness
• retirement
• end of life

Statement dc:rights

• Copyright 2018 Lauren B. Nickel

Language dc:language

en

Handle dc:identifier

http://hdl.handle.net/2142/102781

OAI identifier oai:identifier

oai:www.ideals.illinois.edu:2142/102781