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Social Psychology and Society
2025. Vol. 16, no. 4, 148–167
doi:10.17759/sps.2025160409
ISSN: 2221-1527 / 2311-7052 (online)

Pension transition in the perception of pre-retirees: possible self-pensioner in the future life situation

 
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Abstract

Context and relevance. The category of life situations that require a significant restructuring of basic personality structures includes the retirement transition, and the key aspect of this process is changes in the self-concept. The peculiarities of a person's forecasting of the retirement stage of life require studying the structure of the self-concept and, in particular, the possible self-pensioner. The relationship between the present self and the possible self-pensioner allows us to understand the nature of the factors that contribute to successful pension adjustment in the future.
Objective. Study of the role of a number of personal factors in the construction of a possible self in pre-retirement people in relation to the future life situation.
Research design. To identify the types of respondents by the modality of expectations about their future in retirement, the sample was divided into 3 groups (positively minded, negatively minded and neutral) based on the content analysis of the answers to the open question of the author's questionnaire. The search for relationships between the components of the present "I" (characteristics of self-awareness) and the emotional, cognitive and pre-behavioral components of the possible self in the conditions of life in retirement was carried out by calculating the significant differences between the identified groups of respondents by the PIL, future prospects and ideas about the future in retirement.
Methods and materials. The sample included 400 people (men – 50,1%, women – 49,9%), age group 45–63 years, living in the Central Federal District of the Russian Federation. A questionnaire aimed at studying ideas about the future difficult life situation of retirement (authors – T.P. Yemelyanova and E.N. Vikentyeva), the Russian-language version of the questionnaire “Professional Time Perspective of the Future” by H. Zacher and M. Frese adapted by T.Yu. Bazarov and A.V. Paramuzov, the test of life-meaning orientations by J. Crumbaugh, L. Mahnolic adapted by D.A. Leontiev.
Results. Significant differences (Student's t-test, p < 0,01) were found between the groups of respondents with positive and negative life forecasts after retirement: the indicators for all scales of the PIL methodology are higher than those of the second group. The average values for the "Professional Time Perspective of the Future" methodology show that focusing on opportunities and perceiving their remaining time as unlimited are higher among respondents who perceive the future positively. At the same time, focusing on limitations is higher among respondents who perceive the upcoming difficult life situation negatively. The role of the predictor in relation to the nature of the perception of one's future in retirement (linear regression analysis) for the PIL scale "Locus of Control-I" has the nature of a tendency.
Conclusions. The possible Self-pensioner is a nuclear construct for pre-pensioners, based on deep personal structures of Self-confidence, belief in the ability to control the events of one's life, orientation toward opportunities in the future. The factors of respondents' age, their family status, place of residence, education, and sphere of activity did not reveal any connections with the emotional component of the possible Self-pensioner.

General Information

Keywords: pre-retirees, possible self-pensioner, concept-I, life-meaning orientations, orientation to opportunities/limitations, locus of control-I, future life situation

Journal rubric: Empirical Research

Article type: scientific article

DOI: https://doi.org/10.17759/sps.2025160409

Funding. The study was supported by the Russian Science Foundation, project number № 24-28-00422, https://rscf.ru/project/24–28–00422/#!.

Supplemental data. Datasets can be requested from the author (E.N. Vikentieva).

Received 10.02.2025

Revised 09.09.2025

Accepted

Published

For citation: Emelyanova, T.P., Vikentieva, E.V. (2025). Pension transition in the perception of pre-retirees: possible self-pensioner in the future life situation. Social Psychology and Society, 16(4), 148–167. (In Russ.). https://doi.org/10.17759/sps.2025160409

© Emelyanova T.P., Vikentieva E.V., 2025

License: CC BY-NC 4.0

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Information About the Authors

Tatiana P. Emelyanova, Doctor of Psychology, Professor, Chief Researcher in the Laboratory of Social and Economic Psychology, Institute of Psychology, Russian Academy of Sciences, Moscow, Russian Federation, ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-0458-7705, e-mail: t_emelyanova@inbox.ru

Eva N. Vikentieva, Candidate of Science (Psychology), Associate Professor, Associate Professor, Department of Psychology and Development of Human Capital Department, Financial University under the Government of the Russian Federation, Moscow, Russian Federation, ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0001-5531-1912, e-mail: vikentieva@mail.ru

Contribution of the authors

The authors contributed equally to the research, data analysis, and preparation of this manuscript.

All authors participated in the discussion of the results and approved the final text of the manuscript.

Conflict of interest

The authors declare no conflict of interest.

Ethics statement

Written informed consent for participation in this study was obtained from the participants.

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