Development of the Perceptions of Future Retirement Scale (PFRS) and Psychosocial Correlates

Abstract Retirement is a field in ascending importance in Brazil due to demographic, socioeconomic and social security factors. The retirement process states as its first stage the perceptions about the transition. This paper aimed to develop and validate the Perceptions of Future Retirement Scale (PFRS). Development, face and construct validity assessment procedures were performed, followed by exploratory and confirmatory analysis and also comparison and correlation analysis. The participants were 982 workers, mostly male (65.1%, N=640) with mean age of 40.1 years (SD=10.5 years). Results of psychometric measurements confirmed the presumed 5 factors structure, with subscales of Health Perception, Detachment from Work, Finances, Interpersonal Relationships and Losses in Retirement. In general, results show better perceptions to be related to better contextual conditions of life. Uses and limitations of PFRS are presented.