THE SOCIAL PSYCHOLOGICAL WORLDS OF SWEDES AND TURKS IN AND AROUND RETIREMENT

Five hundred and two Swedish (60 to 71 years of age) and 448 Turkish (55 to 71 years of age) respondents of both genders were interviewed in depth concerning the characteristics of their social networks and evaluations of their current life situations in relation to self-images, life satisfaction, attitudes toward aging, and feelings of loneliness. Results indicated that (a) the Turks, especially men, had both larger social networks and interacted more frequently than the Swedes; (b) compared to Swedes, Turks had less positive attitudes toward getting older, higher feelings of personal loneliness, and lower life satisfaction; (c) within each culture, women had less positive attitudes toward aging and higher feelings of personal loneliness; Turkish women had lower and men had higher self-images than the Swedish men and women who did not differ from each other; (d) in both countries, a positive attitude toward aging was correlated with low personal loneliness and positive self-image; (e) gender differences were more pronounced for Turkey compared to Sweden.