Digitalisation and Employees’ Subjective Job Quality in the Second Half of Working Life in Germany

Since digitalisation alters occupational task profiles via automation processes, job quality is also likely to be affected. While existing literature mainly focusses on objective job quality, this study asks if and how digitalisation is associated with employees’ subjective job quality in the second half of working life in Germany. Analyses are based on the German Ageing Survey 2014. Our sample includes n = 1541 employees aged 40–65 years who are subject to social insurance contributions. Subjective job quality is operationalised with regards to job satisfaction and perceived occupational stress in general, and ten aspects of job quality in detail. Digitalisation is approximated by substitution potentials of occupations. We control the association for compositional effects in the workforce, as well as for the moderating effect of perceived job insecurity. The results indicate that digitalisation is predominantly beneficial but also unfavourable in a few other respects for employees’ subjective job quality. The higher the degree of digitalisation, the higher is the employee’s general job satisfaction on average; for general perceived occupational stress, we find no significant association. Regarding single aspects of subjective job quality, employees working in more digitalised occupations are found to report on average higher satisfaction with working hours and earnings, and lower levels of stress due to tight schedules. However, they also report higher levels of stress due to negative environmental factors.

Longitudinal Relations Between Views on Aging and Perceived Stress: Evidence for Mutual Associations

We investigated the reciprocal longitudinal relation between perceived stress and three established domains of views on aging (VoA): (1) subjective age; (2) attitude toward own aging [ATOA]; and (3) aging-related cognitions including social loss, physical decline, and continuous growth. We also examined the potentially moderating role of chronological age. Data of the German Ageing Survey, comprising two measurement occasions (2014 and 2017) and a sample of 4,588 individuals aged between 40 and 95 years, were analyzed. Controlling for socio-demographic and health-related indicators, cross-lagged models indicated mutual longitudinal relations between VoA and stress. Whether the pathway from stress to VoA or the opposite pathway was stronger varied depending on the VoA considered. With increasing age, most VoA domains were less strongly associated with subsequent perceived stress. Our findings suggest that less favorable VoA predict higher perceived subsequent stress, but they are also preceded and predicted by higher levels of perceived stress.

The association between falls and autonomy in older adults is mediated by self-efficacy

Objective Falling has various physical and psychological consequences in older adults. We aimed at replicating previous findings that reported autonomy is associated with a history of falls and that this association is moderated by self-efficacy. We further assumed that cognitive function would moderate this relationship. Method We analyzed data from the German Ageing Survey (“Deutscher Alterssurvey,” DEAS, year 2017, n = 6626), a longitudinal cohort-based survey of individuals living in private households aged 40 and over in Germany. Results Linear regression confirmed that perceived autonomy was negatively associated with a history of falls. With higher self-efficacy, the association between falls and autonomy was less substantial. Further, we extend previous findings in that self-efficacy also mediated the effect of falls on perceived autonomy. Against our assumptions, cognition as measured with the digit-symbol substitution test predicted perceived autonomy but did not moderator this association. Discussion We conclude that interventions facilitating self-efficacy might ameliorate negative effects of falling on autonomy of older adults.

The Relationship between Income and Morbidity—Longitudinal Findings from the German Ageing Survey

It is often assumed that higher income contributes to physical health. Indeed, there is a huge amount of research showing a strong significant association between income and health. However, very few studies have used longitudinal data and an objective variable for health, such as morbidity. Therefore, this study aims to examine the association between the income and morbidity of individuals over time. Data from a total of four waves (year 2008 to year 2017) of the nationally representative German Ageing Survey was analyzed by linear fixed-effects regressions. The used equivalized income was based on the respondents’ monthly net household income. To obtain a comprehensive picture of the dependent variable morbidity, self-reported diseases, current symptoms, and physician-diagnosed diseases were examined. The analyses showed no significant association between percentage changes in income and morbidity in the total sample. Even after considering selected socioeconomic groups in further subgroup analyses, there was no significant within-person association found over time. In summary, the unexpected results of this study suggest that the previously assumed link between income and health in Germany may be called into question. Further research based on longitudinal studies is, therefore, required.

Resonant Retiring? Experiences of Resonance in the Transition to Retirement

In the process of life course transitions, relations between the self and the world transform, which can according to Hartmut Rosa be framed as resonance. This article focuses on the retirement transition and thus on the exit from gainful employment as one of the central spheres of our world relationship in late modernity. It raises the following questions: How do experiences of resonance change in the course of the retirement transition? Does the loss of gainful employment lead to disruptions or even the absence of resonance in terms of alienation? And which role do dimensions of social inequality, such as gender, income, education or mental health status play for resonance transformations in the transition to retirement? In terms of a reflexive mixed-methods design, this article combines quantitative panel data from the German Ageing Survey (2008–17) with a qualitative longitudinal study from the project “Doing Retiring” (2017–21). Our results show that the transition from work to retirement entails a specific “resonance choreography” that comprises a phase of disaffection (lack of resonance) at the end of one’s working life followed by a liminal phase in which people search for intensified experiences of resonance. We outline practices in which transitioning subjects seek out resonance, and the experiences they make within this process according to their social positions. We thereby find that the desire for resonance tends to be beyond intentional resonance management which manifests in products and services like coaching or wellness. In our conclusions, we discuss how resonance theory and retirement research/life course research can be fruitfully combined, but also highlight the methodological challenges the operationalization of resonance entails.

Pandora's Box

If you have started feeling your age or even older, stop right there! Feeling younger makes us feel better and healthier both physically and mentally; at least so say researchers from Germany. They examined longitudinal data collected over a period of three years (2014–2017) by the German Ageing Survey, with a mean age of 64 years (40–95). Controlling for baseline functional health and sociodemographic variables, they found that greater perceived stress was associated with a steeper decline in functional health, which increased with advancing chronological age. However, they also found that those who felt younger than their age showed a less steep decline in functional health and greater perceived stress was less strongly associated with functional health decline. Furthermore, they were less likely to feel stressed and this stress buffer effect was greater with increasing age.

Perceived Stress Predicts Subsequent Self-Reported Problems With Vision and Hearing: Longitudinal Findings From the German Ageing Survey

Although stress is a risk factor for various diseases in later life, its role for sensory abilities in the second half of life has rarely been empirically addressed. We examined if perceived stress at baseline predicts self-reported difficulties with vision and hearing 3 years later. We also explored whether chronological age is a moderator of associations between stress and sensory difficulties. Our sample was derived from the German Ageing Survey and consisted of n = 5,085 individuals aged 40–95 years ( M = 64.01 years, SD = 10.84 years). Controlling for baseline self-reported sensory functioning, socio-demographic indicators, self-rated health and chronic diseases, greater perceived stress at baseline predicted greater self-reported difficulties with vision and hearing 3 years later. The effect of stress did not vary by age. Our findings suggest that, from middle adulthood to advanced old age, stress is a risk factor for increases in self-perceived problems with vision and hearing.