Attitudes of retired men toward conjugal life: the Israeli context: the Israeli context

The article compares the altitudes of pre-retired and retired Israeli men (two to ten years after retirement) toward specific aspects of conjugal life. These included instrumental, normative, and expressive aspects of conjugal life (i.e., balance of resources, attitudes toward gender roles, and emotional commitment toward the spouse), as well as conjugal power relations. The findings revealed several differences between the pre-retired and retired respondents: The pre-retired husbands reported a greater advantage over their wives than the retirees in the area of health resources. In contrast, the retirees reported agreater power advantage than pre-retired husbands in the social aspect of marital life. Similarly, the retirees reported a higher level of emotional commitment toward their wives than the pre-retired respondents, and their attitudes toward gender roles were more conservative. The differences between pre-retired and retired men were maintained even when the wife continued working after her husband's retirement. At the same time, the attitudes of the retired men toward conjugal life remained stable throughout the different stages of retirement. In light of the se findings, several practical suggestions are proposed for family counselors dealing with couples in the later stages of marriage in the Israeli context.