Researcher Profile: Doug Hershey

Doug Hershey obtained his Ph.D. in Adult Development and Aging from the University of Southern California (1990). He is currently a Professor of Experimental Psychology at Oklahoma State University, where he also serves as Director of the Retirement Planning Research Laboratory. He has published more than 70 empirical articles on the development of life planning and decision making, with a special interest in the psychological factors that motivate individuals to plan for the future and save for old age. Hershey became a lifetime Fellow of the Gerontological Society of America in 2003, and in 2007 and 2015 he spent one-year terms as a Fellow-in-Residence at the Netherlands Institute for Advanced Studies (NIAS) in The Hague. When not working in the lab, Hershey can usually be found riding his bicycle through the beautiful rolling hills of North Central Oklahoma

Adaptation or Exploration? Understanding Older Workers' Plans for Post-Retirement Paid and Volunteer Work

Numerous investigations have sought to understand the types of individuals who engage in post-retirement work. However, little is known about why older adults are motivated to engage. The aim of the present article is to examine the extent to which two possible mechanisms—adaptation (adjusting to the loss of work role) and exploration (retirement as opportunity to engage in activities in line with personal values)—play a role in explaining planning for paid work or volunteering after retirement. Analyses are based on large-scale survey data collected in 2015 among older workers in the Netherlands (N = 6,278). Results show that the large majority of older Dutch workers have plans for post-retirement paid and/or volunteer work. Moreover, both mechanisms appear to contribute to the understanding of post-retirement work plans, yet in different ways. Specifically, older workers who expect to miss latent work functions are more likely to have plans for post-retirement work, with their general values guiding the type of work they gravitate toward. Having plans for post-retirement paid work was more prevalent among older workers who attached more importance to personal growth, whereas having plans for volunteer work was more prevalent among older workers who had a stronger social orientation. Moreover, results suggest that men, more often than women, translate the anticipated loss of latent work functions into plans for post-retirement paid work. These insights regarding the motivational antecedents of post-retirement work plans are highly relevant in light of policy discussions of active and healthy aging

Perceptions of Retirement Savings Relative to Peers

Do individuals’ perceptions of how much others save for retirement influence their own long-range financial saving decisions? In this study, social comparison theory was used as a theoretical touchstone for understanding the impact of interpersonal perceptions on saving behavior. Respondents (N = 224) reported not only the amount they had saved for retirement during the previous year, but they also reported perceptions of the magnitude of their savings relative to peers and completed 6 psychological scales related to retirement planning. A 2-stage ordinary least squares (OLS) regression approach was used to examine: (a) the extent to which nine demographic indicators were predictive of individuals’ retirement savings practices, and (b) whether unexplained savings from the initial regression model could be hierarchically predicted using the 6 psychological scales and perceptions of one’s savings relative to peers. The findings suggest that social comparisons do account for savings practices over and above demographic and psychological indicators. Results are discussed in terms of how individuals’ implicit social comparisons might shape not only their perceptions, but also their saving behavior

Viral capsids: Mechanical characteristics, genome packaging and delivery mechanisms

The main functions of viral capsids are to protect, transport and deliver their genome. The mechanical properties of capsids are supposed to be adapted to these tasks. Bacteriophage capsids also need to withstand the high pressures the DNA is exerting onto it as a result of the DNA packaging and its consequent confinement within the capsid. It is proposed that this pressure helps driving the genome into the host, but other mechanisms also seem to play an important role in ejection. DNA packaging and ejection strategies are obviously dependent on the mechanical properties of the capsid. This review focuses on the mechanical properties of viral capsids in general and the elucidation of the biophysical aspects of genome packaging mechanisms and genome delivery processes of double-stranded DNA bacteriophages in particular

Deep Sequencing the Transcriptome Reveals Seasonal Adaptive Mechanisms in a Hibernating Mammal

Mammalian hibernation is a complex phenotype involving metabolic rate reduction, bradycardia, profound hypothermia, and a reliance on stored fat that allows the animal to survive for months without food in a state of suspended animation. To determine the genes responsible for this phenotype in the thirteen-lined ground squirrel (Ictidomys tridecemlineatus) we used the Roche 454 platform to sequence mRNA isolated at six points throughout the year from three key tissues: heart, skeletal muscle, and white adipose tissue (WAT). Deep sequencing generated approximately 3.7 million cDNA reads from 18 samples (6 time points ×3 tissues) with a mean read length of 335 bases. Of these, 3,125,337 reads were assembled into 140,703 contigs. Approximately 90% of all sequences were matched to proteins in the human UniProt database. The total number of distinct human proteins matched by ground squirrel transcripts was 13,637 for heart, 12,496 for skeletal muscle, and 14,351 for WAT. Extensive mitochondrial RNA sequences enabled a novel approach of using the transcriptome to construct the complete mitochondrial genome for I. tridecemlineatus. Seasonal and activity-specific changes in mRNA levels that met our stringent false discovery rate cutoff (1.0×10−11) were used to identify patterns of gene expression involving various aspects of the hibernation phenotype. Among these patterns are differentially expressed genes encoding heart proteins AT1A1, NAC1 and RYR2 controlling ion transport required for contraction and relaxation at low body temperatures. Abundant RNAs in skeletal muscle coding ubiquitin pathway proteins ASB2, UBC and DDB1 peak in October, suggesting an increase in muscle proteolysis. Finally, genes in WAT that encode proteins involved in lipogenesis (ACOD, FABP4) are highly expressed in August, but gradually decline in expression during the seasonal transition to lipolysis

RETIREMENT TRANSITIONS 1 Impact of Different Types of Retirement Transitions on Perceived Satisfaction with Life

Abstract Purpose: This study examines how life satisfaction changes as a function of the transition into retirement, distinguishing between different types of voluntary and involuntary exits. Design and Methods: Perceived satisfaction with life was measured among 1,388 older Dutch workers on two occasions, separated by six years. During that time, more than half of participants (54 percent) left full-time employment and entered retirement. Results: Those who made a voluntarily departure from the workforce reported higher levels of perceived satisfaction with life, compared to those who remained employed, whereas the life satisfaction scores of those whose departure was involuntary (due to health reasons, organizational reasons) were found to be the lowest. Other factors that had an effect on satisfaction included positive and negative health changes experienced during the six year interim, as well as changes in marital status due to divorce or loss of a spouse. Implications: These findings have important theoretical implications for the understanding of factors that shape individuals' perceptions of how they view the quality of their lives. From an applied perspective, the findings have implications for the development of organizational initiatives aimed at helping workers transition into retirement in such a way as to maintain high levels of subjective well-being

Adaptation or Exploration? Understanding Older Workers' Plans for Post-Retirement Paid and Volunteer Work

Numerous investigations have sought to understand the types of individuals who engage in post-retirement work. However, little is known about why older adults are motivated to engage. The aim of the present article is to examine the extent to which two possible mechanisms—adaptation (adjusting to the loss of work role) and exploration (retirement as opportunity to engage in activities in line with personal values)—play a role in explaining planning for paid work or volunteering after retirement. Analyses are based on large-scale survey data collected in 2015 among older workers in the Netherlands (N = 6,278). Results show that the large majority of older Dutch workers have plans for post-retirement paid and/or volunteer work. Moreover, both mechanisms appear to contribute to the understanding of post-retirement work plans, yet in different ways. Specifically, older workers who expect to miss latent work functions are more likely to have plans for post-retirement work, with their general values guiding the type of work they gravitate toward. Having plans for post-retirement paid work was more prevalent among older workers who attached more importance to personal growth, whereas having plans for volunteer work was more prevalent among older workers who had a stronger social orientation. Moreover, results suggest that men, more often than women, translate the anticipated loss of latent work functions into plans for post-retirement paid work. These insights regarding the motivational antecedents of post-retirement work plans are highly relevant in light of policy discussions of active and healthy aging