In his lifespan developmental theory Havighurst, (1961) states that the finding of new activities to fill the increasing amount of free time is an essential developmental task for the young old, in preparation for older age. The third age can offer special opportunities for personal and interpersonal enrichment; sociology and adult education construct models of "productive age" (cf. Kohli & Künemund, 1996). These are based on the expectation that an active aging population might search for new roles and civic responsibilities, for example in volunteer work. Benefits can be expected both on an individual level and on a societal level: on the individual level, the person can still develop his/her potential for further personal growth, while on a societal level, the young old can provide valuable contributions, provided they search for- and find- appropriate activities. It is true that this age group makes contributions to society by supporting and helping children, grandchildren, and ailing parents (Kohli & Künemund, 2000), but in the public sphere they are almost invisible.

Time budget studies show that additional time gained when growing older is being used infrequently for seeking out new tasks and challenges (Breedveld & van den Broek, 2001). Free time gained is generally spent predominantly in two ways: firstly, people allow themselves more time to carry out their daily routines, secondly, they treat themselves more to life's little pleasures as evident particularly in the increasing desire to travel and go on outings (Timmer, Bode, & Dittmann-Kohli, 2003). In this study we wanted to center on enriching activities which are visible in the public sphere, so we selected participating in adult education and volunteer work. Participation in educational activities on average has already decreased in midlife even though there is a rich palette of all manner of courses on offer for senior citizens (Breedveld & van den Broek). The same is true for voluntary work. Society urgently needs voluntary effort on a broad front. Here as well, however, statistics show that voluntary work is more often performed whilst people are still in paid employment rather than after retirement (Kohli & Künemund, 2000). Given the advantages these activities can provide for both the individual and for society, it is worthwhile investigating which factors determine being active in these fields. We presupposed that those individuals who are active in this way have, among other special attributes, higher mastery beliefs than those who are not.

We wanted to gain better insight into the special characteristics of those people in the third age who participate in the productive activities of study and volunteering. Since, in our individualized society, personal experiences and beliefs of mastery are essential factors characterizing one's personal lifestyle choices, it is important to know to what extent and in which ways activities in the third age depend on mastery beliefs. We expected that the young old who participate in educational and voluntary activities would score higher on self-esteem, general control beliefs, effort to complete behavior, persistence in the face of adversity, and willingness to initiate behavior, as compared to those who do not participate in these activities.

In addition to the psychological characteristics of mastery beliefs as possible incentives in the pursuit of special activities, there are further influencing factors. In this study we controlled for several basic situational and demographic factors, including health, the precise age within the third age, gender, the level of education, income, and the degree of urbanization- that is, the size of the community in which the participants in the study lived. Poorer health and older age were supposed to affect the energy necessary for productive activities. Gender may play a role in the choice of third age activities because of the different work history of men and women in the older cohorts. With respect to education and income, earlier research suggests that those who are more highly educated and those who are wealthier have more plans for the third age (Timmer, Bode, & Dittmann-Kohli, 2003). Since we made use of a sample stratified on degree of urbanization, we expected that populations which were either largely urban or largely rural might have different preferences for, and possibilities of, being active in later life.

We studied a representative sample of the Dutch population which had been gathered for the Longitudinal Aging Study of Amsterdam (LASA; Deeg, Knipscheer, & van Tilburg, 1993). LASA is an interdisciplinary project initiated to investigate predictors and consequences of physical, cognitive, emotional, and social functioning in the Dutch population of those aged 55 years and older. The data used in this study were collected in face-to-face interviews.

The most recent interviews and examinations at our disposal took place in 1998/99, when the youngest participants were 61 years old. For this study on behavior in the third age, participants up to the age of 75 were included. In order to ensure a sample capable of valid self-assessments, we included only people without cognitive impairment. Cognitive impairment was indicated by a score higher than 23 on the Mini Mental State Examination (MMSE; Folstein, Folstein, & McHugh, 1975). The selected sample consisted of 1094 persons aged 61-75 years (M = 64.5, SD = 5.58), of whom 505 were male and 589 were female. Among the sample 64.7% were living with a partner and 35.3% were living alone. The majority (99.1%) were Dutch nationals.

Activities
The respondents stated whether or not they took part in educational and voluntary activities; thus participation was logged as a yes/no response. Educational activities were taken to include education leading to qualifications, courses concerning general knowledge, emancipation, creativity courses, language courses, and an “other” category. Since the various courses had relatively small numbers of participants, all educational activities were subsumed under the single variable "study". With respect to volunteering, two variables could be constructed, because the respondents indicated two kinds of engagement: administrative work (e.g, management tasks or serving on steering boards) and practical volunteering (work in the field).

Aspects of mastery beliefs
All aspects of mastery beliefs were examined by instruments which proved to be adequate for use in an elderly population (Smits, Deeg & Bosscher, 1995). In all instruments the beliefs were assessed on a 5-point Likert scale, ranging from strongly disagree to strongly agree. For analysis purposes negative answering categories were reversed, so that high scores reflected high beliefs in the respective aspect of mastery.

Self-esteem was assessed with the aid of four items (Tempelman, 1987), based on the concept of self-esteem developed by Rosenberg (1965):

I am satisfied with myself.
I am quite sure of myself.
Sometimes I feel useless.
I look positively at myself.

The internal consistency of the scale measured by Cronbach's alpha reached .67.

In the LASA survey control-beliefs were assessed via a 5-item version of the mastery scale constructed by Pearlin and Schooler (1978). For this scale Cronbach's alpha reached .69. The items are:

I have little control about things that happen to me. Some of my problems I can't seem to solve at all.
There is not much that I can do to change important things in my life.
I often feel helpless dealing with the problems of life. Sometimes I feel like a plaything of life.

Sherer et al. (1982) constructed a scale for the measurement of self-efficacy beliefs, including subscales for the measurement of the three components. On the basis of a pilot study the instrument was abbreviated by Bosscher, Laurijssen, and De Boer (1992). Effort to complete behavior, persistence in the face of adversity, and willingness to initiate behavior are subscales of self-efficacy tested and used in the LASA survey (Bosscher & Smit, 1998).

Willingness to initiate behavior (Cronbach's alpha = .64) is assessed by reaction to the following statements:

If something looks too complicated I will not even bother to try it.
I avoid trying to learn new things when they look too difficult.
When trying to learn something new I soon give up if I am not initially successful.

Assessing persistence in the face of adversity (Cronbach's alpha = .64) is stimulated by the statements:

When I set important goals for myself, I rarely achieve them.
I do not seem capable of dealing with most problems that come up in my life.
When unexpected problems occur, I don't handle them very well.
I feel insecure about my ability to do things.

Assessments of effort to complete behavior (Cronbach's alpha = .63) are measured by the following items:

When I make plans, I am certain I can make them work.
If I can't do a job the first time, I keep trying until I can.
When I have something unpleasant to do, I stick to it until I finish it.
Failure makes me try harder.

Situational and demographic characteristics

We controlled for age, gender, health, education, income, and degree of urbanization of the place of residence. The respondents subjectively assessed health on a five-point scale, ranging from excellent to poor. Level of education ranged from 1 (elementary school, not completed) to 9 (university education). The variable "income" takes into account the proportional household income of the person per month and was measured in 12 categories, ranging from 455 to more than 2270 Euro. Degree of urbanization was indicated by the number of addresses per square kilometer within a one-kilometer radius of the respondent's address.

Work/retirement status was not included in our study since, firstly, in the Netherlands most of the older women of the age range under examination had never been in the workforce, and secondly, in the Dutch population around the year 2000 few people older than 60 were still working. Furthermore, there is such a variety of preretirement facilities that classification would result in fragmentation of the sample into insignificantly small groups.

Statistical analyses

First mean scores of self-esteem, general mastery beliefs, willingness to initiate behavior, persistence in the face of adversity, and effort to complete behavior were compared for nonparticipants and participants in the activities under study. In a second step logistic regression analyses were carried out in order to find independent predictors for the three kinds of activities. In the regression model, we also included the demographic and situational variables age, gender, subjective health, level of education, income and degree of urbanization.

Study

As is shown in Table 1, the participants in adult education (N = 149) indicated higher self-esteem (t[1092] = 2.87**), willingness to initiate behavior (t[1092] = 6.87***), and persistence in the face of adversity (t[1092] = 3.75)***, than did those who do not participate. Participants and nonparticipants, however, did not differ significantly with respect to control beliefs and effort to complete behavior.

Independent effects of the respective aspects of mastery on participation or nonparticipation in fields of activities were examined by means of logistic regression analyses. Additionally, we controlled for possible effects of demographic and situational factors. The results are shown in Table 2.

Study

When controlling for the other aspects of mastery and for demographic and situational factors, willingness to initiate behavior showed a positive effect and thus emerged as an important precondition for study in young old age. Effort to complete behavior also seemed to be important. Self-esteem, general mastery beliefs, and persistence in the face of adversity did not appear to be associated with educational activities. However, gender and level of education had an effect: it was mainly women and those with a higher level of education who signed up for courses. The precise age within the age range, subjective health, income or degree of urbanization were not found to be influential factors in the uptake of education courses.

Volunteering: Administrative work

Among the aspects of mastery only persistence in the face of adversity emerged as a significant predictor of doing administrative work after controlling for the other variables. However, gender, education, age, and urbanization also showed effects. It was predominantly men and those with a higher educational level who took on such work. Furthermore, it was more likely that people in smaller communities would do this type of work. Within the age group under study these activities decreased with increasing age. Subjective health and income, however, did not show a significant effect.

Volunteering: Practical work

Persistence in the face of adversity emerged as a predictor of practical voluntary work among the aspects of mastery beliefs, too. However, effort to complete behavior also showed a positive effect. As with administrative work, the readiness to commit to practical volunteer work depended on the level of education, decreased with increasing age, and was higher in smaller communities. There was no significant gender effect.

In the present study we examined associations between two important kinds of productive activities in the third age; participation in education and volunteering, and different aspects of mastery beliefs. Our findings suggest that a general sense of mastery - as reflected in self-esteem and control beliefs - is not a precondition for study and volunteering work in the third age. However, special components of self-efficacy beliefs turned out to play a part. Willingness to initiate behavior emerged as a strong predictor for taking on educational activities, while persistence in the face of adversity was a strong predictor for taking on volunteering, both in the administrative and in the practical domain.

What can we conclude from our findings? Apparently participation in education does not require strong beliefs of mastery in general, but rather just the impetus to start, and the readiness to encounter new challenges and experiences. Courses taken up by older adults might provide immediate rewards through the pleasure of learning. Obviously this constitutes a goal in itself, described by Klinger (1999) as a "consummatory goal". But it is a pleasure largely for the initiated, for those who have already attained a higher level of education (cf. Clenell, 1990). How can the threshold for those “not in the know” be lowered? Can the concept of “learning for pleasure” still be a realistic notion for those whose earlier experiences in educational settings have not been positive? Further research in this area may prove worthwhile since the value of lifelong learning is beyond doubt. Such research would, however, also need to investigate the extent to which older people may be pursuing individual, nonorganized learning projects. This point has not been taken into account in this study.

Our findings with regard to volunteering, in both the administrative and practical arenas, draw our attention to another problem. If persistence in the face of adversity is an important precondition, obviously volunteering activities are not carried out primarily for immediate gratification but rather with more distant aims in mind, for example the pursuit of political or humanitarian ideas. Though volunteering, by definition, is for the benefit of others, the value of personal pleasure and reward ought not to be underestimated; in general, people are not inclined to voluntarily choose activities which confront them with situations that they find unpleasant. The importance of stamina uncovered in this study also shows that these activities demand long-term engagement and real commitment. In contrast, what the majority of retirees enjoy most is the "late freedom", the fact that they are no longer confined by long-term obligations. The outcomes indicate that short-term projects in volunteer work might better meet the interests of the elderly and might encourage more of them to contribute to society by volunteering. In the face of a growing third-age population it is worthwhile to consider possible restructuring in different fields of volunteer work, that is, the development of more personally rewarding and more short-term projects.

Our investigation of situational and demographic factors suggests that both involvement in education and public commitment to volunteer work are highly dependent on the level of education. Therefore we can expect that interest in these activities may increase, as more highly educated cohorts grow older.

Furthermore, participants in education are predominantly female. This is also shown in all statistical studies of participation in educational activities in older adult age (cf. Breedveld, & van den Broek, 2001; Clenell, 1990). Why men are less inclined to enroll in courses has as yet not been discovered. There is no indication that men would benefit less; they, too, can still expect a lifespan of many years in which to further their personal development. With respect to volunteering, men are more involved in administrative work than are women. This mirrors the tendency for management tasks to be predominantly taken on by men (Kohli & Künemund, 1996). It may prove fruitful to conduct further research into whether men and women use personal development opportunities in different ways.

The investigation of situational and demographic factors indicates another interesting point with respect to volunteering. The inclination to become involved is apparently furthered by a neighborhood culture which is sufficiently welcoming, often still found in smaller communities; this may explain the effect of urbanization. In an increasingly individualized society this result is also of importance. If one thinks that active membership of social and political associations is beneficial to both the individual and his/her community, and if one wishes to further promote such involvement, then it is necessary to respond to the need for more intimate communities, in which “people know each other”.

Surprisingly, health did not show any association with involvement in the activities under study. Among those who participate in productive activities, health does not seem to play a predominant role influencing their lifestyle. The same is true for the role of age with respect to further education; in the 61-75 age range, enrolment in courses does not depend on age. Commitment to tasks often helps divert attention away from ailments and releases new energy. This may be one of the reasons why state of health and age are not significant factors in this context.

Bandura, A. (1997). Self-efficacy: The exercise of control. New York: Freeman.

Bandura, A. (1999). A sociocognitive analysis of substance abuse: An agentic perspective. Psychological-Science, 10, 214-217.

Bandura, A. (2000). Social cognitive theory: An agentic perspective. Annual Review of Psychology, 52, 1-26.

Bosscher, R., Laurijssen, L., & de Boer, E. (1992). Competentie op later leeftijd: Eeen exploratieve studie. (Competence on old age: An explorative study). Bewegen & Hulpverlening., 3, 255-265.

Bosscher, R. J., & Smit, J. H. (1998). Confirmatory factor analysis of the General Self-Efficacy Scale. Behaviour Research and Therapy, 36, 339-343.

Breedveld, K., & Broek, A. (2001). Trends in de tijd. Recente ontwikkelingen in tijdsbesteding en tijdsordening (Trends in time. Recent development in spending and structuring time). Den Haag, Netherlands: SCP.

Clenell, S. (1990). Older students in Europe. Oxford: Open University.

Deeg, D. J. H., Knipscheer, C. P. M., & van Tilburg, W. (1993). Autonomy and well-being in the aging population: Concepts and design of the Longitudinal Aging Study Amsterdam. Bunnik: NL: Nederlands Instituut voor Gerontologie.

Folstein, M. F., Folstein, S. E., & McHugh, P. R. (1975). "Mini Mental State": A practical method for grading the cognitive state of patients for the clinician. Journal of the American Medical Association, 249, 2917-2921.

Havighurst, R. J. (1961). Human development and education. New York: Longman.

Klinger, E. (1999). The search for meaning in evolutionary perspective and its clinical implications. In P. Wong & P. Fry (Eds.). The human quest for meaning. A hand-book of psychological research and clinical applications (pp. 27-50). London: Lawrence Erlbaum.

Kohli, M., & Künemund, H. (1996). Nachberufliche Tätigkeitsfelder - Konzepte, Forschungslage, Empirie (Fields of activities in retirement. Concepts and research). Stutttgart, Germany: Kohlhammer.

Kohli, M., & Künemund, H. (Eds.), (2000). Die zweite Lebenshälfte - Gesellschaftliche Lage und Partizipation im Spiegel des Alterssurvey (The second half of life. Social situation and participation. Results from the Aging Survey). Opladen, Germany: Leske & Budrich.

Pearlin, L. J., & Schooler, C. (1978). The structure of coping. Journal of Health and Behavior, 19, 2-21.

Rosenberg, M. (1965). Society and the adolescent self-image. Princeton, NY: Princeton University Press.

Rotter, J. B. (1966). Generalized expectancies for internal versus external control of reinforcement. Psychological Monographs: General and Applied, 80, 1-28.

Schulz, R., & Heckhausen, J. (1996). A life span model of successful aging. American Psychologist, 51, 702-714.

Sherer, M., Maddux, J. E., Mercandante, B., Prentice-Dunn, S., Jacobs, B., & Rogers, R. W. (1982). The self-efficacy scale: Construction and validation. Psychological Reports, 42, 891-900.

Skinner, E. (1996). A guide to constructs of control. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 71, 549-570.

Smits, C., Deeg, D., & Bosscher, R. (1995). Well-being and control in older persons: The prediction of wellbeing from control measures. The International Journal of Aging and Human Development, 40, 237-251.

Tempelman, C. J. J. (1987). Welbevinden bij ouderen. Konstruktie van een meetin-strument (Wellbeing among the elderly. Construction of a measurement instrument). Dissertation University of Groningen, NL.

Timmer, E., Bode, C., & Dittmann-Kohli, F. (2003). Expectations of gains in the second half of life. A study of personal conceptions of enrichment in a lifespan perspective. Ageing and Society, 23, 3-24.

Bandura, A. (1997). Self-efficacy: The exercise of control. New York: Freeman.

Bandura, A. (1999). A sociocognitive analysis of substance abuse: An agentic perspective. Psychological-Science, 10, 214-217.

Bandura, A. (2000). Social cognitive theory: An agentic perspective. Annual Review of Psychology, 52, 1-26.

Bosscher, R., Laurijssen, L., & de Boer, E. (1992). Competentie op later leeftijd: Eeen exploratieve studie. (Competence on old age: An explorative study). Bewegen & Hulpverlening., 3, 255-265.

Bosscher, R. J., & Smit, J. H. (1998). Confirmatory factor analysis of the General Self-Efficacy Scale. Behaviour Research and Therapy, 36, 339-343.

Breedveld, K., & Broek, A. (2001). Trends in de tijd. Recente ontwikkelingen in tijdsbesteding en tijdsordening (Trends in time. Recent development in spending and structuring time). Den Haag, Netherlands: SCP.

Clenell, S. (1990). Older students in Europe. Oxford: Open University.

Deeg, D. J. H., Knipscheer, C. P. M., & van Tilburg, W. (1993). Autonomy and well-being in the aging population: Concepts and design of the Longitudinal Aging Study Amsterdam. Bunnik: NL: Nederlands Instituut voor Gerontologie.

Folstein, M. F., Folstein, S. E., & McHugh, P. R. (1975). "Mini Mental State": A practical method for grading the cognitive state of patients for the clinician. Journal of the American Medical Association, 249, 2917-2921.

Havighurst, R. J. (1961). Human development and education. New York: Longman.

Klinger, E. (1999). The search for meaning in evolutionary perspective and its clinical implications. In P. Wong & P. Fry (Eds.). The human quest for meaning. A hand-book of psychological research and clinical applications (pp. 27-50). London: Lawrence Erlbaum.

Kohli, M., & Künemund, H. (1996). Nachberufliche Tätigkeitsfelder - Konzepte, Forschungslage, Empirie (Fields of activities in retirement. Concepts and research). Stutttgart, Germany: Kohlhammer.

Kohli, M., & Künemund, H. (Eds.), (2000). Die zweite Lebenshälfte - Gesellschaftliche Lage und Partizipation im Spiegel des Alterssurvey (The second half of life. Social situation and participation. Results from the Aging Survey). Opladen, Germany: Leske & Budrich.

Pearlin, L. J., & Schooler, C. (1978). The structure of coping. Journal of Health and Behavior, 19, 2-21.

Rosenberg, M. (1965). Society and the adolescent self-image. Princeton, NY: Princeton University Press.

Rotter, J. B. (1966). Generalized expectancies for internal versus external control of reinforcement. Psychological Monographs: General and Applied, 80, 1-28.

Schulz, R., & Heckhausen, J. (1996). A life span model of successful aging. American Psychologist, 51, 702-714.

Sherer, M., Maddux, J. E., Mercandante, B., Prentice-Dunn, S., Jacobs, B., & Rogers, R. W. (1982). The self-efficacy scale: Construction and validation. Psychological Reports, 42, 891-900.

Skinner, E. (1996). A guide to constructs of control. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 71, 549-570.

Smits, C., Deeg, D., & Bosscher, R. (1995). Well-being and control in older persons: The prediction of wellbeing from control measures. The International Journal of Aging and Human Development, 40, 237-251.

Tempelman, C. J. J. (1987). Welbevinden bij ouderen. Konstruktie van een meetin-strument (Wellbeing among the elderly. Construction of a measurement instrument). Dissertation University of Groningen, NL.

Timmer, E., Bode, C., & Dittmann-Kohli, F. (2003). Expectations of gains in the second half of life. A study of personal conceptions of enrichment in a lifespan perspective. Ageing and Society, 23, 3-24.