MOTIVATIONS FOR EDUCATIONAL PARTICIPATION BY RETIREES: THE EXPRESSIVE‐INSTRUMENTAL CONTINUUM REVISITED

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Abstract
Despite considerable research effort, attempts to characterize the continuing education goals of older adults along an instrumental‐expressive continuum have proven inconclusive, bringing into question the utility of an instrumental‐expressive conceptualization in explaining adult educational pursuits. Based on the analysis of 490 randomly sampled retired participants in postretirement educational courses/programs, this research found that nearly two out of three subjects in the study reported both instrumental and expressive motivations for their educational participation furthermore, the correlation between separate scales of expressive and instrumental goals was significantly positive. The feasibility of treating instrumental and expressive factors independently, rather than as two anchors of an underlying continuum, is discussed.