Social representations of satisfaction with life in the retired elderly/Representacoes sociais da satisfacao com a vida de idosos aposentados/Representaciones sociales de la satisfaccion con la vida de ancianos jubilados

Introduction: The aging process and the retirement period are not isolated phenomena. Notions and concepts about life are social representations which will directly impact the way individuals experience these phases. For this reason, it's important to understand the satisfaction with life in elderly retirees approached according to their sociodemographic characteristics. Materials and methods: 300 retired elderly people went through a structured and semi-structured interview, which addressed sociodemographic variables and satisfaction with life. The statistical analysis of the research was done using Statistical Package for Social Sciences, version 20. Results: Of the 300 elderly people evaluated, 61.7% were female; the majority stayed in school only up to middle school (61.6%), 52% are married or live with a partner; had an average age of 74.33 [+ or -] 6.61 years; average income was R$ 2317.8 [+ or -] 2259.8; and average number of children was 2.12 [+ or -] 2.0. When assessing life satisfaction according to these variables, the only statistically significant difference was the number of children (p = 0.00037). Discussion: Social representations of the retired elderly about their satisfaction with life have made it possible to show that a restructuring of the impact that retirement has on an individual's life is taking place. This change can allow to overcome psycho-socio-historical difficulties of aging and retirement. Conclusions: The way aging individuals manage to maintain a positive psychological performance and increase their satisfaction with life upon retirement is an important issue for society. Keywords: Aging; Retirement; Personal satisfaction. Introducao: O processo de envelhecimento e o periodo da aposentadoria nao ocorrem ao sujeito isoladamente. Concepcoes correntes da sociedade acerca de tais movimentos da vida, que sao as representacoes sociais, interferirao diretamente na forma como os individuos experienciam essas fases. Por isso e importante compreender a satisfacao com a vida em idosos aposentados segundo suas caracteristicas sociodemograficas. Materiais e metodos: Foram avaliados 300 idosos aposentados por meio de uma entrevista estruturada e semiestruturada, que abordou as variaveis sociodemograficas e a satisfacao com a vida. Foi utilizado o software Statistical Package for Social Sciences versao 20 para analise estatistica. Resultados: Dos 300 idosos avaliados, 61,7% eram do sexo feminino; a maioria estudou ate o nivel fundamental