Interpersonal communication as cultural practice: building resilience among retired older adults experiencing post-retirement syndrome in Bandung, Indonesia

This study explores the role of interpersonal communication in fostering psychosocial resilience among older adults experiencing post-retirement syndrome in Bandung, Indonesia. Retirement often involves the loss of professional roles, daily routines, and social recognition, which may lead to emotional distress, identity disruption, and social withdrawal in later life. Using a qualitative approach with a single case-study design, this research involved nine retired older adults selected through purposive sampling with a maximum variation strategy. Data were collected through in-depth interviews, participant observation, and documentation, and analyzed using pattern matching, explanation building, and logic model techniques. The analysis was guided by the Communication Theory of Resilience, which conceptualizes resilience as a communicatively constructed process. The findings indicate that resilience emerges through five interrelated communicative subprocesses: crafting normalcy, affirming identity anchors, maintaining and using communication networks, putting alternative logics to work, and legitimizing negative feelings while remaining productive. The study also identifies empathic, reflective, and contextual interpersonal communication as key forms that support emotional wellbeing, social recognition, and a sense of purpose during retirement. This study concludes that resilience in later life is a relational and culturally grounded accomplishment enacted through everyday communication practices.