[…] the later stage of life is marked by role exits (involuntary retirement and widowhood), declines in physical function and decreased sense of control, which challenge mental health (Mirowsky and Ross 1992). The creative structuring of role occupancy is an ongoing interpretive process that is distinct from the structural notion of role taking. […] structure never operates without reflexivity (Archer 1995, 2007) and the social theorist would do well to supplement the structural theory with the explanatory language of interpretive sociology and social psychology.