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The theory distinguishes normal aging from pathological aging, neglecting the older adults with chronic illness. The feminist theories criticise the continuity theory for defining normal aging around a male model. [6] Another weakness of the theory is that it fails to demonstrate how social institutions impact the individuals and the way they age.
Biomedical theories hold that one can age successfully by caring for physical health and minimizing loss in function, whereas psychosocial theories posit that capitalizing upon social and cognitive resources, such as a positive attitude or social support from neighbors, family, and friends, is key to aging successfully. [7]
Biogerontology should not be confused with geriatrics, which is a field of medicine that studies the treatment of existing disease in aging people, rather than the treatment of aging itself. There are numerous theories of aging, and no one theory has been entirely accepted.
The activity theory and the disengagement theory were the two major theories that outlined successful aging in the early 1960s. [4] The theory was developed by Robert J. Havighurst in 1961. [ 1 ] In 1964, Bernice Neugarten asserted that satisfaction in old age depended on active maintenance of personal relationships and endeavors.
Socioemotional selectivity theory (SST; developed by Stanford psychologist Laura L. Carstensen) is a life-span theory of motivation. The theory maintains that as time horizons shrink, as they typically do with age, people become increasingly selective, investing greater resources in emotionally meaningful goals and activities.
Disengagement theory was formulated by Cumming and Henry in 1961 in the book Growing Old and was the first theory of aging that social scientists developed. [5] Thus, the theory has historical significance in gerontology. Since then, it has faced strong criticism since the theory was proposed as innate, universal, and unidirectional. [6]
Gerontology (/ ˌ dʒ ɛr ən ˈ t ɒ l ə dʒ i / JERR-ən-TOL-ə-jee) is the study of the social, cultural, psychological, cognitive, and biological aspects of aging.The word was coined by Ilya Ilyich Mechnikov in 1903, from the Greek γέρων (gérōn), meaning "old man", and -λογία (), meaning "study of".
There are also data which query whether, as activity theory implies, greater social activity is linked with well-being in adulthood. [55] Selectivity theory mediates between the activity and disengagement theories and suggests that it may benefit older people to become more active in some aspects of their lives and more disengaged in others. [55]