Gerontology Theories & Terms

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Activity Theory

(Havighurst, Nuegarten & Tobin, 1968; Lemon, Bengston & Peterson, 1972)

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is a theory that states that successful aging comes from remaining involved and active. It also states that the older adult should do the same activities that were done in middle-age, given restrictions. This theory emerged as a response to the disengagement theory. This theory is found to be easily testable and empirically supported.

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Age Stratification Theory

(Matilda White Riley, et al., 1972; Dowd, 1980)

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Society is divided into strata by social class and age. Members in the age strate have different social roles, rights and privileges. This includes birth cohorts (baby boomers), age norms (age appropriate expectations), and structural lag (social structures that don’t match population and individual capacity)

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Continuity Theory

(Havinghurst, 1963; Atchley, 1971)

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states that as a person ages, they adapt by preserving a continuity with their past experiences. Internal continuity includes memory, temperament, skills, etc. External continuity includes role relationships and activities.

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Disengagement Theory

(Cuming and Henry, 1961)

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is the first social theory of aging that is based on the idea that older persons disengage from roles and activities as they get older. This theory is not supported in empirical studies but may have some validity for those approaching death.

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Exchange Theory

(Homans, 1961; Dowd, 1975, 1980)

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Social exchange is governed by the relationship between actors’ costs and rewards (the greater the costs, the greater the rewards). People maximize their rewards and minimize their costs in interactions.

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Feminist Theory

(Calasanti and Slevin, 2001)

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This theory discusses the economic and power relations between men and women and how gender alters the experience of aging. This ties in with gender stratification.

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Life course theory/perspective

(Bengston & Allen, 1993)

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This theory states that as you move through life you take on socially defined roles and responsibilities. There are expectations for successive life stages. Even if an individual does not follow the normal life course, deviation is still defined in terms of the expected life course.

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Life span development theory

(Baltes, Lindenberger & Staudinger, 1998)

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This theory concerns the study of individual development from conception to death. A key assumption of this theory is that development does not cease when adulthood is reached.

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Modernization Theory

(O'Rand, 1990)

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The theory is the effect of modernization on the change in role and status of older people. As the economy became more industrial, the status (power and influence) of older people declines. An example of this is the loss of applicable knowledge to new environment, such as technology.

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Person-environment Theory

(Lawton, 1986)

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Lawton suggests that the fit between a person and his or her environment can actually have an impact on how competently individuals can get by in their everyday lives. Lawton’s classic model of the relationship between behavior and the environment visually depicts the optimal fit between environmental press that encourages maximum performance by the individual, as well as potential negative outcomes for the person if the environment demands too much or too little.

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Political economy of aging theory

(Estes et al, 1984)

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The economic class conflict is at the root of political processes in capitalist democracies. Age, gender and race exacerbate the effects of class conflict. Major social institutions (corporations and government) create structured dependency for older adults. There is potential generational conflict.

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Role Theory

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Theory that states that older adults are more likely to lose roles, rather than acquire new ones. These losses are largely irreversible and may lead to erosion of self-identity and decline in self-esteem. Other important variables associated with role theory are identification as old and measure of self-image.

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Structural lag theory

(Riley, Kahn, and Foner, 1994)

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the tendency for the social structure of roles, norms, and social institutions to change more slowly, and thus lag behind, changes in peoples’ lives.

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Social Constructionism theory

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Theory that states how individuals actively participate in their everyday lives by creating and maintaining social meanings for themselves and those around them.

“Social processes of interaction” – individual behavior produces a reality which in turn structures individual lives

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Societal selectivity theory/Socioemotional selectivity theory

(Laura Carstensen, 1993)

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Is a motivational model of life span development that argues that the selection of goals is influenced by the perception of time. This theory claims that constraints on time are associated with the prioritization of emotional goals that are typically embedded within emotionally close social relationships

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Stress and Coping Theory

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As an individual ages, he or she experiences stress through the problems and hardships that threatens his or her well-being. Coping involves the usage of personal resources needed to adapt, such as behavioral strategies, social support and self-efficacy belief

There are three types of stress: Ambient strains (interactions with community/neighbors), role strains (institutionalized role, especially within family) and quotidian strains (logistical problems with ADLs and IADLs)

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Subculture Theory

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A theory that people who share similar interests, problems, and concerns will form a subculture; the aged are believed to have a positive affinity for eachother