How Did the Disengagement Theory Develop

Disengagement theory was the first theory of aging developed by social scientists. It was originally formulated by Elaine Cumming and Warren Earl Henry in their 1961 book Growing Old. In Growing Old, Cumming and Henry develop a logical argument for why older adults would naturally disengage from society.

When was the activity theory developed?

Developed by Havighurst and Albrecht in 1953, activity theory addresses the issue of how persons can best adjust to the changing circumstances of old age – e.g., retirement, illness, loss of friends and loved ones through death, etc.

What is a disengagement theory in psychology?

a theory proposing that old age involves a gradual withdrawal of the individual from society and of society from the individual. According to this theory, those happiest in old age have turned their attention inward toward the self and away from involvement in the outside world.