The study of aging from an interdisciplinary perspective

One of the main subjects in sociology as well as other academic fields, particularly psychology and legal studies, is aging. This study aims to investigate how aging is conceptualized, explained, and quantified in sociology. As a result, the study will identify the various sociological ideas, data kinds, and approaches sociologists employ to study aging. Additionally, the study will examine how aging is studied in other fields, including psychology and legal studies.
Aging is a psychological process that occurs over time in organisms and produces changes in the body's physiology and biology as well as a loss in reaction time. Aging is among the greatest known risk factor for numerous diseases such as Alzheimer's disease, and is the leading cause of death across the globe. Despite these critical impacts of ageing on human lives, the causes of ageing are uncertain, leading to speculations and postulations. Consequently, the topic of ageing has an interdisciplinary appeal, with different disciplines seeking to explore its causes, signs and impacts. On its part, sociology seeks to explore the impacts of getting old on biological, psychological and social processes. Sociology explores aging using three major theories; the activity theory, social conflict theory and disengagement theory. Besides sociology, the topic of ageing has been explored under different discipline, chiefly, Psychology and Legal study. Psychology of aging attempts to explore the impacts of getting old on peoples psychological processes such as the thought process, while legal studies seeks to fix the legal age at which an individual is considered to be old, and the rights that should be accorded to the aged people.
2.0 Sociology of Aging
A. Definition, explanations and measure of aging from a sociologist perspective
Sociology of aging offers a comprehensive understanding of the process of aging and the aged, emphasizing on aging well. Sociology of aging explores demographics and trends of aging, as well as the amount and types of support needed by the aged
B. Sociological theories of aging
Disengagement theory- assumes that society must find ways through which older people should pave way for the young individuals, thus encourages the aged to disengage themselves from their previous roles and assume roles that suits their mental and physical decline.
Activity theory- focuses on individual's perception about the aging process, and assumes that older people are beneficial to both the society and themselves when they remain active in their previous roles.
Conflict theory- Argues that older people experience age-based prejudice and discrimination.
Psychology of aging
Definition, explanations and measure of aging from a sociologist perspective
Psychology of aging explores the effects of aging on cognitive, social & personality development of the aged, as well as the behavioral health problems attributed or to the natural aging.
Psychological theories of aging
Stage theories of human development- Argues that human development, including aging is a lifelong process. However, the theory argues that old age is not all about decline; older patients can adopt learn and adopt healthy behaviors and attitudes.
Cognitive plasticity and cognitive reserve- The theory argues that the old people can compensate for cognitive losses by using alternative strategies such as training to support their ability to adapt to various changes brought by old age
Selective optimization with compensation theory-argues that older adults can cope with age related losses by applying cognitive and behavioral strategies.
4.0. Study of aging in Legal studies
A. Definition, explanations and measure of aging
Aging is the process of getting old. Legal studies seek to fix the legal age at which an individual can considered a child, an adult or aged. Further, law defines the rights that should be accorded to the aged people.
5.0. Similarities and differences of the three disciplines pertinent to aging
6.0. Conclusion
Aging is one of the major topics in sociology as well as in other disciplines, especially psychology and legal studies.
Annotated Bibliography
Wernher, Iris, and Lipsky Martin. "Psychological Theories of Aging." Disease-a-Month, Vol. 61 no.1, 2015, pp. 480-488
Aging is an interdisciplinary subject that interests the psychologists as it interests the sociologists. However, psychologists are more interested in understanding and enhancing the different psychological changes that arise from aging. Wernher and Lipsky's article explores the different psychological theories of aging. According to the article, the psychological theories of ageing explore the psychological changes that results from ageing, as well as the adaptive psychological mechanisms (or lack) that helps counter the age related changes in cognitive abilities.
The article offers an in-depth exploration of the psychological theories of ageing, and is contained in the prestigious the ELSEVIER and Research gate journals of research, is a credible and reliable information source pertinent to the psychological theories of research. As such, the article will be used in exploring the different psychological theories of ageing.
Cannon, Melissa Lynn. "What is aging?" Disease-a-Month, Vol. 61, no. 11, 2015, pp.454 - 459
Aging is a human development process that leads to a variety of physical, sociological and even psychological changes over time. Cannon's article, What is aging? Provides an in-depth exploration of the topic of aging from an inter-disciplinary approach. The article details the different physical, sociological and even psychological changes that are attributed to the aging process, giving the reader a general overview of what aging is all about. Further, the article explores the topic of aging in relation to aging, informing the reader of the importance of the topic among human. For instance, the article explores the demographics of the old population among the people, and the impacts of old-age, such as predisposing the people to different diseases, as well as causing death.
Consequently, the article is a reliable source of information pertinent to the general information about old age since it helps us understand the importance of the topic. In addition, the article is contained in the ELSEVIER as well as Research gate journals of research, thus a credible source of information pertinent to old age and aging. The article will be used to lay the foundation of the research, explaining why the topic is important and why it receives an interdisciplinary allure.
DeLiema, M Marguerite and Bengtson, Vem. "Activity Theory, Disengagement Theory and Successful Aging." Encyclopedia of Geropsychology.
Sociological theories of ageing expound on the impacts of ageing on biological, psychological and social processes of an individual, and how the aged people affect the community. This article by DeLiema and Bengtson explores the different sociological theories of aging, namely, the activity and the Disengagement theory. Additionally, sociological theories of ageing explore the ways through which individuals can age successfully and possibly avoid the different diseases associated with growing old. Consequently, this article gives different approaches that can be adopted to promote successful aging.
This article is rich in information pertinent to ageing, especially on the sociological theories of ageing as well as the approaches to promote successful living. The article is written by scholars of Stanford University and from the universities of Southern California, thus is reliable and credible source of information pertinent to ageing. The research will use the article to explore the various sociological theories of ageing.

Works Cited
Cannon, Melissa Lynn. "What is aging?" Disease-a-Month, Vol. 61, no. 11, 2015, pp.454 - 459
DeLiema, M Marguerite and Bengtson, Vem. "Activity theory, Disengagement Theory and Successful Aging." Encyclopedia of Geropsychology.
Wernher, Iris, and Lipsky Martin. "Psychological Theories of Aging." Disease-a-Month, Vol. 61 no.1, 2015, pp. 480-488