Cumulative Advantage/Disadvantage and the Life Course: Cross-Fertilizing Age and Social Science Theory
Abstract
Age and cumulative advantage/disadvantage theory have obvious logical, theoretical, and empirical connections, because both are inherently and irreducibly related to the passage of time. Over the past 15 years, these connections have resulted in the elaboration and application of the cumulative advantage-disadvantage perspective in social gerontology, especially in relation to issues of heterogeneity and inequality. However, its theoretical origins, connections, and implications are not widely understood. This article reviews the genesis of the cumulative advantage/disadvantage perspective in studies of science, its initial articulation with structural-functionalism, and its expanding importance for gerontology. It discusses its intellectual relevance for several other established theoretical paradigms in sociology, psychology, and economics. On the basis of issues deriving from these perspectives and from the accumulating body of work on cumulative advantage and disadvantage, I identify several promising directions for further research in gerontology.
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Other types of inequality figure prominently in life course research, illustrated by the field's long-standing interest in the role of gender, race, class, and other inequalities in producing divergent financial and health outcomes.
“Ironically, other types of inequality figure prominently in life course research, illustrated in the field's long-standing interest in the role of gender, race, class, and other inequalities in producing divergent financial and health outcomes (e.g., Dannefer 2003, DiPrete & Eirich 2006, O'Rand 1996).”
From Centering Age Inequality: Developing a Sociology-of-Age Framework (2022) · cites this paper as Dannefer 2003
Life course sociology offers insights into how age operates as a system of inequality.
“Another area of sociological scholarship-life course sociology-also offers insights into how age operates as a system of inequality.”
From Centering Age Inequality: Developing a Sociology-of-Age Framework (2022) · cites this paper as Dannefer 2003
Life course sociology highlights age as a social category, as indicated by its focus on age, cohort, and generational groups.
“It highlights age as a social category, as indicated by its focus on age, cohort, and generational groups (e.g., Dannefer 2003, Elder 1975, Elder et al. 2003, Riley 1987, Settersten 2017), and while it often fails to draw an explicit link between these categories and age inequality, it nevertheless lays theoretical groundwork by orienting to age as a meaningful dimension of difference.”
From Centering Age Inequality: Developing a Sociology-of-Age Framework (2022) · cites this paper as Dannefer 2003
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References 120 · Cited by 2,091
- Authors
- Dannefer, D.
- Affiliations
- University of Rochester (US)
- Corresponding author
- Dannefer, D.
- ORCID
- Dannefer, D.
- Venue
- The Journals of Gerontology Series B: Psychological Sciences and Social Sciences
- Publisher
- Oxford University Press (OUP)
- Published
- 2003-11-01
- Volume
- 58
- Issue
- 6
- Pages
- S327-S337
- ISSN
- 1079-5014 (ISSN-L)
- 1758-5368
- OpenAlex
- W2122676686
- Cited by
- 2,091
- References
- 120
- Citations by year
- 2026: 237 · 2025: 205 · 2024: 145 · 2023: 142 · 2022: 104 · 2021: 175 · 2020: 123 · 2019: 113 · 2018: 120 · 2017: 88 · 2016: 115 · 2015: 101 · 2014: 70 · 2013: 63 · 2012: 50
- FWCI
- 3.64
- Type
- journal article
- Language
- en
- Open access
- closed
- Locations
- The Journals of Gerontology Series B (publishedVersion)
- PubMed (publishedVersion)
- Topics
- Social Sciences › Psychology › Neuropsychology and Physiological Psychology › Aging and Gerontology Research
- Social Sciences › Health › Health disparities and outcomes
- Social Sciences › Sociology and Political Science › Intergenerational and Educational Inequality Studies
- Keywords
- Matthew effect, cumulative disadvantage, life course, social gerontology, structural functionalism, heterogeneity, inequality
- MeSH terms
- Aged, Aging, Economics, Geriatrics, Humans, Interprofessional Relations, Middle Aged, Research Design, Social Conditions, Social Sciences
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