Spotlight on Age: An Overlooked Construct in Medical Sociology
Abstract
Medical sociology gives limited attention to age—a surprising observation given the aging of the population and the fact that age is among the strongest determinants of health. We examine this issue through an analysis of articles published in Journal of Health and Social Behavior ( JHSB) and Sociology of Health & Illness ( SHI) between 2000 and 2019. One in 10 articles focused on age or aging, with attention increasing over the period. However, the journals differed. More JHSB than SHI articles addressed it, but fewer focused on the latest life stages when frailty often appears. We discuss three dimensions of age that would enrich medical sociology: as a dimension of inequality akin to race and gender with similar health effects, as an institution interacting with the medical one, and as an identity—again, akin to race and gender—through which people process their experiences in ways that affect health.
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Content analyses reveal that sociology's attention to the broad theme of age, aging, or the life course is, in fact, a focus on life course principles.
“Further evidence is found in content analyses revealing that sociology's attention to the broad theme of age, aging, or the life course is, in fact, a focus on life course principles (Barrett & Michael 2022, Barrett et al. 2012).”
From Centering Age Inequality: Developing a Sociology-of-Age Framework (2022) · cites this paper as Barrett & Michael 2022
Sociology gives limited attention to age.
“Similar to other social science disciplines, sociology gives limited attention to age.”
From Centering Age Inequality: Developing a Sociology-of-Age Framework (2022) · cites this paper as Barrett & Michael 2022
Research applying the life course perspective has proliferated since its inception in the 1970s and has come to dominate the discipline's approach to age.
“Research applying the life course perspective has proliferated since its inception in the 1970s and has come to dominate the discipline's approach to age.”
From Centering Age Inequality: Developing a Sociology-of-Age Framework (2022) · cites this paper as Barrett & Michael 2022
Age is a primary determinant of health.
“an especially low percentage considering that age is a primary determinant of health (Barrett & Michael 2022).”
From Centering Age Inequality: Developing a Sociology-of-Age Framework (2022) · cites this paper as Barrett & Michael 2022
Cites
Stereotype Embodiment: A Psychosocial Approach to Aging
Levy, B. (2009) · Current Directions in Psychological Science · doi:10.1111/j.1467-8721.2009.01662.x · Cited by 1,822 · see citing works
From Sex Roles to Gendered Institutions
Acker, J. (1992) · Contemporary Sociology · doi:10.2307/2075528 · Cited by 1,140 · cited 1× · see citing works
“Rather than being reduceable to biology or psychology, gender operates at a structural level and is “a property of collectivities, institutions, and historical processes” (Connell 1987:139; see also Acker 1992; Lorber 1994; Martin 2004)—an observation that also applies to age.”
BackgroundKessler, R. C., Birnbaum, H., Bromet, E., Hwang, I., Sampson, N., & Shahly, V. (2010) · Psychological Medicine · doi:10.1017/s0033291709990213 · Cited by 542 · see citing works
‘But obviously not for me’: robots, laboratories and the defiant identity of elder test users
Neven, L. (2010) · Sociology of Health & Illness · doi:10.1111/j.1467-9566.2009.01218.x · Cited by 273 · see citing works
Medicalization and the Refashioning of Age-Related Limits on Sexuality
Marshall, B. L. (2012) · The Journal of Sex Research · doi:10.1080/00224499.2011.644597 · Cited by 63 · cited 1× · see citing works
“Applied to aging, it defines phenomena like wrinkles, menopause, erectile dysfunction, and low bone density as conditions needing medical intervention (e.g., Berkowitz 2017; Kroløkke and Bach 2020; Marshall 2012; Santora and Skolbekken 2011).”
BackgroundWhat is new with old? What old age teaches us about inequality and stratification
Abramson, C. M., & Portacolone, E. (2017) · Sociology Compass · doi:10.1111/soc4.12450 · Cited by 22 · see citing works
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Centering Age Inequality: Developing a Sociology-of-Age Framework
Barrett, A. E. (2022) · Annual Review of Sociology · doi:10.1146/annurev-soc-083121-043741 · Cited by 41 · see citing works
Self-citation
- Authors
- Barrett, A. E., & Michael, C.
- Affiliations
- Florida State University (US)
- Corresponding author
- Barrett, Anne E.
- ORCID
- Barrett, Anne E.
- Venue
- Journal of Health and Social Behavior
- Publisher
- SAGE Publications
- Published
- 2022-03-01
- Volume
- 63
- Issue
- 2
- Pages
- 177-190
- ISSN
- 0022-1465 (ISSN-L)
- 2150-6000
- OpenAlex
- W4214554464
- Cited by
- 12
- References
- 6
- Citations by year
- 2026: 1 · 2025: 5 · 2024: 4 · 2023: 1 · 2022: 1
- FWCI
- 2.12
- Type
- journal article
- Language
- en
- Open access
- closed
- Locations
- Journal of Health and Social Behavior (publishedVersion)
- PubMed (publishedVersion)
- Topics
- Social Sciences › Health › Health disparities and outcomes
- Social Sciences › Psychology › Neuropsychology and Physiological Psychology › Aging and Gerontology Research
- Health Sciences › Medicine › Public Health, Environmental and Occupational Health › Aging, Health, and Disability
- Keywords
- age, aging, medical sociology, health disparities, frailty, life stages, social determinants of health
- MeSH terms
- Aging, Gender Identity, Humans, Social Behavior, Sociology, Sociology, Medical
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