There exists a hierarchical analysis of motivated human action (levels of activity analysis). Summary: Activity Theory is a framework or descriptive tool for a system. Continuity theory has replaced the need for debating the merits of the activity and disengagement theories. It takes the view that the aging process is delayed and the quality of life is enhanced when old people remain socially active. Havighurst's activity theory is at deliberate odds with what some perceive as the pessimism of disengagement theory. Also called: active aging 1.

Key Areas Covered. Activity theory was developed as a response to disengagement theory, and there is a marked difference between activity theory and disengagement theory.

The activity theory, also known as the implicit theory of aging, normal theory of aging, and lay theory of aging, proposes that successful ageing occurs when older adults stay active and maintain social interactions. Routine activity theory, from Cohen and Felson (1979), emphasizes that crime occurs when three elements converge: (1) a motivated offender, (2) a suitable target, and (3) the absence of a capable guardian.This theory includes the routine activities of both offender and victim. disengagement theory The disengagement theory of aging states that "aging is an inevitable, mutual withdrawal or disengagement, resulting in decreased interaction between the aging person and others in the social system he belongs to."

The theory assumes a positive relationship between activity and life satisfaction. The theory predicts that older adults that face role loss will substitute former roles with other alternatives. The activity theory of aging proposes that older adults are happiest when they stay active and maintain social interactions. Atchley 113 described this widely accepted theory as one in which the individual seeks continuity by linking things in the past with changes in the future. Activity theory proposes that successful aging occurs when older adults stay active and maintain social interactions. People are socio-culturally embedded actors (not processors or system components). Disengagement theory was the first theory of ageing developed by social scientists.
Activity theory reflects the functionalist perspective that the equilibrium, that an individual develops in middle age, should be maintained in later years.

Activity theory and disengagement theory are two major theories of ageing. Activity theory is compared and contrasted to disengagement theory and continuity theory as a functionalist theory of social gerontology.