Integrating Social Psychology and Aging Research: Toward a Social-Developmental Theory of Behavior

We consider 2 questions in this commentary. One is the extent to which the understanding of aging can be advanced by the application of social psychological theories. The second is the extent to which social-psychological theories can be enriched by considering issues in aging. We argue that the focus on situational causes ofbehavior in social psychological theories provides a vital balance to accounts of aging that have emphasized internal causes, and that the social psychological focus on process provides an important addition to more descriptive emphases. We also argue that applying social-psychological theories to issues in aging will strengthen their predictive power by necessitating greater attention to descriptive content as well as by revealing new moderator variables and domains of inquiry. Finally, we offer several methodological suggestions for future research. Ultimately, integrating social psychology and aging research will build social-developmental theories that are more powerful than either social or developmental theories alone.