Late adulthood is categorize as the time that people are nearing the end of their lives, age 60 to death. Some older adults accept dying more easily than others. Social cognition and regulation in older adults show that they express who they are to people by telling them what they did in the past when it comes to careers, or families. By expressing these things it helps them to maintain a sense of self, and independence. (p. 618) The continuity theory (Atchley, 1989) says that people change less when aging then they stay the same. (p 599) What this mean, is that if their routines have remained the same the changes into late adulthood are subtle and doesn't have a great impact on their life. The identity of who they are remains the same the older that they get because of continuous activities in their life.

When older adults began to withdraw from society, and feels that society is withdrawing from them, this is known as the disengagement theory. The disengagement theory was based on Jung’s and Erikson observation of people as they got older. (p 600) Some older adults may choose to leave society where others may be forced out of the society that they know because of possible illness or old age. Older people are sometimes forced out of jobs because of they may not can be able to complete assignments in the same timely manner that they once did.Some people who have reached old age choose to remain active by volunteering in positions that were similar to the work that they use to do.

Comparing these two theories with each other, they both suggest that if the older adult is active and part of society then they aren't effected by age as it increase. Contrasting the two points out where the continuity theory say that changes are not as noticeable if the older adult continues routine, and the disengagement theory suggest that both society and the older adult withdraw from each other no matter the circumstances.

Reference: Jose B. Ashford and Craig Winston Lecroy: Human Behavior in the Social Environment, A multidimensional Perspective