CONTINUITY VS. DISCONTINUITY

 

Continuity and discontinuity are two competing theories in developmental psychology that attempt to explain how people change through the course of their lives, where the continuity theory says that someone changes throughout their life along a smooth course while the discontinuity theory instead contends that people change abruptly. These changes can be described as a wide variety of someone's social and behavioral makeup, like their emotions, traditions, beliefs, habits, personality and so on.

CONTINUITY
Examines the way someone changes in a quantitative and continuous respect.

DISCONTINUITY
Looks at changes through the lens of a qualitative analysis with an emphasis on the discontinuous nature of how someone changes

THE IMPORTANCE OF THE THEORY
According to (Walters, Oyebode, & Riley, 2010)  Continuity and discontinuity is addressed in a wide range of studies on old age: for example, the dynamics of continuity and discontinuity for women caring for a spouse with dementia.

Recent research has shown how both continuity and change in old age contribute to well-being (P. B. Baltes & Baltes, 1990; M. M. Baltes & Carstensen, 1996; Nimrod & Kleiber, 2007). Nevertheless, continuity and discontinuity is still a controversial issue regarding normative aging and is, as yet, inconclusive. This is reflected through some primary classical social theories on old age such as disengagement theory (e.g., Cumming, 1963), activity theory (e.g., Lemon, Bengston, & Peterson, 1972), and continuity theory (Atchley, 1989).

INSIGHTS
"Continuity and discontinuity has always been in argument for a long period of time. it has a lot of scientific theories and it is important especially in understanding the development of an individual. we must be aware of maintaining a good knowledge and always be updated so that we can share information that are quite necessary."

-Mythos Dominguez