What Do We Mean by Accumulation? Advancing Conceptual Precision for a Core Idea in Gerontology: Table 1.

Abstract

In recent decades, the concept of accumulation has gained prominence in research on aging, health, and social stratification. Accumulation is now studied in multiple disciplines, revealing that cumulative processes are crucial to understanding patterns of differentiation over the life course. Although this research has demonstrated the empirical value of studying accumulation, the concept has taken on different and sometimes inconsistent meanings. To address these inconsistencies, we propose an interdisciplinary conceptual framework of accumulation that focuses on objects, timing, thresholds, de-accumulation, and the levels and consequences of accumulation. Providing a coherent framework of accumulation will aid conceptual precision, guide future research, and inform public policies related to aging and the life course.

Exploring the Consequences of Discrimination and Health for Retirement by Race and Ethnicity: Results from the Health and Retirement Study

“…While occasional physiological adaptations and disruptions are normal, chronic stressors and activation may accelerate the aging process and senescence, heightening vulnerability to disease and disorders (Miller & Chen, 2013;Shonkoff, 2010). These findings resonate well with cumulative inequality theory (Ferraro & Shippee, 2009;Ferraro & Morton, 2018), where the quality of ecological domains (e.g., neighborhoods, workplaces), combined with biopsychosocial factors of interpersonal relationships, can improve or compromise mental, physical and overall health.…”

Diverse Aging and Health Inequality by Race and Ethnicity

“…All humans are constrained by social structures but have some degree of independence to deal with the constraints. Navigating the dual influences of structure and agency (emphasized in dashed lines) leads to both risk accumulation and resource activation ( Ferraro & Morton, 2017 ). Discrimination is one type of risk accumulation that merits detailed examination in studies of health because it is shaped by and acts back on environmental and social contexts.…”

What is new with old? What old age teaches us about inequality and stratification

“…Further, the resources available to those who do survive long enough to “grow old” are remarkably unequal (Abramson, 2015; Brown, 2016; Cruikshank, 2009; Newman, 2004; Portacolone, 2014). Rather than being leveled away by entitlements or “selective mortality” (the process whereby the most disadvantaged die early), the intertwined advantages and disadvantages that shape earlier life continue to accumulate and structure our possibilities to the end (Abramson, 2016; Calasanti & Slevin, 2001; Ferraro & Morton, 2016; Hudson, 2016; Richardson & Brown, 2016; Willson & Shuey, 2007). …”