老年、老化与老龄化的概念辨析

Discrimination of the Concepts of Old Age,Aging and Population Aging

年龄是衡量个体进入某个生命阶段的常用标志,不仅用来统计个体从出生至死亡所经历的整年数,也用来反映个体某一时期的生理、心理特征,同时也是社会和文化对个体实施的有意义的标记。承载了一定年龄数的老年,首先是一个反映个体生理、心理特征的概念;与此同时,不同的社会文化在法律、法规、角色规范、价值观等社会设置方面对老年的规定和解释也各不相同。老化最初是指个体层面上的从成年到老年生理功能、心理能力的衰退过程,后来越来越多地与个体的整个生命历程以及个体所在的社会文化环境联系起来。老龄化是一个宏观层面上的人口学概念,指老年人口在总人口中比重提高的过程。老年、老化、老龄化三个概念由于在某种程度上均与年龄相关而存在联系,但是它们含义不同,不能混淆使用。

Age is a common indicator of the individual entrance upon a certain life stage. It is not only used to take count of the integral years from the individual＇s birth to death, but also used to characterize the individu- al＇ s physical and mental traits of a certain life stage. What＇ s more, age is meaningfully marked in the individual by the society and culture. Old age, implying some passed age years, is firstly a physical and mental concept. Meanwhile, it is regulated and explained differently by different societies and cultures in terms of social institu- tion such as laws, regulations, role norms, values and so on. The concept of aging initially referred to the de- clining process of the individual＇s physical functions and mental abilities, but it was more and more subsequently associated with the individual＇s whole life course and the social and cultural environment he or she belongs to. Population aging is a macro demographic concept, which refers to the process of the increasing ratio of the elder- ly to the total population. Although the concepts of old age, aging and population connect with each other since they are all related to age to some extent, they have different meanings and cannot be interchanged.