Understanding older adults’ Internet use and psychological benefits: The moderating role of digital skills

ABSTRACT

This study investigated how older adults’ informational, social, and recreational motives predict their Internet use and life satisfaction. In doing so, we tested how two distinct forms of digital skills—receptive and participatory—affect the ways in which older people fulfil their needs through the Internet as well as the extent to which their Internet use leads to psychological benefits. A total of 200 Internet users in their 60s joined a face-to-face survey. As predicted, the older users’ informational, social, and recreational motives predicted their corresponding Internet use and life satisfaction. In particular, participatory skills affected how the use of the Internet predicts life satisfaction, such that only those with moderate or higher participatory skills obtained mental benefits through their Internet use. Lastly, we discussed older adults’ online engagement and its impacts on their well-being, with an emphasis on digital competencies.

KEYWORDS:

• Internet use
• life satisfaction
• uses and gratifications
• digital skills

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the author(s).

Additional information

Funding

This study was supported by the School of Digital Humanities and Computational Social Sciences and the Center for Digital Humanities and Computational Social Sciences at Korea Advanced Institute of Science and Technology (KAIST).