Investigation On The Motivation And Influence Of Smartphone Use Among The Elderly

With the development of the aging process,the aging problem has become a global concern.In the coming decades,the proportion of older people in the world’s population will rise dramatically.The new round of technological revolution featuring digitalization,networking and intelligence interweave with the development and deepening of the population aging process,which brings new opportunities for improving the life satisfaction of the elderly and realizing healthy aging.However,due to the huge difference between the elderly group and the young and middle-aged group in information technology ownership degree,application mode,application degree and other aspects,the "Digital Divide" problem faced by the elderly has become increasingly prominent,becoming an important factor hindering the elderly to enjoy the technology dividend brought by the development of technology.Therefore,it is particularly important to improve the use rate smartphones ones among the elderly and to deeply understand the influence mechanism of smartphones on their life satisfaction.This paper first explores the motivational factors influencing the use of smartphones by the elderly and verifies the influence of smartphone use on life satisfaction,and further reveals the influence mechanism of smartphone use style and proficiency of the elderly on life satisfaction.In order to achieve the research objectives,this paper carries out the following three studies based on motivation theory,self-determination theory and social presence theory:(1)Pay attention to the factors that affect older people’s use of smartphones.The purpose of this study is to explore the motivational factors that influence the use of smart phones by the elderly and verify their impact on life satisfaction.Based on the motivation theory and combined with the characteristics of the elderly,the effects of perceived benefit and social support on the use of smart phones by the elderly were explored as intrinsic motivation and extrinsic motivation respectively,and the impact of the use of smart phones on life satisfaction was verified.In addition,this study further explores the boundary role of health awareness among older adults in perceived benefits,social support and smartphone use.Empirical analysis was carried out by questionnaire survey.The results show that perceived benefits and social support have positive effects on the use of smart phones by the elderly.Health awareness can regulate the relationship between perceived benefits and smartphone use,and the impact of smartphone use on the life satisfaction of the elderly is verified.This study provides practical suggestions for improving the usage rate of smart phones among the elderly by identifying intrinsic motivation and extrinsic motivation as well as the boundary role of health awareness.(2)Pay attention to the way the elderly use smartphones,aiming to explore the impact of different ways of using smartphones on the life satisfaction of the elderly.On the basis of verifying the influence of smartphone use on life satisfaction,this study explores the different influence mechanisms of active and passive smartphone use on life satisfaction of the elderly based on self-determination theory.In addition,this study explores the boundary effects of perceived loneliness and information technology selfefficacy in older adults between two different use patterns and life satisfaction.In this study,a theoretical model of the influence of smartphone usage on life satisfaction was established.Empirical test results showed that active use had a positive impact on life satisfaction of the elderly,while passive use had no significant impact on life satisfaction of the elderly.Information technology self-efficacy positively affects the relationship between active and passive use of smartphones and life satisfaction of the elderly;Perceived loneliness weakened the relationship between passive smartphone use and life satisfaction,but did not affect the relationship between active smartphone use and life satisfaction.This study found that different ways of using smartphones have different impacts on the life satisfaction of the elderly,revealing the influence mechanism of different ways of using smartphones on the life satisfaction of the elderly,providing theoretical and practical support for improving the life satisfaction of the elderly and realizing healthy aging.(3)Pay attention to the smartphone proficiency of the elderly,aiming to explore the influence mechanism of smartphone proficiency on life satisfaction.Based on the theory of social presence,this paper constructs a theoretical model of the influence of smartphone proficiency on the life satisfaction of the elderly,and proposes the mediating role of interpersonal network ability.At the same time,the boundary role of perceived health threat and personal information technology innovation is explored.This study combines the questionnaire data of the elderly for empirical test.The results show that information technology proficiency has a positive impact on the interpersonal network ability of the elderly,and then has a positive impact on life satisfaction;The innovation of personal information technology can adjust the relationship between it proficiency and interpersonal network ability,and strengthen the mediating role of interpersonal network ability between IT proficiency and life satisfaction.Perceived health threat positively moderated the relationship between interpersonal network ability and life satisfaction;.By identifying the mediating role of interpersonal network ability,this study reveals the influence mechanism of smartphone proficiency on the life satisfaction of the elderly and discovers the corresponding boundary conditions,providing theoretical support and practical basis for improving the life satisfaction of the elderly.This paper answers the questions about the motivational factors influencing the use of smart phones by the elderly and the mechanism of the influence of smart phone use patterns and proficiency on life satisfaction.From the aspects of theory,combining with the theory of motivation,self-determination theory,theory of social telepresence,identify the factors affecting the motivation of the elderly use smart phones and reveal the different ways of using smart phone,the use of proficiency on the elderly life satisfaction mechanism,the influence of and to identify from the perspective of the individual characteristics of the corresponding boundary conditions.From the practical point of view,the research results of this paper can help alleviate the problem of low smartphone utilization rate among the elderly,and inspire smartphone providers to transform smart phones for the elderly by combining their smartphone use patterns and individual characteristics,so as to improve the life satisfaction of the elderly and achieve the goal of healthy aging.