The Influence Of Active Use Of Wechat On Subjective Well-being Of The Elderly:The Chain Mediating Role Of Sense Of Control And Sense Of Loneliness

With the development of society,more and more elderly people begin to use Wechat and other social media.On the one hand,the use of Wechat enhances the social connection of the elderly;on the other hand,compared with the Internet,Wechat is more convenient and becomes the entrance for them to contact the Internet,enriching the life of the elderly.Foreign studies based on Facebook have found that active use of Facebook is conducive to improving subjective well-being.There are many similarities between Facebook and Wechat,such as photo sharing,comments between friends,timely chat and other functions.Then,can active use of Wechat also improve the subjective well-being of the elderly?This study explores the influence and mechanism of active use of Wechat on subjective well-being of the elderly through two studies.A pair of 15 people over 60 years old were interviewed about the active use of Wechat and their subjective well-being.The results showed that the active use of Wechat can improve the subjective well-being of the elderly,and affect the subjective well-being of the elderly through enhancing the sense of control and reducing the sense of loneliness.In the second study,a questionnaire was used to measure the influence of active use of Wechat on subjective well-being of419 elderly people,as well as the mediating role of sense of control and loneliness.The results showed that:(1)Active use of Wechat positively predicted the subjective well-being of the elderly;(2)The active use of Wechat affects the subjective well-being of the elderly through the sense of control;(3)The active use of Wechat affects the subjective well-being of the elderly through loneliness;(4)Sense of control and loneliness play a chain mediating role between active use of Wechat and subjective well-being of the elderly.This study combines qualitative and quantitative methods to explore the influence and mechanism of active use of Wechat on the subjective well-being of the elderly.The research results not only expand the theories related to the use of Wechat and the well-being of the elderly,but also provide a path for improving the subjective well-being of the elderly.