The present paper questions two assumptions which concern the relationships between elderly people and technologies: that the impact of new technologies would be by definition positive for their well-being, and that the elderly suffer digital divide because they lack interest in and because they do not have the needed cognitive capacities to adjust to these new technologies. In order to address these assumptions, this paper investigates how elderly people socially construct the meaning of the Internet and mobile phones and how their social representations are related to their perceived social well-being. A questionnaire including free association tasks and well-being measures and collecting information on the practices of use of these technologies was administered to 100 elderly people living in small- and medium-sized villages in the region of Puglia in southern Italy. The results indicate that the relationship between the social representation of new technologies and perceived social well-being is not automatically positive.
New Technologies, Ageing and Social Well-Being in a Southern Italian Context / Sarrica, Mauro; L., Fortunati; A., Contarello. - STAMPA. - (2014), pp. 19-44.
New Technologies, Ageing and Social Well-Being in a Southern Italian Context
SARRICA, Mauro;
2014
Abstract
The present paper questions two assumptions which concern the relationships between elderly people and technologies: that the impact of new technologies would be by definition positive for their well-being, and that the elderly suffer digital divide because they lack interest in and because they do not have the needed cognitive capacities to adjust to these new technologies. In order to address these assumptions, this paper investigates how elderly people socially construct the meaning of the Internet and mobile phones and how their social representations are related to their perceived social well-being. A questionnaire including free association tasks and well-being measures and collecting information on the practices of use of these technologies was administered to 100 elderly people living in small- and medium-sized villages in the region of Puglia in southern Italy. The results indicate that the relationship between the social representation of new technologies and perceived social well-being is not automatically positive.I documenti in IRIS sono protetti da copyright e tutti i diritti sono riservati, salvo diversa indicazione.