The Effects of Mobile Phone Usage on Successful Aging among the Elderly in Mainland China：A Case Study on the Elderly in Xiamen, Fujian Province

• Main Authors: XU, TING-YUN, 許亭云
• Other Authors: HSIEH, HSU-CHOU
• Format: Others
• Language: zh-TW
• Published: 2019
• Online Access: http://ndltd.ncl.edu.tw/handle/g27653

碩士 === 世新大學 === 廣播電視電影學研究所(含碩專班) === 107 === Population aging prevails all around the world and tends to be a mainstream phenomenon. Finding ways to prolong the life expectancy of the elderly and lead them to a better life reflects a common yearning for human well-being in modern societies. With the development of the Internet, smartphone has gained in popularity in mainland China. This research was designed to explore the roles of smartphone uses and the motivations of using in the process of aging among the elderly in mainland China. It aims at making some meaningful contributions to knowledge in the new media research, as well as to provide practical suggestions to the elderly users. This research utilized structured questionnaires to collect data. Three trained interviewers conducted the survey by reading questions to subjects individually. The process of data collection took place from February to March, 2019. A total of 205 subjects from Kaiyuan District, Xiamen were interviewed. The data were analyzed by using reliability test, descriptive statistics, and multiple regression. The results showed that: (1) smartphones, instead of traditional cell phones, had gained their popularity among the elderly. Most of the subjects were heavy users, using smartphones more than 5 hours a day. The time of smartphone uses by the elderly was strongly limited by their daily routines. (2)The motivation of smartphone-using arranged in order of priority is as follows: social interaction, psychological need, entertainment and healthcare. Calling service that smartphones equipped caters the elderly’s social demand of chatting with others. （3）The longer and the more frequently the subjects used smartphones, the better they were in successful aging, especially on social and psychological levels. The motivations they possessed in smartphones using also play important roles in successful aging. (4)The effects of smartphone using on successful aging vary from one person to another, contingent on some demographic variables.