IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/oup/geronb/v77y2022i7p1179-1185..html
   My bibliography  Save this article

The Framing Effect of Intergenerational Comparison of Technologies on Technophobia Among Older Adults

Author

Listed:
  • Wanyu Xi
  • Xin Zhang
  • Liat Ayalon

Abstract

ObjectivesSharing similar negative age stereotypes (e.g., outdated, unfashionable), older adults and older technologies are stereotypically associated with each other. This also was found to be internalized by older adults. Recent research has suggested that internalized negative age stereotypes may be one of the reasons for technophobia among older adults. Therefore, considering the pervasiveness of intergenerational comparison of technologies (e.g., computer vs. tablet) in which older-generation technologies are negatively portrayed, we aim to investigate whether a mere intergenerational comparison of technologies would affect technophobia via negative self-stereotypes activation among older adults. Specifically, 2 commonly seen framings of intergenerational comparison of technologies are examined: contrast framing, which describes opposing intergenerational relationship of technologies; and connect framing, which describes the continuous intergenerational relationship of technologies.MethodsWe designed 3 advertisements for a made-up new technological product using contrast framing, connect framing, and neutral framing (where intergenerational comparison was absent). A sample of 284 participants (aged 27–83 years) was gathered online and randomly assigned into the 3 experimental conditions. Self-perception of aging (SPA), technophobia, and potential covariates were measured.ResultsThe results showed a significant framing × age × gender effect on psychosocial loss dimension of SPA and technophobia. Men were significantly affected by the framing effect as they age, but women were not affected. Contrast framing (vs. connect vs. neutral framing) led to significantly higher technophobia via the psychosocial loss dimension of SPA among older men aged 49 and older.DiscussionThe findings have important implications for how to better convey persuasive information to promote new technology adoption among older adults.

Suggested Citation

  • Wanyu Xi & Xin Zhang & Liat Ayalon, 2022. "The Framing Effect of Intergenerational Comparison of Technologies on Technophobia Among Older Adults," The Journals of Gerontology: Series B, The Gerontological Society of America, vol. 77(7), pages 1179-1185.
    • Handle: RePEc:oup:geronb:v:77:y:2022:i:7:p:1179-1185.
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: http://hdl.handle.net/10.1093/geronb/gbab199
    Download Restriction: Access to full text is restricted to subscribers.
    ---><---

    As the access to this document is restricted, you may want to search for a different version of it.

    Corrections

    All material on this site has been provided by the respective publishers and authors. You can help correct errors and omissions. When requesting a correction, please mention this item's handle: RePEc:oup:geronb:v:77:y:2022:i:7:p:1179-1185.. See general information about how to correct material in RePEc.

    If you have authored this item and are not yet registered with RePEc, we encourage you to do it here. This allows to link your profile to this item. It also allows you to accept potential citations to this item that we are uncertain about.

    We have no bibliographic references for this item. You can help adding them by using this form .

    If you know of missing items citing this one, you can help us creating those links by adding the relevant references in the same way as above, for each refering item. If you are a registered author of this item, you may also want to check the "citations" tab in your RePEc Author Service profile, as there may be some citations waiting for confirmation.

    For technical questions regarding this item, or to correct its authors, title, abstract, bibliographic or download information, contact: Oxford University Press (email available below). General contact details of provider: https://academic.oup.com/psychsocgerontology .

    Please note that corrections may take a couple of weeks to filter through the various RePEc services.

    IDEAS is a RePEc service. RePEc uses bibliographic data supplied by the respective publishers.