Abstract
The proliferation of technology offers potential solutions for enhancing the well-being of older adults. However, older adults often have low digital literacy and are disengaged from the digital world. With age-appropriate training, older adults are expected to acquire a wide range of technological skills and bridge the digital divide. Through the lens of social cognitive theory, this study aims to investigate the effectiveness of observational training through behavior modeling in enhancing technology acceptance in older adults. The moderating effects of model identity on training outcomes from a generational perspective are examined. An empirical training experiment was completed with 59 community-dwelling older adults. Training outcomes were measured using cognitive knowledge, affective variables, and meta-cognition. The results ascertain the effectiveness of observational training in improving their technological knowledge, self-efficacy, outcome expectations, and sense of social connectedness when using technologies. From a generational perspective, the older adult behavior model is more effective than the young or child behavior models in increasing self-efficacy and willingness to use technology. The model identity further enhances the positive outcomes of training. The results of this study contribute to designing educational interventions to bridge the digital divide.
Highlights
The effectiveness of different behavior models from the generational perspective in observational training to enhance the digital literacy and technology acceptance of older adults has emerged as an interesting research area. This issue can be stated as the effects of model identity in observational training for older adults, and this study investigates its effect from a generational perspective
Compared with other training studies using behavior modeling for younger people, the present study uniquely examined the moderating effects of model identity on training outcomes of older adults
This study found that observational training, through behavior modeling, is an effective intervention forshaping the perceptions of older adults toward using technological devices
Summary
To keep older people healthy, independent, and active at work or in their community, social infrastructures and services must be accessible to them. Along with the aging trend, the technological revolution offers a great degree of accessibility for most people to fulfill various purposes, such as information and communication, entertainment, social support, leisure, work, and relationship maintenance [1]. Existing research indicates that technology can considerably increase the independence of older people [2]. The proliferation of technologies around the world, such as computer networks and mobile devices, offers various new channels for reaching older people, for example, by delivering messages related to health, security, or environmental hazards via a short message service or mobile apps. Technological devices and applications have a wide variety of practical benefits for elderly users, such as Internet-connected computers and smartphones granting users unprecedented access to information that can improve daily living, as well as providing new methods of communication to help reinforce old relationships and social ties or to develop new relationships [3]
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