Facebook and older adults: Fulfilling psychological needs?
Abstract
Self-determination theory posits that feeling related, competent, and autonomous is central to wellbeing. However, meeting these psychological needs can become difficult as adults age. Facebook use has been associated with enhanced relatedness, competence, and autonomy in a student population, but the effect of Facebook use on the psychological needs in older adults has yet to be investigated. Drawing from self-determination theory, we investigated whether Facebook use facilitated older adults' relatedness, competence, and autonomy needs, and the relationship between these psychological needs and levels of mobility. One hundred and twenty-seven adults (Mage = 71), completed an online survey that measured Facebook use, relatedness, competence, autonomy, and levels of mobility. More frequent Facebook users reported significantly higher levels of relatedness compared to less frequent Facebook users, and less mobile participants reported significantly lower levels of autonomy and used Facebook significantly more frequently than more mobile participants. The potential of Facebook as a tool to help older adults meet their relatedness needs is discussed.
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Only one cross-sectional study found that more frequent social media use was associated with higher relatedness, and the other three studies did not find an association between social media use and social connectedness.
“Only one cross-sectional study (Clark & Moloney, 2020) found that more frequent social media use was associated with higher relatedness, and the other three studies (Challands et al., 2017;Hage et al., 2016, Quinn, 2021) did not find an association between social media use and social connectedness.”
From The relationship between social media use and psychosocial outcomes in older adults: A systematic review (2024) · cites this paper as Clark & Moloney, 2020
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References 34 · Cited by 18
- Authors
- Clark, R., & Moloney, G.
- Affiliations
- Southern Cross University (AU)
- Corresponding author
- Clark, Rachel
- Venue
- Journal of Aging Studies
- Publisher
- Elsevier BV
- Published
- 2020-12
- Volume
- 55
- Pages
- 100897
- ISSN
- 0890-4065 (ISSN-L)
- OpenAlex
- W3093839565
- Cited by
- 18
- References
- 34
- Citations by year
- 2026: 3 · 2025: 1 · 2024: 5 · 2023: 5 · 2021: 4
- FWCI
- 3.39
- Type
- journal article
- Language
- en
- Open access
- closed
- Locations
- Journal of Aging Studies (publishedVersion)
- PubMed (publishedVersion)
- Topics
- Social Sciences › Demography › Technology Use by Older Adults
- Social Sciences › Psychology › Neuropsychology and Physiological Psychology › Aging and Gerontology Research
- Social Sciences › Sociology and Political Science › Impact of Technology on Adolescents
- Keywords
- Facebook, older adults, self-determination theory, psychological needs, relatedness, competence, autonomy, social media use, mobility (physical function), well-being, aging
- MeSH terms
- Aged, Humans, Personal Satisfaction, Surveys and Questionnaires, Personal Autonomy, Social Media
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