Older adults’ television viewing as part of selection and compensation strategies

Margot J. van der Goot; Johannes W. J. Beentjes; Martine van Selm

doi:10.1515/commun-2014-0025

Article

Older adults’ television viewing as part of selection and compensation strategies

Margot J. van der Goot , Johannes W. J. Beentjes and Martine van Selm

Published/Copyright: March 2, 2015

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From the journal Communications Volume 40 Issue 1

Abstract

A large share of the available literature on television and ageing depicts old age as a life stage characterized by losses in which people use television as a substitute for decreased activities. The aim of the present study is to investigate how television viewing is part of both selection and compensation strategies. Based on a qualitative interview study among a diverse sample of older adults (N = 86, aged 65–92 years), we found three ways in which television viewing is part of selection strategies and three ways in which it is part of compensation strategies. In contrast to the focus on compensation in previous research, we found that selection strategies appear to provide a better characterization of older people’s television viewing than compensation strategies. Moreover, particular television viewing behavior does not automatically signal whether television viewing is part of selection or compensation strategies.

Keywords: ageing; compensation; life span; media use; older adults; selection; television

Published Online: 2015-3-2

Published in Print: 2015-3-1

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Articles in the same Issue

https://doi.org/10.1515/commun-2014-0025

Keywords for this article

ageing; compensation; life span; media use; older adults; selection; television