Older Adults Using Technology for Meaningful Activities During COVID-19: An Analysis Through the Lens of Self-Determination Theory

Restrictions during the COVID-19 pandemic significantly affected people’s opportunities to engage in activities that are meaningful to their lives. In response to these constraints, many people, including older adults, turned to digital technologies as alternative ways to pursue meaningful activities. These technology-mediated activities, however, presented new challenges for older adults’ everyday use of technology. In this paper, we investigate how older adults used digital technologies for meaningful activities during COVID-19 restrictions. We conducted in-depth interviews with 40 older adults and analyzed the interview data through the lens of self-determination theory (SDT). Our analysis shows that using digital technologies for meaningful activities can both support and undermine older people’s three basic psychological needs for autonomy, competence, and relatedness. We argue that future technologies should be designed to empower older adults’ content creation, engagement in personal interests, exploration of technology, effortful communication, and participation in beneficent activities.