Successful Aging through Television: Selective and Compensatory Television Use and Well-Being

ABSTRACT We applied the selection, optimization and compensation (SOC) model of successful aging to media use. Using a new self-report measure to assess selective and compensatory media use we illustrate the role of these media selection strategies in successful aging. In other words, we link compensatory and selective media use to different indicators of well-being among older nursing home residents and for a group of younger adults, which served as a comparison group. Selective media use was positively related to well-being for older, but not for younger adults, and compensatory media use was negatively related to well-being for both younger and older adults. In a second study, we replicated these findings with a sample of healthy older adults.

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