IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/spr/soinre/v177y2025i3d10.1007_s11205-025-03546-5.html
   My bibliography  Save this article

Life Satisfaction and Internet Use in Later Life in Italy: The Role of Online Activities and Living Arrangements

Author

Listed:
  • Claudia Furlan

    (University of Padua)

  • Silvia Meggiolaro

    (University of Padua)

Abstract

This study aimed to provide new insights into the role of internet use in the life satisfaction of older people in Italy, considering, in detail, the types of their online activities and the potential differences between these activities according to the old people’s genders and living arrangements. The data came from the survey Aspects of Daily Life conducted by the Italian National Institute of Statistics in 2021. The results of the logistic regression models used suggest that some online activities have associations with life satisfaction that vary according to gender and living arrangement. In particular, men living alone seem to benefit from voice and video calls, and men living with others, from messaging. On the other hand, for women living alone, online activities do not seem to be significantly associated with life satisfaction, but for women living with others, voice and video calls seem to be positively related to life satisfaction. Thus, not all online activities can be considered significant tools of empowerment for older adults. Specifically, internet use may have a beneficial effect among older Italians (excluding women living alone) when it is used to maintain or reinforce a real social network that is already present.

Suggested Citation

  • Claudia Furlan & Silvia Meggiolaro, 2025. "Life Satisfaction and Internet Use in Later Life in Italy: The Role of Online Activities and Living Arrangements," Social Indicators Research: An International and Interdisciplinary Journal for Quality-of-Life Measurement, Springer, vol. 177(3), pages 1007-1025, April.
    • Handle: RePEc:spr:soinre:v:177:y:2025:i:3:d:10.1007_s11205-025-03546-5
    DOI: 10.1007/s11205-025-03546-5
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: http://link.springer.com/10.1007/s11205-025-03546-5
    File Function: Abstract
    Download Restriction: Access to the full text of the articles in this series is restricted.
    File URL: https://libkey.io/10.1007/s11205-025-03546-5?utm_source=ideas
    LibKey link: if access is restricted and if your library uses this service, LibKey will redirect you to where you can use your library subscription to access this item
    ---><---

    As the access to this document is restricted, you may want to search for a different version of it.

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Sheung-Tak Cheng & Alfred C. M. Chan, 2006. "Relationship With Others and Life Satisfaction in Later Life: Do Gender and Widowhood Make a Difference?," The Journals of Gerontology: Series B, The Gerontological Society of America, vol. 61(1), pages 46-53.
    2. David Quintana & Alejandro Cervantes & Yago Sáez & Pedro Isasi, 2018. "Internet Use and Psychological Well-Being at Advanced Age: Evidence from the English Longitudinal Study of Aging," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 15(3), pages 1-13, March.
    3. Yang Yang & Dan Zeng & Fan Yang, 2022. "Internet Use and Subjective Well-Being of the Elderly: An Analysis of the Mediating Effect Based on Social Capital," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 19(19), pages 1-20, September.
    4. Christian Kroll, 2011. "Different Things Make Different People Happy: Examining Social Capital and Subjective Well-Being by Gender and Parental Status," Social Indicators Research: An International and Interdisciplinary Journal for Quality-of-Life Measurement, Springer, vol. 104(1), pages 157-177, October.
    5. Chris Gilleard & Martin Hyde & Paul Higgs, 2007. "Community and Communication in the Third Age: The Impact of Internet and Cell Phone Use on Attachment to Place in Later Life in England," The Journals of Gerontology: Series B, The Gerontological Society of America, vol. 62(4), pages 276-283.
    6. Xue Han & Yunyue Yang & Feng Li & Yuhui Li, 2022. "Adding Life to Years: The Influence of Internet Use and Appearance Management on Life Satisfaction Among the Elderly," Social Indicators Research: An International and Interdisciplinary Journal for Quality-of-Life Measurement, Springer, vol. 160(2), pages 585-600, April.
    7. Dominique Anxo & Letizia Mencarini & Ariane Pailhe & Anne Solaz & Maria Letizia Tanturri & Lennart Flood, 2011. "Gender Differences in Time Use over the Life Course in France, Italy, Sweden, and the US," Feminist Economics, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 17(3), pages 159-195.
    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

    Most related items

    These are the items that most often cite the same works as this one and are cited by the same works as this one.
    1. Katarzyna Growiec & Jakub Growiec & Bogumil Kaminski, 2017. "Social Network Structure and The Trade-Off Between Social Utility and Economic Performance," KAE Working Papers 2017-026, Warsaw School of Economics, Collegium of Economic Analysis.
    2. Robert A. Jackson & Matthew Pietryka, 2022. "The influence of becoming a parent on political participation in the United States," Social Science Quarterly, Southwestern Social Science Association, vol. 103(3), pages 565-580, May.
    3. Chau-kiu Cheung & Andrew Yiu-tsang Low & Xuan Ning, 2019. "Marital Liberalization in Relation to Life Satisfaction," Applied Research in Quality of Life, Springer;International Society for Quality-of-Life Studies, vol. 14(2), pages 291-307, April.
    4. Zuzanna Brzozowska & Eva Beaujouan & Kryštof Zeman, 2022. "Is Two Still Best? Change in Parity-Specific Fertility Across Education in Low-Fertility Countries," Population Research and Policy Review, Springer;Southern Demographic Association (SDA), vol. 41(5), pages 2085-2114, October.
    5. Christopher Ambrey & Christopher Fleming, 2014. "Public Greenspace and Life Satisfaction in Urban Australia," Urban Studies, Urban Studies Journal Limited, vol. 51(6), pages 1290-1321, May.
    6. M. Hussain, 2014. "The Robustness of High Danish National Happiness: A Temporal Cross-Country Analysis of Population Subgroups," Social Indicators Research: An International and Interdisciplinary Journal for Quality-of-Life Measurement, Springer, vol. 118(2), pages 759-774, September.
    7. Antonio Pacifico, 2023. "The Impact of Socioeconomic and Environmental Indicators on Economic Development: An Interdisciplinary Empirical Study," JRFM, MDPI, vol. 16(5), pages 1-16, May.
    8. Zoe Adams & Simon Deakin, 2014. "Institutional Solutions to Precariousness and Inequality in Labour Markets," British Journal of Industrial Relations, London School of Economics, vol. 52(4), pages 779-809, December.
    9. repec:grz:wpaper:2016-06 is not listed on IDEAS
    10. Marcantonio Caltabiano & Maria Gabriella Campolo & Antonino Pino, 2016. "Retirement and Intra-Household Labour Division of Italian Couples: A New Simultaneous Equation Approach," Social Indicators Research: An International and Interdisciplinary Journal for Quality-of-Life Measurement, Springer, vol. 128(3), pages 1217-1238, September.
    11. Zhang, Dan, 2024. "Pain and the risk of social isolation and loneliness in older Chinese adults: Do gender, age, and education make a difference?," Social Science & Medicine, Elsevier, vol. 363(C).
    12. Elena Grinza & Francesco Devicienti & Mariacristina Rossi & Davide Vannoni, 2017. "How Entry into Parenthood Shapes Gender Role Attitudes: New Evidence from Longitudinal UK Data," Carlo Alberto Notebooks 511, Collegio Carlo Alberto.
    13. Ariane Pailhé & Anne Solaz & Maxime Tô, 2024. "Can Daddies Learn to Care for Babies? The Effect of A Short Paternity Leave on the Division of Childcare and Housework," Population Research and Policy Review, Springer;Southern Demographic Association (SDA), vol. 43(3), pages 1-48, June.
    14. Sarinda Taengnoi, 2014. "Economic man and social woman: Determinants of immigrants' life satisfaction," Economics Bulletin, AccessEcon, vol. 34(3), pages 1530-1549.
    15. Ariane Pailhé & Anne Solaz & Maria Stanfors, 2021. "The Great Convergence: Gender and Unpaid Work in Europe and the United States," Population and Development Review, The Population Council, Inc., vol. 47(1), pages 181-217, March.
    16. Yoon, Heesoo & Park, Gum-Ryeong & Kim, Jinho, 2022. "Psychosocial trajectories before and after spousal loss: Does gender matter?," Social Science & Medicine, Elsevier, vol. 294(C).
    17. Espino, Ilya & Hermeto, Ana & Luz, Luciana, 2020. "Gender differences in time allocation to paid and unpaid work: Evidence from Urban Guatemala, 2000-2014," MPRA Paper 106477, University Library of Munich, Germany.
    18. Zhong Han & Hongyu Zhao & Wenkai Wu, 2025. "The Higher the Education, the Less Leisure Time? - An Empirical Analysis from CTUS," Applied Research in Quality of Life, Springer;International Society for Quality-of-Life Studies, vol. 20(1), pages 45-66, February.
    19. Katarzyna Growiec & Jakub Growiec & Bogumil Kaminski, 2017. "Mapping the Dimensions of Social Capital," KAE Working Papers 2017-025, Warsaw School of Economics, Collegium of Economic Analysis.
    20. Nie, Peng & Li, Qiaoge & Sousa-Poza, Alfonso, 2021. "Energy poverty and subjective well-being in China: New evidence from the China Family Panel Studies," Energy Economics, Elsevier, vol. 103(C).
    21. Chris Gilleard & Ian Jones & Paul Higgs, 2015. "Connectivity in Later Life: The Declining Age Divide in Mobile Cell Phone Ownership," Sociological Research Online, , vol. 20(2), pages 1-13, May.

    Corrections

    All material on this site has been provided by the respective publishers and authors. You can help correct errors and omissions. When requesting a correction, please mention this item's handle: RePEc:spr:soinre:v:177:y:2025:i:3:d:10.1007_s11205-025-03546-5. See general information about how to correct material in RePEc.

    If you have authored this item and are not yet registered with RePEc, we encourage you to do it here. This allows to link your profile to this item. It also allows you to accept potential citations to this item that we are uncertain about.

    If CitEc recognized a bibliographic reference but did not link an item in RePEc to it, you can help with this form .

    If you know of missing items citing this one, you can help us creating those links by adding the relevant references in the same way as above, for each refering item. If you are a registered author of this item, you may also want to check the "citations" tab in your RePEc Author Service profile, as there may be some citations waiting for confirmation.

    For technical questions regarding this item, or to correct its authors, title, abstract, bibliographic or download information, contact: Sonal Shukla or Springer Nature Abstracting and Indexing (email available below). General contact details of provider: http://www.springer.com .

    Please note that corrections may take a couple of weeks to filter through the various RePEc services.

    IDEAS is a RePEc service. RePEc uses bibliographic data supplied by the respective publishers.