Daily TV Use and Meaning in Life Among Older Adults: The Moderating Role of Selective and Compensatory TV Use

Abstract

Older adults (60+) spend a considerable amount of time watching TV. This can have important implications in terms of their daily sense of meaning in their life. Applying the selection, optimization, and compensation (SOC) model, we argue that the impact of the daily amount of time spent watching TV on daily perceptions of meaning in life is moderated by whether TV is generally used in a compensatory or selective manner. We present data from an intensive longitudinal study with N = 101 healthy older (60+) adults. Data were collected over five consecutive days. Compensatory and selective TV use were treated as a general strategy and thus as a trait-like variable measured in a baseline survey. Results show that the effect of the amount of daily television use on daily perceptions of meaning in life depends on the extent to which TV is generally used in a compensatory fashion as indicated by a cross-level interaction between compensatory TV use (between-person level 2) and daily self-reported TV use (within-person level 1) on daily perceptions of meaning in life. We discuss these findings in terms of both theoretical and methodological considerations.