From technology to autonomy: Exploring ICT use and self-determined living in older Koreans
Marianne Jung, Isabelle Prochaska-Meyer, Young Sun Kim, Hyeri Shin, Jochen Klucken, Isabel Schwaninger
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AbstractBackground: Information and communication technologies (ICTs), especially smartphones, have become embedded in daily lives, allowing communication, access to information, and the organization of everyday tasks. In the context of older adults, the use of digital technology can promote and undermine self-determination needs.
Research aims: Connecting Self-Determination Theory (SDT) with ageing in place, we aimed to explore how older adults in urban South Korea embedded digital technologies into their daily home routines and how these practices relate to autonomy, relatedness, and competence.
Methods: We conducted focus groups with 18 older adult participants, including group discussions and elicitation activities like floor plans, which were analyzed using Qualitative Content Analysis (QCA). We used six home dimensions, privacy, security, family, intimacy, comfort, and control, as an analytical framework to analyse the collected data in relation to SDT.
Results: We identified linkages of the home-related aspects of safety and comfort with experiences of autonomy. Relatedness was articulated through family and intimacy, and competence through privacy and control. While digital technologies supported the SDT needs for autonomy and relatedness, findings suggest that the need for competence in navigating digital environments remains insufficiently fulfilled.
Conclusion: ICT use can contribute positively to self-determined ageing and well-being when embedded in supportive environments. To ensure that digital technologies enhance well-being without introducing new vulnerabilities, tailored support and education are needed, and issues of transparency and privacy should be prioritised in the design of ICTs.Keywords: ICT, ageing in place, older adults, self-determination theory, South Korea
Marianne Jung, Isabelle Prochaska-Meyer, Young Sun Kim, Hyeri Shin, Jochen Klucken, Isabel Schwaninger (2026). From technology to autonomy: Exploring ICT use and self-determined living in older Koreans. Gerontechnology, 25(3), 1-11
https://doi.org/10.4017/gt.2026.25.3.1420.8