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Jiayin Tian, Beijing Vocational College of Labour and Social Security, ChinaAbstract
The growing prevalence of Internet use among older individuals in China represents a significant social phenomenon, with potential implications for their social adaptation. However, the relationship between Internet use and social adaptation, particularly its variation across different adaptation levels, remains inadequately understood. This study aims to explore how Internet use impacts social adaptation among older individuals, considering both overall and heterogeneous effects. Data from the 2020 China Longitudinal Aging Social Survey (n=8082) were used. The instrumental variable quantile regression (IVQR) method was applied to address endogeneity and heterogeneity issues inherent in OLS regression. The OLS regression shows a positive relationship between Internet use (IU) and social adaptation (SA) (coef = 0.2254, p = 0.000). After applying the 2SLS method to address endogeneity, the coefficient drops to 0.1260 (p = 0.06). The IVQR analysis reveals a U-shaped relationship: negative at lower quantiles (0.1-0.3) and positive at higher quantiles (0.5-0.9). The impact of Internet use on social adaptation depends on adaptation levels. Individuals with lower adaptation scores may be negatively affected by digital challenges, while those with higher scores may benefit. Thus, targeted interventions, such as digital literacy training and encouragement to use the Internet, are needed to support these individuals.
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