The Impact of Ageism on the E-Leisure of Older People in Chile

Abstract

Empirical studies show that leisure activities are relevant to the wellbeing of the older population. Thus, online leisure, or E-leisure, can be a usefultool for engagement in leisure activities, providing multiple possibilities. In thisway, the study of those factors that promote or hinder E-leisure is relevant, sinceit will allow the generation of adequate interventions to promote online leisure.Additionally, it has been observed that self-efficacy regarding Internet use is animportant aspect for its adoption by older people. Therefore, those who have agreater perception of being capable of using the Internet do it more frequently.Also, ageism is one of the factors influencing the well-being of older adults,especially self-efficacy. In this context, the present study explores the relationshipbetween ageism and E-leisure, considering self-efficacy regarding Internet useas a mediator. For this purpose, a mediation model was performed with the dataof 677 Chilean Internet users over 60 years old. Results showed that ageism isnegatively related to E-leisure, and self-efficacy plays a mediating role in thisrelationship. Consequently, those with higher ageism levels reported less selfefficacy for technology use and thus had less involvement in E-leisure activities.