Author Description

Television viewing seems to have special importance for older adults: research has consistently shown that older adults spend more time watching television than younger people do. The finding that older adults watch more television raises the question what television viewing means in their lives. So far, research presents only a limited answer to this question: a large share of the available literature depicts old age as a life stage characterized by losses in which people use television as a substitute for decreased activities. This dissertation aims to move away from this limited view by presenting older adults' experiences of television viewing, and thus showing the variety of meanings that watching television viewing has in the lives of older people. To develop a conceptual framework of television viewing and aging, the dissertation consists of a literature review (chapter 2) and a qualitative interview study (chapters 3 to 5). The developed framework consists of the following major components: 1: Three themes within older adults' experiences of television viewing: television viewing in a palette of activities, television viewing in the social context, and television content. The three themes together provide a picture of how older adults experience television viewing in their everyday lives. 2:Continuity and change in television viewing. The description of continuity and change within the three themes shows how television viewing evolves as people age. 3: Television viewing as part of selection and compensation strategies. The description of television viewing in terms of selection and compensation strategies shows how television viewing is related to developments in everyday life. One important conclusion of the interview study is that overt television behavior (e.g., amount of viewing or content preferences) does not automatically signal which meanings older viewers assign to their viewing or, more specifically, whether television behavior has changed or rema