Author(s)

Zehui Wu

Corresponding Author

Zehui Wu

Abstract

The pandemic has promoted the process of digital development in China, but it has also magnified the digital divide among the elderly, which has led to the inability of the elderly to integrate into social governance. In order to help the elderly address the problem of digital divide, based on previous scholars’ research, this paper puts forward two psychological factors: (1) the elderly’s resistance to emerging things and (2) the underestimation of the importance of smart devices can impose some remarkable impacts on the digital divide. Through empirical analysis, it is found that these two types of psychological factors have a negative correlation with the degree of the digital divide among the elderly. This study can provide theoretical support for the introduction of relevant policies to address the digital divide issue, thereby helping the elderly participate in the digital grass-roots governance more effectively.

Keywords

Digitization; The Elderly; Grassroots Governance; Digital Divide