Intergenerational Differences in Mobile Phone Addiction Between Elderly Migrants and Adolescents: A Grounded Theory Study

Abstract

With the penetration and popularity of mobile phones among the elderly and adolescents, the problem of mobile phone addiction has become a new focus of academic attention. To explore the characteristics of mobile phone addiction and its inter-generational differences between elderly migrants and adolescents, this study uses the grounded theory and constructs a generational difference theory model. The study found that mobile phone addiction in elderly migrants addicts are prone to consume because they fear "withdrawing" from the world. However, adolescents’ addiction is the product of "entering the new world to create", and they believe that they can control the online world at the cognitive level, while the elderly say they cannot completely "deal with" it. In addiction dependence, "emotional" dependence is basic need for elderly migrants, while the youth are "functionally" dependent. In addition, mobile phone addiction will deepen inter-generational conflicts. Interestingly, elderly migrant often compromises to avoid conflicts. The inter-generational difference model of mobile phone addiction characteristics between different groups proposed in this study will provide a reference for targeting media literacy education and promoting intergenerational harmony.