Technology Acceptance and Technology Stress: Differential Effects on Place Comfort In Older Adults

Background and Purpose:
As digital technologies such as smart homes and ambient intelligence rapidly expand into older adults’ everyday living environments, particularly within their homes, these technologies are increasingly embedded in daily life and reshaping how individuals experience their living spaces. As technology-integrated environments continue to develop to improve housing conditions for older adults, understanding how they experience these technologies at home has become an important issue in social welfare. Prior research has primarily explained technology acceptance in terms of usage intention or has focused on negative aspects such as privacy concerns. Despite these efforts, insufficient attention has been paid to how positive and negative perceptions of technology differentially influence place comfort. Therefore, this study examines the differential effects of technology acceptance and technology stress on place comfort among older adults.

Methods:
This study used cross-sectional survey data from 1,026 adults aged 55 to 75, collected through the Korea Research Online Panel (2025). Technology acceptance was measured based on the Almere Model, and technology stress was assessed using a validated scale. Place comfort was defined as a sense of psychological safety and belonging within one’s living environment and was measured using a validated Korean instrument.

Multiple regression analyses were conducted while controlling for sociodemographic factors, including gender, income, physical health, household characteristics, and residential context. To examine age-related differences, additional subgroup analyses were performed by dividing participants into two age groups (55–64 and 65–75).

Results:

The results showed that technology acceptance was positively associated with place comfort (β = .161, p < .001), indicating that higher levels of acceptance are linked to greater psychological comfort in everyday living environments. In contrast, technology stress was not significantly associated with place comfort, suggesting that negative perceptions of technology may not directly translate into reduced psychological comfort.

These patterns were consistent across both age groups, indicating that the effect of technology acceptance remains stable regardless of age. The overall model explained 17.9% of the variance (R² = .179), with slightly higher explanatory power observed in the 55–64 group (R² = .193) than in the 65–75 group (R² = .170). Additionally, some contextual factors, such as residential location, showed differential effects across age groups.

Conclusions and Implications:

This study demonstrates that fostering positive engagement with technology, rather than merely reducing technology stress, plays a more critical role in shaping place comfort in everyday living environments. This suggests that interventions should move beyond focusing solely on lowering barriers to technology use and instead prioritize enhancing older adults’ positive technology experiences, digital confidence, and meaningful engagement with technology. Such an approach can contribute to improving place comfort and overall quality of life among older adults in increasingly technology-integrated environments.