Partner Influences on ICT Use Variety Among Middle-aged and Older Adults: The Role of Need for Cognition

This exploratory study examined both individual and dyadic predictors of variety of ICT use. Need for cognition is associated with engaging in a variety of intellectually stimulating practices and a prominent individual difference predictor of the types of ICTs people use. Participants were a subset of 542 heterosexual couples ( = 1084 individuals; 50% women; = 63.65; 83.9% Caucasian) from the Health and Retirement Study with access to the internet. Individuals high in need for cognition were more likely to use ICTs for a variety of reasons. Being married to someone high in need for cognition was associated with a greater variety of ICT ownership, ICTs for financial/transactional activities, and ICTs for miscellaneous reasons (e.g., research), although these effects were relatively small and the evidence for partner effects was relatively weak according to the distribution of p-values. Partner effects were not significant for social technology or internet-enabling ICTs; cross-partner interactions provided suggestive evidence for compensating for lower levels of individual need for cognition. Findings are discussed in relation to the relational and contextual determinants of ICT use in older adulthood.