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A phenomenological inquiry into the experiential world of ‘Second Life’ for individuals aged 60 years and older

Dissertation (MA)--University of Pretoria, 2012.

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Other Authors: Human, Lourens H.
Format: Thesis
Published: University of Pretoria 2013
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access_status_str Open Access
author2 Human, Lourens H.
author_browse Human, Lourens H.
author_facet Human, Lourens H.
collection Thesis
dc_rights_str_mv © 2011, University of Pretoria. All rights reserved. The copyright in this work vests in the University of Pretoria. No part of this work may be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means, without the prior written permission of the University of Pretoria
description Dissertation (MA)--University of Pretoria, 2012.
format Thesis
id oai:repository.up.ac.za:2263/29143
institution University of Pretoria (South Africa)
last_indexed 2026-06-10T12:39:14.512Z
license_str Other — see source repository
provenance_str_mv Harvested via OAI-PMH from UPSpace — University of Pretoria Institutional Repository
publishDate 2013
publishDateRange 2013
publishDateSort 2013
publisher University of Pretoria
publisherStr University of Pretoria
record_format dspace
source_str UPSpace — University of Pretoria Institutional Repository
spelling oai:repository.up.ac.za:2263/29143 A phenomenological inquiry into the experiential world of ‘Second Life’ for individuals aged 60 years and older Human, Lourens H. eloiselaw@up.ac.za Law, Eloise Geropsychology Elderly Gerontology Developmental psychology Cyberpsychology Virtual world Second life Descriptive phenomenology UCTD Dissertation (MA)--University of Pretoria, 2012. This study qualitatively investigated older adults’ experience of Second Life from a descriptive phenomenological perspective. Second Life is a virtual world found on the Internet and is considered to be a cyber reality that simulates aspects of everyday real life. The participant group comprised of five individuals, between the ages of 60 and 79 years of age, who have been participating in Second Life for longer than six months. All of the participants reside in the United States and all of the participants have a tertiary education. The research revealed three essential themes to older individuals’ experience of Second Life that deals with: (1) Familiarisation with Second Life; (2) Connecting in Second Life; and (3) Second Life as a Place of Recreation. The research indicated that older adults seem to find value in their Second Life participation and tend to be actively involved and contributing members in this virtual world. These findings have implications for developmental theories in psychology that address later stages in life, and the researcher especially considers Erik Erikson’s psychosocial theory of development. Additional implications for adults in the later stages of life and the discipline of psychology are also considered. Copyright Psychology unrestricted 2013-09-07T14:57:35Z 2012-10-30 2013-09-07T14:57:35Z 2012-04-17 2012-10-30 2012-10-30 Dissertation Law, E 2011, A phenomenological inquiry into the experiential world of ‘Second Life’ for individuals aged 60 years and older, MA dissertation, University of Pretoria, Pretoria, viewed yymmdd < http://hdl.handle.net/2263/29143 > F12/4/554/gm http://hdl.handle.net/2263/29143 http://upetd.up.ac.za/thesis/available/etd-10302012-120604/ © 2011, University of Pretoria. All rights reserved. The copyright in this work vests in the University of Pretoria. No part of this work may be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means, without the prior written permission of the University of Pretoria application/pdf University of Pretoria
spellingShingle Geropsychology
Elderly
Gerontology
Developmental psychology
Cyberpsychology
Virtual world
Second life
Descriptive phenomenology
UCTD
A phenomenological inquiry into the experiential world of ‘Second Life’ for individuals aged 60 years and older
title A phenomenological inquiry into the experiential world of ‘Second Life’ for individuals aged 60 years and older
title_full A phenomenological inquiry into the experiential world of ‘Second Life’ for individuals aged 60 years and older
title_fullStr A phenomenological inquiry into the experiential world of ‘Second Life’ for individuals aged 60 years and older
title_full_unstemmed A phenomenological inquiry into the experiential world of ‘Second Life’ for individuals aged 60 years and older
title_short A phenomenological inquiry into the experiential world of ‘Second Life’ for individuals aged 60 years and older
title_sort phenomenological inquiry into the experiential world of second life for individuals aged 60 years and older
topic Geropsychology
Elderly
Gerontology
Developmental psychology
Cyberpsychology
Virtual world
Second life
Descriptive phenomenology
UCTD
url http://hdl.handle.net/2263/29143
http://upetd.up.ac.za/thesis/available/etd-10302012-120604/