A Cross-Cultural Study of Relational Maintenance in Tech Caregiving

In day-to-day life, older adults prefer getting tech support from loved ones, rather than relying on instruction manuals or institutional support. But asking for help, frequently or repeatedly for similar issues, can strain relations between older adults and their helpers. This paper examines how relationships are maintained when younger helpers give and older adults get tech support—across three different cultures: North American, South Asian, and Middle Eastern. Our deductive application of the relational maintenance strategies framework to 40 in-depth, semi-structured, and cross-cultural interviews identify challenges in tech caregiving, like avoiding the topic or interaction, and mitigation efforts, like directly or indirectly assuring each other of their skills and abilities. We discuss how social interactions are managed around tech support, how individual constraints, like time, place, or abilities are respected, and how self-conscious emotions, like guilt, embarrassment, or empathy are handled.