Information and Communication Technology in the Work of Catholic Priests

ABSTRACT

This article presents data gathered in a doctoral study, the aim of which was to identify information needs and behavior patterns of Croatian Catholic priests for pastoral work. Results of the research focus only on the role of information and communication technology and using electronic sources by the priests in the liturgy and caregiving role. The research was conducted using quantitative and qualitative methodology (print questionnaires and semi-structured interviews). A total of 327 respondents took part in the quantitative study and twenty respondents were interviewed. Although research results showed that many respondents are not very familiar with the information and communication technology, most of them still occasionally use computers for making documents and consult the Internet for finding religious information in pastoral work. Computers and the Internet to a larger degree are used by younger and well-educated priests who have the least experience regarding management of the parishes in major locations. Since the results indicated that parish priests mostly seek religious and secular information on the Internet, it is recommended that the Catholic Church in Croatia offer them increased electronic resources for pastoral work.     

Internet Use Associated Body-Surveillance Among Female Adolescents: Assessing the Role of Peer Networks

Body-surveillance is a core element of self-objectification, which has been recognized as a health hazard, particularly in female adolescents. Although the role of peers in self-objectification has been documented, the utility of ego-centered network approach has not been demonstrated. Using an online sample of 211 Croatian female adolescents, this study explored whether structural characteristics of self-reported networks (composed of same-sex peers one has discussed sexuality with) moderated the relationship between the use of social networking sites (SNS) and body-surveillance. Controlling for parental monitoring and accounting for self-esteem—which was negatively associated with adolescent body-surveillance—smaller network size amplified the association between SNS use and body-surveillance. Apart from confirming the overlap between offline and online peer networks in shaping adolescent body image concerns, this study’s findings suggest that adolescent women who frequently use SNS and those with fewer close friends are more vulnerable to social media-related body-objectification than their peers.     

Ethics Vs IT Ethics: a Comparative Study between the USA and the Middle East

This paper aims at investigating the perceived difference between ethics and IT ethics in college students. The study mainly investigates whether university students in the Middle East and their counterpart in the USA hold the same ethical values both in a traditional context and in an IT context. The study also investigates possible differences in students’ ethics considering their level of study and whether they have prior business ethics knowledge or not. Furthermore, the study controls for possible self-others bias in students’ responses to ethical issues by addressing some ethical issues where the respondent is the subject of the issue and other ethical issues where someone other than the respondent is the subject of the issue. Questionnaires were administered to university students in the USA and in several Middle East countries. A total of 401 usable questionnaires were returned. The study found that both the USA and the Middle East students have statistically significant lower ethical intention scores when addressing ethical issues in an IT context compared to traditional non-IT context. This pattern was consistent regardless of the students’ level of study and their prior knowledge of business ethics, and taking into consideration self-others bias. Additionally, it was found that graduate students have higher IT as well as non-IT ethical intentions compared to undergraduate students, however, it was found that the students’ prior business ethics knowledge did not affect the students’ ethical intention scores. Self-other bias was found to act in opposite directions for ethical issues in an IT context compared to ethical issues in a traditional context. For ethical issues within IT-context, students were less strict with themselves while they were stricter with others. For ethical issues within traditional non-IT context, students were stricter with themselves, while they were less strict with others. Finally, the study found that while students both in the USA and in the Middle East disagree with unethical IT as well as non-IT conducts, the degree to which they disagree with the unethical behavior significantly differ, where USA students were found to be significantly stricter with their disagreement.     

Work Engagement of Dual-Working Couples: Dissimilarity and Its Relation to Both Partners’ Well-Being

Work engagement is a positive, fulfilling, work-related state of mind that is characterized by vigor, dedication, and absorption. Work engaged individuals not only function better at work, but also transfer these benefits to home - research has shown that work engagement crosses over between marital partners. In previous studies on crossover, this phenomenon was evidenced only by significant correlation between self-reports of partners’ work engagement, while measures of dissimilarity between partners were completely ignored. However, work engagement dissimilarity - with one partner being highly enthusiastic and immersed in his/her work and the other one lowly - could be related to some aspects of both partners’ well-being and might improve its prediction. Hence, the goal of this study was to examine work engagement dissimilarity within dual-earning couples. In addition to self-report measures, we collected partners’ ratings of work engagement and its subdimensions as well. The data collected on 178 dual-working Croatian couples showed significant correlation of overall work engagement, vigor, dedication and absorption between various pairs of self- and other-ratings measures (partners’ self-ratings; self-ratings and partner’s ratings; and partner’s self-ratings and his/her ratings of work engagement of the partner). Moreover, difference in self-ratings and ratings of partner’s work engagement showed negative correlation with life satisfaction of both partners, suggesting that work engagement dissimilarity has a potential to be related to some aspects of partners’ well-being.     

Neurophysiologic markers of primary motor cortex for laryngeal muscles and premotor cortex in caudal opercular part of inferior frontal gyrus investigated in motor speech disorder: a navigated transcranial magnetic stimulation (TMS) study

Transcranial magnetic stimulation studies have so far reported the results of mapping the primary motor cortex (M1) for hand and tongue muscles in stuttering disorder. This study was designed to evaluate the feasibility of repetitive navigated transcranial magnetic stimulation (rTMS) for locating the M1 for laryngeal muscle and premotor cortical area in the caudal opercular part of inferior frontal gyrus, corresponding to Broca’s area in stuttering subjects by applying new methodology for mapping these motor speech areas. Sixteen stuttering and eleven control subjects underwent rTMS motor speech mapping using modified patterned rTMS. The subjects performed visual object naming task during rTMS applied to the (a) left M1 for laryngeal muscles for recording corticobulbar motor-evoked potentials (CoMEP) from cricothyroid muscle and (b) left premotor cortical area in the caudal opercular part of inferior frontal gyrus while recording long latency responses (LLR) from cricothyroid muscle. The latency of CoMEP in control subjects was 11.75 ± 2.07 ms and CoMEP amplitude was 294.47 ± 208.87 µV, and in stuttering subjects CoMEP latency was 12.13 ± 0.75 ms and 504.64 ± 487.93 µV CoMEP amplitude. The latency of LLR in control subjects was 52.8 ± 8.6 ms and 54.95 ± 4.86 in stuttering subjects. No significant differences were found in CoMEP latency, CoMEP amplitude, and LLR latency between stuttering and control-fluent speakers. These results indicate there are probably no differences in stuttering compared to controls in functional anatomy of the pathway used for transmission of information from premotor cortex to the M1 cortices for laryngeal muscle representation and from there via corticobulbar tract to laryngeal muscles.     

Posttraumatic symptomatology in children exposed to war

This study examines affective and behavioral symptomatology in two groups of school-age children who were traumatized to different degrees during the war in Croatia (N = 1034). Six self-reported questionnaires were used to assess the following: number and type of war experiences, PTSD symptoms, anxiety, depression, psychosomatic symptoms, and psychosocial adaptation. Canonical discriminant analysis yielded a significant discriminant function that indicates moderate differentiation between the two groups of children according to the assessed symptoms. The results of a 2 x 2 x 2 ANOVAs (gender x age x level of traumatization) indicate that the children's reactions to war traumata varied in respect to all factors, as well as their interaction. The results indicate that gender differences are more prominent in older children. Older girls report more posttraumatic stress reactions, anxiety and depression, but at the same time seem better adapted than boys. Younger children, particularly those who survived more war even report more PTSD symptoms than older children.