Measurement invariance of the Phubbing Scale across 20 countries.

Mobile phone addiction is a robust phenomenon observed throughout the world. The social aspect of mobile phone use is crucial; therefore, phubbing is a part of the mobile phone addiction phenomenon. Phubbing is defined as ignoring an interlocutor by glancing at one's mobile phone during a face-to-face conversation. The main aim of this study was to investigate how the Phubbing Scale (containing 10 items) might vary across countries, and between genders. Data were collected in 20 countries: Belarus, Brazil, China, Croatia, Ecuador, India, Israel, Italy, Netherlands, Pakistan, Poland, Portugal, Serbia, Slovakia, Slovenia, Spain, Turkey, UK, Ukraine and USA. The mean age across the sample (N = 7696, 65.8% women, 34.2% men) was 25.32 years (SD = 9.50). The cross-cultural invariance of the scale was investigated using multigroup confirmatory factor analyses (MGCFA) as well as the invariance analyses. Additionally, data from each country were assessed individually via confirmatory factor analyses (CFAs). We obtained two factors, based on only eight of the items: (a) communication disturbances and (b) phone obsession. The 8 items Phubbing Scale.

Country Indicators Moderating the Relationship Between Phubbing and Psychological Distress: A Study in 20 Countries.

Problematic mobile phone use can be related to negative mental states. Some studies indicate that behavioural dependency is related to variables associated with the country of origin. The aim of our study was to investigate if country indicators moderated the relationship between phubbing and psychological distress. Our sample consisted of 7,315 individuals from 20 countries, who completed the Phubbing Scale and the Kessler Psychological Distress Scale (K6). The analyses also included country indicators: the Gender Gap Index (GGI), the Human Development Index (HDI), the Social Progress Index (SPI), Hofstede's dimensions of culture, and the World Happiness Index (WHI). Our results showed that psychological distress was related to at least one dimension of phubbing (i.e., to communication disturbance or phone obsession) in all countries, which means this relationship is culturally universal. The results of the study demonstrate the importance of testing measurement invariance to determine what type of analysis and what type of conclusion are valid in a given study or comparison. Moreover, the increasing or decreasing correlation between phubbing and distress is related to some culture-level indices.

Materialism, affective states, and life satisfaction: case of Croatia.

In recent years, a number of studies have used Material Values Scale (MVS) to assess beliefs about importance to own material things. The aims of this study were to validate the MVS scale and to explore the relationships between materialistic values and well-being of Croatian citizens. The study was carried out on a representative sample of N = 1129 Croatian citizens. We used the short 9-item version of the MVS, life satisfaction rating, ratings of two positive (Positive affect) and four negative emotions (Negative affect) over the past month, and demographic variables (age, gender, income). The original dimensionality of the MVS was not confirmed; confirmatory factor analyses yielded two instead of three factors, Happiness and Centrality/Success. When controlled for income, gender and age, the Happiness dimension predicted Life satisfaction and both Positive and Negative affect, indicating that people who believed that the material goods in ones life leads to happiness reported to have lower life satisfaction, lower level of positive affect and higher level of negative affect over the past month. The Centrality/Success dimension was positively related to Positive affect, indicating that the belief that possessions play a central role in enjoyment leads to more frequent experiences of happiness and satisfaction over the past month.

Monthly income and subjective well-being of Croatian citizens.

AIM: To examine the differences in subjective well-being among people with different household income. METHOD: Data were obtained from the national survey conducted in June 2005, in which a representative sample of 896 participants were administered a questionnaire on several measures of subjective well-being as follows: happiness, life satisfaction, and satisfaction with different life domains (personal and national well-being index). One-way ANOVA was performed to test the differences in subjective well-being measures between participants grouped into six categories according to their monthly income. RESULTS: Happiness and life satisfaction ratings, as well as ratings of satisfaction with several life domains differed significantly between groups of people with different monthly income. Respondents with higher income felt happier (P<0.001), more satisfied with their life as a whole (P<0.001), more satisfied with their material status (P<0.001), health (P<0.001), achievement (P<0.001), future security (P=0.001), economic situation (P=0.001), state of the environment (P=0.003), and social conditions in Croatia (P=0.003). However, no significant differences were found between the two groups with the lowest income (0-70 euros and 71-130 euro per person per month), nor between the two groups with the highest income (401-530 euros and 531+ euros per person per month). CONCLUSION: Our study showed that income and material wealth had an influence on subjective well-being in contemporary Croatian society, which is undergoing major social and economical changes.

Development and testing of promotion materials on tissue and organ donation.

AIM: To develop leaflets that would promote and increase tissue and organ donation and to test their persuasive value. METHOD: The study was carried out in two parts. In Study 1, we assessed attitudes, knowledge, and intentions about tissue and organ donation of 200 randomly chosen persons from the population of the capital of Croatia, Zagreb, as well as of 108 health professionals in different hospitals in Zagreb. We also assessed the willingness of health care professionals to ask their patients whether they were willing to donate their tissue and/or organs. Dependent variables in this study were attitudes, knowledge, and intentions. On the basis of attitude and knowledge analyses, two types of tissue and organ donation promotional leaflet were developed: one intended for the community sample and the other for health professionals. The leaflets were used as independent variable. In Study 2, performed a year later, the leaflets were presented to another group of 184 persons from Zagreb population and 50 health professionals. We compared attitudes, knowledge, and intentions of community sample and health professionals presented with leaflets vs those not presented with leaflets, and assessed the persuasive power of the two types of promotional material developed. RESULT: The community sample presented with the leaflet in Study 2 showed significantly more positive attitudes towards organ donation when compared with the group not presented with a leaflet in Study 1 (t=2.26; p=0.025), but there was no significant improvement in attitudes towards tissue donation or intention to either donate or receive tissues and organs for transplantation. For health professionals, the Study 2 group presented with a leaflet showed a tendency toward less positive attitudes but significantly more positive intention than those in Study 1 not presented with a leaflet to donate bone marrow (t=2.39; p=0.021) and one's own organs (t=2.24; p<0.027), and to ask others about blood donation (t=2.1; p=0.037). CONCLUSION: Presentation of leaflets succeeded in producing a tendency toward more positive attitudes and intentions toward tissue and organ donation. Still, a single presentation is clearly insufficient to produce significant change in all variables - attitudes, knowledge, and intentions.

Chronological and subjective age in relation to work demands: survey of Croatian workers.

The aim of the study was to investigate chronological and subjective age and gender differences in terms of the physical, mental, and social demands of work. Subjects, 88 women and 25 men, were workers in a medical setting who completed the Survey of Health Care Professionals. Subjects' reports of effort required by their work, tiredness resulting from their work, and personal skills needed to complete their work were used to assess the physical, mental, and social demands of work. Subjective age measures included cognitive age, desired age, and comparative age. Results showed that, compared to men, women reported being more tense as a result of the work. Age differences were found in the physical and mental skills required by the work. Older workers had lower estimates of their own skills than younger workers. Three measures of subjective age showed different patterns of relationships with aspects of work demands.