original scientific article UDC 004.738.5-053.67:316.362.1(497.4) received: 2014-01-14 EVERYDAY AND FAMILY CONTEXTS OF YOUTH COMPUTER CULTURES: THE CASE OF SLOVENIA Tanja OBLAK ČRNIČ University of Ljubljana, Faculty of Social Sciences, Kardeljeva pl. 5, 1000 Ljubljana, Slovenia e-mail: tanja.oblak@fdv.uni-lj.si Metka KUHAR, University of Ljubljana, Faculty of Social Sciences, Kardeljeva pl. 5, 1000 Ljubljana, Slovenia e-mail: metka.kuhar@fdv.uni-lj.si ABSTRACT In this paper we aimed to analyse the ways in which everyday context and family climate determine the complex structure of youth computer cultures, particularly the patterns that young people use in relation to computer activities and their place within the youth life. A representative quantitative survey among Slovenian youngsters aged 15-24, still living with their parents and going to school, revealed three different types of youth computer culture: The strongest factor predicting the passive, TV-like entertainment computer culture is the outgoing and entertaining free time pattern; the active and informative computer use is the most strongly positively predicted by the culturally engaged free-time pattern; the interactive and socially oriented computer culture is predicted only by the outgoing and entertaining free time pattern. The analysis also showed that the quality of the relationship between parents and children as perceived by the youngsters has no effect on youth computer culture within our sample. Key words: youth computer cultures, leisure time activities, family relationships, young computer users, Internet CONTEST! QUOTIDIANI E FAMILIARI DELLE CULTURE DI COMPUTER GIOVANILI: IL CASO DELLA SLOVENIA SINTESI In questo articolo abbiamo mirato ad analizzare i modi in cui il contesto e il clima familiare di tutti i giorni determina la complessa struttura delle culture di computer della gioventu, particolarmente i modelli che I giovani utilizzano in relazione alle attivitä del computer e il loro posto all'interno della vita della gioventu. Un sondaggio rappresentativo quantitativo tra i giovani sloveni tra i 15 e 24 anni, che vivono ancora con i genitori e vanno a scuola, ha rivelato tre tipi diversi di cultura di computer giovanile: a) una cultura di computer passiva, usata per intratte-nimento come la TV, b) una cultura attiva e informativa e c) una cultura di computer interattiva e sociale. L'analisi ha mostrato che la qualitä del rapporto tra genitori e figli percepita dai giovani non ha alcun effetto sulla cultura giovanile del computer, ma il modello repressivo di stile genitoriale e stato confermato come avendo effetti moderati. Parole chiave: culture di computer giovanili, tempo libero, relazioni familiari, giovani utenti di computer, Internet INTRODUCTION At present, computer technologies, along with other well-established media, comprise an important factor in the construction of our everyday routines. Many of our practices on the micro level, such as banking, shopping, information-seeking, media consumption, playing, and social interaction, have become increasingly mediated. The technological sophistication of private homes, which has intensified with the expansion of the convergence of mobile phones and Internet networks, with the recent social media, has encouraged extensive research. The studies conducted have focused on generation (Holloway and Valentine, 2003), gender (Haddon and Silverstone, 2000), age (Facer, Furlong, Furlong et al., 2003), peers, and status differences (Livingstone, 2008), with regard to their relationship with these technologies in everyday life. Due to the complex nature of communication technologies, research has often concentrated on one specific technological object at a time; either a personal computer as a new "home technology" (Bakar-dijeva, 2005), or a mobile phone as a new "category for social relations" (Fortunati, 2002), or on social networks as a new "intimate space of risky self-expression" (Livingstone, 2008). This paper focuses on private homes, which have become increasingly occupied by computers. However, while these technologies have been a source of novelty, contributing to the changes in the home environment, the response to them has been defined by the family's relationships; their inner structures of power, gender, and age. Home computers and all their peripheral services enter the already existing family practices and technology, regardless of how innovative they may be, and work with what is already present, and what already gives shape to people's lives (Bakardijeva, 2005; Strathern, 1992). For example, a personal computer that is placed in the living room, which is meant for the family to use in their free time, is potentially available to all family members and therefore gains its "family identity" in a different way from a computer that is placed in a child's room. Since the home computer does not enter "into a 'blank slate' of technological innocence" (Strathern, 1992, 34), it evolves in the presence of the "old media", which already has the established roles within the family's everyday routine. In this paper, we aim to analyse the ways in which everyday activities among the Slovenian youth and patterns within the family life determine the (complex) structure of youth computer cultures, particularly the patterns of computer usage employed by young people. Due to the intense development of personal computers at the end of the 80s and in the middle of the 90s, the computer symbolically changed from a mechanical device into a communication medium, to which various meanings were ascribed. Today, the personal computer has become an important medium for the development of skills connected with work, school, and study, new forms of entertainment and creative patterns for free-time activities at home (Lalley, 2002, 3). The question remains, what kind of computer cultures the Slovenian youth develop within their private homes. Firstly, we are interested in the impact of the established relationships between parents and their children, especially the children's perception of the quality of this relationship and the parenting style on computer usage among young family members. Parents can influence this usage in several different ways, for example, by imposing restrictions on the amount of the time spent on computer use, or in a more dialogic way through active mediation (Livingstone and Helsper, 2008), as well as with subtle, often unintentional, activities, such as the general style of communication patterns that exist within the family, and by the example they set as role models for their children to imitate (Fujioka and Austin, 2002). Furthermore, we assume that the way the younger generation uses computers within their homes depends on their general cultural capital, namely, on the ways in which they spend their spare time and the type of their engagement in leisure time activities. This argument is in alignment with the cultural approach towards new media consumption, which posits that young people use media both to sustain and participate in peer culture, and to move away, and distance themselves from family culture (Livingstone, 2005, 176). In order to provide the answers to these questions, we have based our findings on the quantitative survey Youth 2010,1 which was conducted in a representative sample of 1257 Slovenian youngsters in 2010. DIVERSE COMPUTER CULTURES WITHIN STABLE FAMILY LIFE: THE CASE OF SLOVENIA The technological sophistication of private homes has led to diverse research questions, which are embraced under the concept of the mediatisation of everyday life (Thompson, 1995; Livingstone, 2005; Hepp, 2013). This trend brings modifications to life in the private sphere (Livingstone, 2005, 172-177): first, the social trend toward individualisation supports the diversification of taste, spare time and life-style preferences. While youngsters are enthusiastic adopters of all-consuming products that are related to their preferred TV shows, pop music, sport, online games, etc., this is 1 This research continues the Slovenian tradition of quantitative research aimed exclusively at young people: Youth and ideology (1988), The future of youth (1995), Time-out for students (1996), Social vulnerability of youth (2000), Youth 2000 (2002). The majority of measures in Youth 2010 are based on measures used in the previous surveys, some are added anew - informed by the other European youth questionnaires, especially the Shell youth studies (www.shell.de). also a moving force of private interest that goes hand-in-hand with the multiplication of markets. Secondly, young users wish to be alone while using their computers. Terms like "media-rich bedrooms" (Livingstone and Bovill, 2001), "personalised media" or "personal blogging", are very close to the hearts of young users of new media, as they represent the freedom of personal choice, of public appearance, and of public communication through online spaces. Third, media makes an impact on youth culture through mediated contents and their specific media platforms. With the help of new media and online social networks, youngsters tend to build their own privacy and individuality and form intimate relationships. Among such transformations, we have also witnessed an important change in the concept of family, childhood, education, and parental functions, moving toward a democratisation of the private sphere (Giddens, 2000). With the increasing pluralisation and individualisation of life courses, family forms, careful planning and delaying parenthood to achieve the desired objective and subjective conditions (Ule and Kuhar, 2003), the modern family has become increasingly attentive to the welfare of children, which is referred to as "responsible parenting" or a "protective childhood". This trend is observed as a consequence of requirements produced by individualisation processes. The importance of family as a mitigator of risks is increasing (Beck, 1997; Giddens, 2000), particularly its support functions, both materially and emotionally. Despite the tradition of full employment of both genders, the Slovenian society has been repeatedly described as "child-centred" because of the very high family input to the child's welfare (Rener, 2006; Ule and Kuhar, 2003). With the general intensification of family responsibilities, tasks, requirements, and parental responsibilities, uncertainty regarding appropriate education, or parenting in general, is also increasing. Within the EU, in 2009 Slovenia had one of the highest numbers of young men and women aged 18-34 and still living in the parental home (the country was second after the Slovak Republic, according to the Commission of the European Communities report), while in 2013 many other countries came in front (Slovenia being 8.). This situation is due to the worsened conditions experienced by families and young people following the breakdown of socialism, although the socio-economic transition to a market economy-based society was 'relatively smooth'2 in Slovenia (OECD, 2009, 13).3 Several aspects of the post-socialist transformation contributed to the establishment of strong alliances between parents and children; among these are the deregulation of the welfare state and the labour market. This increased the risk of unemployment, the lack of stable jobs for young people and uncertainty about the future; changes in the educational system promoting prolonged education; and severe housing shortages, due to the privatisation of formerly public housing. It appears that the result of such risky circumstances is the return to domesticated family culture, whereby the children enjoy a relatively high level of autonomy in their original families. They have a right to early autonomous decisions in personal identity in important fields, such as leisure time, friendships, and other intimate relationships (Ule and Kuhar, 2002). In such a context, the majority of young Slovenians perceive their family to be the most important source of all types of support, and their reliance on it is strong and is even increasing (Ule and Kuhar, 2003). For the majority of young people, their parents are among the most important people in their life when it comes to matters of confidence, at least when this "goes for real", and when intimate and genuine help is needed (Ule and Kuhar, 2002). Studies have also shown that contemporary family life in Slovenia is not based on traditional, rigid, generational, and gender-specific roles, but rather on democratic ideals and intensive "work on relationships", which also includes intimate conversations and negotiations on many levels, as to common ways in which parents influence and/or monitor the decisions and actions of their children (Kuhar and Reiter, 2013; Rener, 2006). It is not surprising that an international comparison also indicates a high level of satisfaction on average with regard to relationships between parents and young people in Slovenia (Health Behaviour in School-aged Children, Pokrajac, 2006). Clashes in domestic computer cultures: the contexts within Slovenian homes According to the Statistical Office, in 2012, 76% of Slovenian households had at least one personal computer, while 74% had Internet access, of which 99 % had access to broadband. A quantitative survey, ICT Usage in Households and by Individuals 2005 (Vehovar et al., 2005), based on a representative national sample (n = 1460) of Internet users within Slovenian households showed that, on average, young respondents (aged between 10 and 19) mostly agreed that the Internet ma- As the most rapidly modernising one of the former socialist countries, Slovenia maintained its special status that it had had already before the collapse of Yugoslavia also afterwards: Slovenia was not affected by ethnic violence and war; it joined the European Union in its first round of eastern enlargement; and with its economic development taking over some of the old member countries, it was the first of the former communist countries to become part of the Euro zone. Aspects of 'modern youth' and 'western' trends in life styles, values, life courses and family arrangements were already common in the Slovenian society while under the socialist system (Ule, 1988). Nevertheless, since the early 1990s, the period of youth has continued to be extended in Slovenia, and the patterns of transition to adulthood proliferated in comparison with the mid-1980s generation (Ule and Kuhar, 2003). 2 kes them more connected with other people and that their relationships with friends are better (Oblak Črnič, 2011a). In their eyes, the Internet appeared to be a precious social medium. Furthermore, the comparison between parents and young Internet users in this survey revealed some general clashes in the way these two groups interact with technologies: while parents expected informational or professional benefits from the Web, young people used it for surfing with less intentional aims; they wanted to have fun and to socialise online. This comparison also showed that, for parents, "interest-driven" participation on the Web seems to dominate, while the young users' genre of participation is more "friendship-driven". Ito (2010) nicely explains the main differences between the two: the dominant mode of friendship driven participation is what kids call hanging out. This is the relatively unstructured, often impromptu ambient social activity where so much of youth socialisation happens. A more recent quantitative survey, EuKids online II (Lobe and Muha, 2011b), based on a sample of 9-16-year-olds and their parents, showed that, in Slovenia, 57% of young people access the Web in their own room. This percentage was even higher among 15-16-year-old youngsters, standing at 79%. A great majority (73%) of the latter age group access the Web through mobile phones or other portable objects. According to this study, the quantity of time spent online is statistically significantly related to the family's socio-economic status: children from low-status families appeared to be online the most often (108 min/day), children from middle-status families spent 100 min/day online, while those from higher-status households spent almost an hour and half (86 min) online. With regard to communicating details of online activities with their parents, the majority (62%) of youngsters stated that they share information, but less than a fifth of parents surveyed in the sample actually monitored what their children did online. In some families, the rules of online behaviour are strictly set: 68% of 13-16 years old youngsters reported rules regarding the exchange of personal data with others online; while other rules (e.g. the use of instant messaging, downloading/uploading music and videos etc.) were reported very rarely. Another quantitative survey, conducted by Lobe and Muha (2011a) in 2010, in a sample of 8-19-year-old Slovenians, demonstrated that only a minimal percentage of parents limited the quantity of the Inter- net usage or types of their children's online activities, especially among those aged 15-19.4 In a qualitative Slovenian study of parental regulation in the areas of school-related activities and household chores (Kuhar and Reiter, 2013), the computer proved to be a potential source of parental sanctioning of a child. The survey demonstrated that parents often used the denial of access to a computer or the Internet as a threat to control their child's behaviour, but rarely did materialise this threat. Furthermore, a qualitative case study on the domestication of computers in Slovenian families (Oblak Črnič, 2011b) found that some parents blamed computers for perceived reduced interactions within the family. Conversely, youngsters reported more diverse reasons for transforming their own family life. This was also connected with a significant discrepancy in the symbolic meaning of the computer for parents and children. As various researches have previously shown (Bakardjie-va 2005; Facer et al., 2003; Holloway and Valentine, 2000), the way the computer is introduced into the private sphere is neither coincidental nor should it be taken for granted. Talking about the personal computer as a new "family member" is often accompanied by claims about its indisputable negative influence on family relations (Facer et al., 2003).5 Research questions and hypothesis Many authors studying such issues (Holloway and Valentine, 2003; Livingstone, 2005; Drotner, 2005) concentrate on generational gaps between the family users, asking, first, how the structural circumstances of (new) childhood have been changing and, second, how (new) media is changing the conditions in which childhood nowadays develops. However, the distinctive patterns of youngsters' computer activities were not robustly analysed in any of these studies, and the effects of aspects of parenting and the quality of family life on young people's computer culture has also not previously been sufficiently discussed.6 In order to fill this gap, the present study provides further insights into family computer cultures from the eyes of younger members. An important context deriving from historians (Flichy, 2005) is that recent families have to cope with quickly changing social realities, in which old traditional sources existed that once developed strong hierarchies are vanishing. As a consequence, discussions about family The data showed the impact of parental education on the amount of time children spend online, but not on the individual types of Internet activities. Neither for the first nor for the second, the gender of children (which was in addition to the child's age the only remaining socio-demographic factor studied) has proved to be a significant variable. A Slovenian study also showed (Oblak Črnič, 2011b) that parents' images of computers, which are expressed through the memories of the family biography of the home computer, are numerous and diverse. But they are relevant because they act as models for the parents' introduction of the "appropriate" use of computers to their children, who can either accept these encoded meanings or reject them by establishing their own uses. One of the exceptions is the international project EU kids online, which has been studying the impact of family context on the youngsters' internet use (e.g., Lobe and Olafsson, 2012), but focuses only on the role of parents regarding risks and safety of their children's internet use. 4 5 relationships have to include also the changing patterns of media usage, especially between the young family members. The primary research questions that we aim to address through an analysis of the impact made by social and family contexts on the frequency and ways of computer usage among youngsters are: a) How are the diverse youth computer cultures determined by the perception of the quality of the parent-child relationship and by the perceived parenting style that is predominant within the family? b) How are different types of youth computer culture determined by young people's patterns of leisure time activities? And finally, c) How do different types of computer usage depend on the selected social and economic status, especially on age, gender, parental education, family's economic status, and differences in Slovenian regions. According to the previous studies, which stress that the regulative or normative contexts within families make varying impacts on different young computer users (Lanigan, 2009; Wang, Raley and Bianchi, 2005; Valcke, Bonte and De Wever, 2010), one of the first assumptions made was that young family members living in a more restrictive context experience different patterns of computer usage, compared to those with more democratic family patterns, due to more coercive restrictions instead of active mediation. We could also expect to find important differences between young users who feel comfortable in their relationship with their parents, and those who do not; a less pleasant family climate may be related to a more repressive parental style that is also restrictive with respect to new media usage. Conversely, a positive relationship between parents and children might imply fewer online activities, since the practices of everyday life are more intertwined among all members. Similarly, in comparison to previous research, our study aimed to test the extent to which, and in which direction, the computer activities of youngsters were associated with their other leisure activities. Since different studies have already shown (Holloway and Valentine, 2003; Lalley, 2002; Facer et al., 2003) that the use of a computer has different meanings for young people, where for some it is central, while for others it is entirely irrelevant (Facer et al., 2003, 113). It is important also to reveal what kinds of computer cultures exist among the Slovenian young generation. We assume that a specific type of computer usage is directly related to the dominant spare-time activities, where the computer world is not in opposition with the way spare time is consumed. To specify: if the computer is used for active purposes through which youngsters get more informed, more active by following their interests and goals, this would go in line with their activities within their spare time. Method and sample characteristics Our analysis used a sub-sample from the representative quantitative survey of the young generation in Slovenia; Youth 2010. The target population was all people aged between 15 and 29, and with permanent residence in the country. Sampling was conducted on the basis of data from the central population register of Slovenia, and the target population was first stratified into 12 statistical regions and six types of settlement. Data collection was conducted in the form of personal surveying with trained interviewers in the field from July to September 2010.7 The Youth 2010 survey was constructed on several separated themes, but, for the purpose of our analysis, the focus here is limited to three general topics: computer usage activities,8 free-time activities and family climate within youth computer cultures: the perception of parents-child relationship and the perception of the parenting style within the family.9 We initially conducted factor analyses on these measures and subsequently used a multiple regression analysis to estimate the impact of the individual factors and socio-demographic variables on the type of youth computer culture in our sample. By performing factor analyses we excluded variables with communalities less than 0.4 and performed factor analyses with less variables again. Our selected sample included 623 youngsters aged 15-24,10 who lived with their parents, still went to school, and had no children, and 47.7% of the sample was female. The majority of respondents were secondary school pupils: over a quarter attended 4-year high school (26.7 %); almost a third (29.8 %) attended vocational secondary school; 41.6% were students (tertiary education level); and 1.9 % attended primary school. The vast majority (84.1 %) lived with both parents. According to the information provided by the children, the majority of their par- 7 Prior to the start of surveying, all persons included in the sample were informed in writing of the survey and invited to participate. The survey was funded by the Youth Office of the Republic of Slovenia and conducted by Lavrič, Flere, Tavčar Krajnc et al. (2010). The database is publicly accessible. 8 The time spent on individual computer activities engagement was measured on a 6-level scale from zero usage to more than two hours spent for the respective activity daily; also the time spent for free-time activities was measured on a 6-level scale from not engaging in the respective activity to more than two hours of the activity daily, or from not engaging in an activity to a daily activity for those activities that on average take place (a) few times a week. 9 Variables for each of these two measures were measured on a 5-level scale from totally disagree to totally agree. 10 There are several reasons why we decided to take 15-24-year-olds together as a sample. In Slovenia, in the last years more than 90% of 19-25-year-olds live together with parents (in the same household, as their dependent children) and more than 80% of this age group is in tertiary education (not employed) (more detailed data for example in Kuhar and Reiter, 2012). The studies in Slovenia have found that this post-adolescent age group is psychologically relatively immature and very connected with their parents - especially with mothers being of utmost significance also in terms of emotional and social support (Ule and Kuhar, 2003). Table 1: Factor Analysis Results for Computer activities Factor loadings Computer activities are ^ Passive, TV like entertainment computer culture Active, informative computer culture Social interactive computer culture Downloading movies or music 0.67 Listening to music (including Internet radio) 0.53 Watching DVDs and films (including on Internet) 0.53 Watching/uploading videos 0.52 Playing games 0.47 Browsing websites 0.43 Reading newspapers or magazines online 0.61 Informing oneself about world events 0.60 Writing, sending, reading e-mails 0.57 Informing oneself about products/ buying 0.51 Graphics 0.47 Social networking sites activities 0.61 Note: Principal components factor analysis with oblimin rotation, explaining 40.11 % of the variance. ents had received secondary education (56 % of mothers and 61.7 % of fathers), another quarter had received higher education (26.2 % of mothers and 22.3 % of fathers), while less than one fifth (17.8 % of mothers and 16% of fathers) had received primary school education. One third of our sample (33.9 %) lived in urban areas (bigger cities), and the remainder came from suburban and rural areas, including small cities. One third of our sample (30.3 %) lived in the most eastern Slovenian regions (Pomurska, Podravska, South-East Slovenia); one fifth (19 %) in the following regions, which we combined for further analyses: Koroška, Savinjska, Zasavska, Spodnje-posavska; more than one third (38.4 %) in the central Slovenia and Gorenjska; and the remaining one tenth (11.4 %) in the south-western part (Goriška, Obalnokraška, Notranjskokraška regions). A total of 4.7% of respondents estimated the family's economic status as being below the Slovenian average, while 75.5 % estimated the family economic status as being average, and almost one fifth (19.8 %) gave their estimation as above average. RESULTS Diverse youth computer cultures: passive, active, and interactive The computer usage within Slovenian families is a common practice: under one fifth (16.7 %) of the re- spondents used a computer for less than half an hour a day, while the majority (51.5 %) spent between 30 minutes and 2 hours in front of the computer, and one third (31.8 %) spent over 2 hours daily at a computer. The most frequent computer activities were listening to music, watching DVDs and films, and social networking, while the least frequent were dealing with graphics, reading newspapers and journals, informing oneself about products or buying products, and writing on forums or blogs. The factor analysis presented in Table 1 offers a further more detailed insight into computer usage patterns. The analysis showed that computer activities are far from homogeneous among the young "digital generation". The measures used reflected three distinct dimensions, which we labelled 1) passive, TV-like entertaining computer culture, 2) active, informative computer culture, and 3) interactive, social networking culture. The first of these refers primarily to a mostly passive relationship with the computer, with a "watch, listen, browse as I like" pattern. The computer is fun and "replaces" a television screen, but in an individualised way. The second type of computer usage is much more active -it refers to looking for information, doing school assignments, creating, programming, which all demand a certain goal orientation from the user. The interactive type formed a third distinct pattern, showing only a single item "social networking" with strong communality Table 2: Summary Statistics and Factor Analysis Results for Perception of Relationship with Parents Individual items M SD Factor loadings Parents love me very much 4.38 0.70 0.75 Getting along with mother well 4.23 0.83 0.73 Getting along with father well 3.99 1.00 0.70 Notes: The items were measured on 1-5 scale. Principal components factor analysis, explaining 68.79 % of the variance. value. Such result confirms the first assumption that several Internet services should not be viewed as a single activity of the more or less same activity. The passive entertaining orientation towards computers and active creative orientation are in opposition, as the correlation between them is statistically significant, but negative and moderate (r=-0.35), while the orientation towards interactivity and social networking is positively correlated with both (r=0.22 with first and r=0.11 with second). This division confirms that the computer and the Web are not a homogeneous medium, but in a similar manner to the relationship with the "traditional media", the young audiences can be divided into traditional passive viewers, active, more engaged users that are goal-oriented, and interactive, socially oriented users (Hughes and Hans, 2001). Family and leisure contexts of everyday life among youth Family climate: positive relationship between repressive and permissive parenting style The statistics showing the perception of relationship quality among the youth (Table 2) confirm the existing data on the perceived high quality of parent-child relationships in Slovenia. All average scores have high values, which demonstrate that the young felt accepted at home and that their relationship with both parents was stable and positive. The factor analysis on the indicators for this variable testifies one factor behind them (also Table 2). Furthermore we present the variables that Lavrič et al. (2010) used to measure parenting style and its latent variables. Conceptually, these authors followed Baumrind's basic typology of authoritarian, authoritative, and permissive parenting styles (Baumrind, 1967)11 but they constructed the items themselves. Table 3 does not show high ratings on the two items that were intended to measure an authoritative parenting style (the first two items in Table 3), at least not compared to the measure of relationship quality. The means of the following two items, which were included to measure permissive parenting style, are below 3 on the 1-5 scale. The last three items measuring authoritarian parenting style are also associated with relatively low scores. Interestingly, the factor analysis on the selected sample indicates only Table 3: Summary Statistics and Factor Analysis Results for Perception of Parenting Style M SD Factor loadings Individual Items Repressive Participatory Permissive Child's participation at rules setting 3.36 0.91 0.65 Parental argumentation of rules 3.67 0.81 0.62 Child often got desired things (toys, sweets etc.) just to be diligent 2.80 0.95 0.65 At least one parent often yielded, if child strongly resisted or demanded something 2.57 1.03 0.50 Verbal insults if the child's behaviours haven't fitted parental expectations 2.15 1.02 0.83 Parent(s) has/have often screamed at the child 2.49 1.08 0.83 Physical sanctions if the child's behaviours haven't fitted parental expectations 2.13 1.02 0.75 Note: The items were measured on 1-5 scale. Principal components factor analysis, explaining 56.34 % of the variance. 11 The definitions of the main parenting styles emphasise varieties of using power, control and discipline on one hand, and warmth and autonomy support on the other. In the case of the authoritarian parenting style, coercive, unilateral forms of power assertion are applied. Permissive parenting is characterised by parental reluctance to assert firm and consistent power; it is at risk of failing to provide a basic structure. The authoritative style - ideal from the viewpoint of youth outcomes - means asserting discipline in a confrontive way, i.e. with argumentation, and opportunities for reciprocal communication and autonomous choice (Baumrind, 2012). two factors. Behind the items that were included to measure authoritative and permissive parenting style is one single factor with moderately strong loadings, which we labelled participatory permissive parenting style; behind the other three (authoritarian) items is another factor with very strong loadings that we called repressive parenting. The factors are statistically significant and negatively correlated (r=-0.23). We also checked the correlation between both parenting factors and the relationship quality factor: the repressive parenting style is statistically significantly negatively correlated with perceived quality of parent-child relationship (r=-0.30), while the permissive parenting style shows a positive correlation (r=0.31). Diverse free-time activities among youth The Youth 2010 data predominantly confirm the Youth 2000 data on the free-time activities of Slovenian youth (reviewed in Kuhar, 2007). In their free time, young people primarily socialise with friends and partners, listen to music, watch television, use the computer and participate in sports. On average, unstructured, passive use of free time predominates. A more precise picture on what young people do when they are free is provided by a factor analysis exploring the latent dimensions behind all the given activities. The factor analysis identified three such types: a) culturally engaged activities with humanitarian services and active self-achievement; b) entertainment and socially outgoing activities and c) privately oriented and caring activities (see Table 4). Young family members divided their set everyday practices into three separate patterns that appear to have important differences, as they are all negatively related to each other: while the culturally, humanitarian and self-engaged activities are statistically significantly negatively correlated with the entertainment and sociali-sing-oriented activities (r=-0.36), and have a very weak negative correlation with the privately oriented activities (r=-0.06), the entertainment activities are negatively correlated with the more domesticated, privately-oriented activities (r=-0.45). Using free time for entertainment and social interaction with others, or being culturally active, and participating in humanitarian services are opposite to a more domesticated, privately oriented "free" time, in which taking care of home obligations, shopping and other family members is involved. In addition, the three types of activities are also different in the sense of its space location: if the first, the cultural aspect is oriented towards more public activities outside home, and the second entertainment aspect toward other peers and friends, the third is focused on family members in their own private world. Table 4: Factor Analysis Results for Free Time Activities Factor loadings Type of activities Culturally engaged activities, humanitarian and active self Socially engaged activities and entertaining self Privately engaged activities and caring self Writing (diary, poems, letters etc.) 0.59 Participating in humanitarian activities 0.47 Reading 0.45 Going to the cinema, theatre, concerts 0.40 Using computer for entertainment 0.64 In-person time with friends, peers 0.54 Doing nothing 0.51 Going to cafes, clubs, parties, discos 0.45 Watching entertainment on TV 0.40 Household chores, work in garden 0.45 Shopping 0.42 Being with younger brothers/sisters 0.41 Note: Principal components factor analysis with oblimin rotation, explaining 30.21 % of the variance. What determines diverse types of computer cultures? Finally, we investigated the extent to which these three types of free-time activities, perceived quality of parent-child relationship, and parenting styles predicted the single type of youth computer culture. The table 5 includes the list of those variables that showed statistically significant effects; those variables that showed no effect within the given data set are mentioned in the footnote. The results are presented in three parts: first, the regression model for the passive, entertainment computer culture is explained, secondly, the impacts on the active computer culture are shown, and lastly, the regression model for interactive computer culture is given. After the presentation of general findings within each model the more detailed discussion follows. The strongest factor predicting the passive, TV-like entertainment computer culture is the social and entertaining type of everyday activities. This is consistent with the classical functional media theory, or uses and gratification model, which purports that we are similarly "passive" and leisure-oriented at different levels of personal engagement. However, also the two other types of free-time activities seem to influence this passive computer culture, but in a very specific and much more moderate way: the privately engaged and caring type of everyday activities stimulates passivity towards the computers, but culturally more engaged activities are in opposition to computer passivity. Age and region have significant negative and moderate effects within the socio-demographic factors on this type of computer consumption: the older the young are, the less passive they become in relation to computers; the regions have another effect - the more eastern part of the country seems to be more prone to passivity than the youth from the western side. A significant but very low effect is found also in the repressive parenting style, which allows us to conclude that severe parenting pattern might diminish the entertainment orientation and passivity in relation to computers, but within the Slove- Table 5: Summary of Multiple Regression Analysis for the Three Types of Computer Culture PASSIVE AND TV LIKE ENTERTAINING ACTIVE AND INFORMATIVE INTERACTIVE AND SOCIAL ß Sig. (p) ß Sig. (p) ß Sig. (p) Parents-child relationship and parenting style Repressive parenting 0.09 0.03 -0.09 0.04 0.10 0.02 Youth activities and spare time Culturally engaged activities -0.23 0.00 0.46 0.00 Socially engaged activities, and entertaining self 0.28 0.00 -0.22 0.00 0.37 0.00 Privately engaged activities and caring self 0.16 0.00 0.10 0.02 Socio-demographic variables Age -0.16 0.01 0.11 0.04 Gender 0.27 0.00 -0.22 0.00 Urbanity -0.09 0.04 Region -0.12 0.01 -0.10 0.03 Variables with no significant effect Parents-child relationship quality Participatory permissive parenting Child's type of school Family's material status Father's education Mother's education Note: The adjusted R2 for the first model is 0.46, for the second 0.32 and for the third 0.29 (p<0.05). nian sample the effect is too small to generalise such a result. On the other hand, passivity in front of PC is not related to other social characteristics or family cultural capital like the parent's education, economic status, or the child's type of school. The next type of computer culture, the active and informative computer use, is the most strongly positively predicted by culturally engaged and humanitarian oriented free-time activities, and negatively with more outgoing and entertaining spare-time pattern. Its significant predictors were also private-sphere oriented free-time activities, but the motives behind both free-time types that determined the active computer use were different: active free time is "merged" with active computer use, while in the case of privately oriented free time, the "replacement" of more public life via computer activities came first. The only socio-demographic variable that has a significant impact on the active computer culture is gender: girls seem to be more actively involved with the computers than boys. The final category, the interactive and socially oriented computer culture, appeared to imply a very distinct type: first, it is most strongly predicted by gender (female) and age (older respondents): the socially oriented computer culture is more often experienced among females and older youngsters. On the other hand, another two socio-demographic variables have a significant, but a much lower impact: region and urbanity, both in a negative sense: again, those coming from more eastern parts and rural places seem to participate in a socially oriented way with computers. Within the spare-time activities, however, it is significantly predicted only by the socially oriented activities. Being socially oriented online is positively but weakly related to the repressive parenting style; the family climate seemed to push youngsters to online interactions and time spent socialising away from the family. Discussion Our exploration led to several new findings: First, it was shown that young people are not a homogenous group in terms of computer culture types; rather we can discuss different patterns of computer cultures, namely, more active, working, motivated and creative; more outward and entertainment-oriented, that is passive in its structure, and more socially oriented, based on interactive networking patterns. Also regarding free-time activities, three different patterns can be distinguished: again one more active, with a variety of structured, socially committed and creative activities; the second more passive and entertainment-oriented; and the third being defined by both active and passive activities, which remain family- or private-sphere bound. These patterns are not positively correlated: the first and the second, and the second and the third pattern are highly negatively correlated. At the factorisation of parenting style, in addition to the repressive type with a coercive way to regulate the child's behaviour, a uniform style with both democratic and permissive aspects seems to be characteristic for our sample of youngsters. This is not surprising given that the few existing studies on parenting in Slovenia suggest that parents regulate their children's behaviour in non-direct, only apparently argumentative and dialo-gical ways. A more detailed analysis revealed emotional conditioning and other forms of psychological control and tactics of instrumental subordination of children (who do not internalise the rules), and, conversely, also considerable parental uncertainty regarding educational approaches that indulge the wishes of the child (Kuhar and Reiter, 2013). With regard to the impact of the perceived quality of the parent-child relationship and the parenting style on youngsters' computer culture, only the repressive parental style showed significant effects but in a very distinct sense: only repressive parenting style acted significantly as a predictor for computer cultures, positively in case of passive, TV like, and of interactive computer cultures, negatively in case of the active computer culture. Nevertheless, all the effects are very low. So, repressive parenting paradoxically seems to stimulate passive, TV like and social-oriented computer cultures, and destimulate the active one. Leisure activities proved to be the most relevant factor determining youngsters' computer activities: the active computer culture is the result of two opposite patterns in spare time use; those who are active in everyday life are as a consequence also much more goal-focused and engaged behind the screen; however, those who are primarily engaged in the work related to the home setting are also more active at the computer screen. Therefore, domestic, private life orientation as a determinant of the active type of computer culture seems to have another interpretation: for those oriented to the private sphere, the computer, especially the online world, may figure as an escape from a dull or demanding life. In addition, this active and informative computer culture seems to be negatively determined by social outgoing engagement. Entertainment and socialisation oriented free-time pattern apparently continues in the computer activities: it is strongly correlated with the passive, entertaining computer culture and also with the more interactive social networking-oriented computer usage. CONCLUSION To sum up, using the computer and other leisure activities of young people are merged, or, in other words: for youngsters, the computer is an artefact, confluent with everyday life. Such findings point at the misunderstanding of the computer as a "separated screen" from private and public spheres: on the contrary, the younger generation is living through the Web, not on the Web (Oblak Črnič, 2011b). While the individualisation of leisure, as well as media and computer practices, is truly possible today, we can basically trace two patterns: one that is actively or more passively oriented towards public life outside the family, and one that is socialisation-oriented and is limited to the private sphere. The analysis of the existing data also demonstrates that youth computer culture is apparently not so much a matter of structural conditions at home (of parental regulation of children and the climate of family relationships), but more a matter of structuring everyday life, mode of action, relationships and identity (of young people and their families) in a broader sense. Here, the classical determinant of various distinctive cultural practices, economic capital, still seems to play a significant role. An important conclusion is that the different aspects of young people's everyday life online and offline are fused. Last but not least, we must also describe some major limitations of our analysis. First, we were limited by the issues that were assessed in the Youth 2010 study and by the sample used in that survey. The family and parenting impact on computer youth culture could be analysed in further depth with more complex measurement instruments to examine the parenting style, and family communication culture, particularly if parenting practices relating specifically to computer use were studied simultaneously. It would also be of relevance to explore the potential impact of parental computer and free-time practices on those of their children. In addition, it would be desirable to have a more complex insight into the use of other media in the family setting. Regarding the sample, it would ideally also include younger respondents. Finally, due to the self-reporting nature of the survey, respondents may have misre-ported behavioural or demographic information. VSAKDANJI IN DRUŽINSKI KONTEKSTI V MLADOSTNIH RAČUNALNIŠKIH KULTURAH: PRIMER SLOVENIJE Tanja OBLAK ČRNIČ Univerza v Ljubljani, Fakulteta za družbene vede, Kardeljeva pl. 5, 1000 Ljubljana, Slovenija e-mail: tanja.oblak@fdv.uni-lj.si Metka KUHAR, Univerza v Ljubljani, Fakulteta za družbene vede, Kardeljeva pl. 5, 1000 Ljubljana, Slovenija e-mail: metka.kuhar@fdv.uni-lj.si POVZETEK Pričujoči članek obravnava načine, skozi katere konteksti vsakdanjega življenja kot tudi dejavniki iz družinskega okolja določajo kompleksno strukturo računalniške kulture med mladimi. V ospredju analize so vzorci, ki jih mladi uporabniki oblikujejo v odnosu do računalniških aktivnosti in vloge, ki jih imajo nove tehnologije v mladostnem življenju, s posebnim poudarkom na analizi povezanosti med rabo računalnika v prostorih domov in odnosi med starši in mladimi družinskimi člani. Poleg tega je v analizi prisotno tudi vprašanje, kako na računalniško kulturo mladih vplivajo njihovi načini preživljanja prostega časa. Empirična študija na reprezentativnem vzrocu mladih v Sloveniji, starih od 15 do 24 let, ki se še šolajo in živjo pri starših, je pokazala, da lahko govorimo o treh specifičnih tipih računalniških kultur: a) o pasivni, televiziji podobni računalniški kulturi, b) aktivni, informativni računalniški kulturi in c) interaktivni, družabni računalniški kulturi. Vsaka je specifično povezana s prostočasnimi vzorci med mladimi: najmočnejši dejavnik, ki pojasnjuje pasivno, k zabavi usmerjeno računalniško kulturo, je v zabavo in druženje usmerjen prosti čas; na drugi strani pasivno rabo računalnika spodbuja tudi v zasebno sfero usmerjen prosti čas, medtem ko je v kulturno aktivnost in pomoč usmerjen prosti čas v opoziciji z računalniško pasivnostjo. Aktivna in kreativna računalniška kultura je najbolj pozitivno pogojena s kulturnimi prostočasnimi aktivnostmi, vendar je obenem v negativni povezavi z v zabavo usmerjenim prostim časom. Interaktivna in v druženje orientirana računalniška kultura pa je pogojena le s slednjim. Analiza je ob tem pokazala, da razumevanje odnosa s starši nima neposrednega vpliva na vrsto računalniške kulture, ima pa represivni model vzgoje delno svoje učinke: mlade bolj stimulira v interaktivno, družabno računalniško kulturo in onemogoča pasivni tip. Širši nabor socio-demografskih spremenljivk je nadalje potrdil, da ima starost med mladimi najpomembnejšo funkcijo: starejši kot so, manj pasivni postajajo v odnosu do računalnikov. Dekleta se zdijo aktivnejše in tudi bolj družabno usmerjene kot fantje, delno se nakazuje večja pasivnost med mladimi z vzhodnih slovenskih regij, medtem ko so mladi z ruralnih prostorov bolj usmerjeni v družbene računalniške aktivnosti. 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