Social interaction and the social meanings of action: A time budget approach

Social Isolation' can be construed both in the sense of the absence of positive interpersonal relationships and in the sense of disassociation from the norms, values and culture of one's society. In this paper the relationship between both of these characteristics of alienation is examined. By using the time-budget method it was possible to collect data on the meanings people attribute to their actions (as an indicator for ‘societal’ or ‘social’ alienation) in combination with information on the interaction-partners involved in these actions (as an indicator for isolation). The analyses bear on the effect of (1) the presence of different types of interaction partners; (2) the time spent together with different types of interaction partners and (3) the involvement in different social groups on the meanings people attribute to their actions. The data used to test the hypotheses, derive from an aselect sample of 466 Flemish people between 20 and 40 years old.