SOCIAL-INTERACTION AND THE SOCIAL MEANINGS OF ACTION - A TIME BUDGET APPROACH

'Social Isolation' can be construed both in the sense of the absence o f positive interpersonal relationships and in the sense of disassociat ion 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 collec t data on the meanings people attribute to their actions (as an indica tor for 'societal' or 'social' alienation) in combination with informa tion on the interaction-partners involved in these actions (as an indi cator for isolation). The analyses bear on the effect of (1) the prese nce of different types of interaction partners; (2) the time spent tog ether with different types of interaction partners and (3) the involve ment in different social groups on the meanings people attribute to th eir actions. The data used to test the hypotheses, derive from an asel ect sample of 466 Flemish people between 20 and 40 years old.