Streams of interactions: Social connectedness in daily life

Abstract

This study contributes to the social connectedness literature by exploring the range of social interactions that people experience on a daily basis using time diary data. First, we investigate the different types of people whom individuals encounter in everyday life (i.e., family, friends, co-workers, acquaintances, others). Quantifying the degree of this social exposure provides insight into potential sources of support, information, comparison, and control. It further allows us to capture certain types of social connections that are commonly missed in traditional social network questionnaires. Second, we examine how social context fosters interactions between different types of people. Upon analyzing data from the American Time Use Survey, we find that a majority of respondents (69%) engaged in at least one interaction with a non-household member in a 24-hour period. We also found that interactions with different types of people varied according to social context. Interactions with friends, acquaintances, and “others” were significantly more likely to occur in public contexts rather than private or professional contexts. Collectively, our findings highlight the prevalence of social exposure among the American population as well as the important role of social context in making these interactions possible.