A pandémia hatása a személyes kapcsolathálózati struktúrára.
Authors: Dávid Beáta , Herke Boglárka , Huszti Éva , Tóth Gergely , Túry-Angyal Emese , Albert Fruzsina 
Published: December 2021

Összefoglaló. Jelen írásban a biztonság három dimenziójának
(egészség, munka, emberi kapcsolatok) összefüggésében a home office pozitív és
negatív jellemzőit vizsgáljuk meg a pandémiás időszakban. Tanulmányunk egy 2020
májusában, reprezentatív mintán lekérdezett felmérés adataira épül, mely a
vírushelyzetre vonatkozó kérdéseket és egy kapcsolati naplót tartalmazott. Az
eredmények alapján a home office-ban dolgozók kevésbé voltak kitéve a
fertőzésveszélynek: kevesebb időt töltöttek saját otthonukon kívül és
tömegközlekedést is kevésbé használtak. Másrészt az otthonról dolgozók átlagosan
kevesebb emberrel is találkoztak személyesen. A találkozásokban mutatkozó
különbséget ugyanakkor kifejezetten a munkatársi kapcsolatok magyarázzák, míg a
családi és baráti kapcsolataik megvédték az otthonról dolgozókat a társas
izoláció veszélyétől.

Summary. The emergence of the Covid-19 virus in spring 2020 has
significantly transformed the daily lives of the population. One of the major
changes affecting the world of work is that many people have been able to work
remotely from home. In this paper, we focus on the home office phenomenon with
regard to the three dimensions of security (health, work and human relations)
and examine its positive and negative impacts in the context of human relations
during the pandemic. It is assumed that home office is more secure against the
virus, as those working from home may choose not to leave their homes at all and
thus protect themselves from the virus by being physically isolated. On the
other hand, it is also assumed that home office workers encounter fewer people
than non-home office workers and are therefore more vulnerable to social
isolation.

In our study, we compare the characteristics of these two groups using
descriptive statistics based on data from a national representative sample of
1,001 people contacted by telephone in May 2020. The survey included questions
on the pandemic situation on the one hand, and a so-called contact diary on the
other hand, in which respondents were asked to name all persons (and their
characteristics) with whom they had spoken on that day beyond saying hello.
First, the results show that home office workers were indeed less exposed to the
risk of infection, as they spent significantly less time away from home, used
public transport less, and none of them were abroad. Second, our data also show
that there is a significant difference in the number of face-to-face encounters
between home and non-home workers. Home office workers met on average two people
face-to-face on the day of the survey, while non-home office workers met on
average five people. While no significant difference was found in the number of
relatives – whether or not they lived under the same roof as the respondent –
between home office workers and those who went to work, the number of encounters
with non-relatives was significantly higher among non-home office workers. The
difference was mainly due to workplace contacts. This suggests that those
working from home were protected from the risk of social isolation by their
emotionally and physically close relationships. These results further support
the finding that, in a crisis situation, the security provided by family ties is
particularly valued and strong bonds are essential for the individual.