Companionship and Altruism in Daily Activity Time Allocation and Travel by Men and Women in the Same Households

In this paper, using data from 366 households we study human interaction within and outside the household. In the analysis altruism and companionship between men and women are explored using path analysis to identify gender-roles and mutual influences. Men and women have very different templates of time allocation characterized by lack of symmetry in relationships between men and women. Although women's time allocation has some influence on men's time allocation, it may function as a constraint only when women engage in activities for a considerable amount of time in a day. In contrast, men's influence is significant and substantial at any level of time allocation. Regarding the relationship between altruism and companionship, men appear to be "rationing" their time and allocate time either to relatives or to others. Women appear to be more fully engaged with relatives and with others (presumably functioning as the social network hubs of the household). Finally, travel is not emerging as a cause but as an outcome supporting once again the practice in activity-based models of considering travel demand as derived from the need to participate in activities. It should also be noted that travel is a very small fraction of the total daily time allocation and does not function as a constraint in budgeting time for activities with and for relatives and other persons. A clear hierarchy also emerges from the path model developed here with blocks of variables determining other blocks of variables in a sequence.