How Self-Isolation Affects Family Relationships: Analysis of Interviews with Young Spouses

Authors

DOI:

https://doi.org/10.14515/monitoring.2025.1.2559

Keywords:

family studies, young couples, COVID-19, remote work, transforming Self

Abstract

The study aims at revealing how family relationships have changed during the COVID-19 pandemic. The author assumes that staying in a confined space can not only transform an individual's Self and change their self-image but also affects the relationship and future life of the spouses. The study is based on a qualitative methodology and regards 14 in-depth interviews with spouses conducted in April — March 2020. The informants' narratives provide a subjective assessment of the current situation and characterize how couples understand their lives during the pandemic.To demonstrate changes in family life, the author uses the concepts of Erving Goffman and Eva Illouz. Violation of personal boundaries and control over the actions of others manifest themselves when it comes to hygiene or the inability to perform familiar routine practices. Spatial restrictions destroy the boundaries between the personal and professional spheres. And the transformation of the individual's Self in isolation is manifested in the inability to repeat everyday rituals and the need to resort to different practices to preserve one's Self. The author concludes that isolation had an impact both on the individual’s self-image and on the relationship between spouses and their choice of adaptation strategy.

Acknowledgments. The article is part of the “Awareness of Family Life by Young Couples. Conceptualization and Operationalization of Categories Related to Communion in Marriage” project supported by Saint Tikhon’s Orthodox University and the Active Tradition Foundation in 2021—2023.

Author Biography

Nina A. Liubinarskaia, St. Tikhon’s Orthodox University

  • St. Tikhon’s Orthodox University, Moscow, Russia
    • Assistant at the Sociology of Religion Research Laboratory
  • Russian Presidential Academy of National Economy and Public Administration (RANEPA), Moscow, Russia
    • Lecturer
  • Moscow Architectural School (MARSH), Moscow, Russia
    • Lecturer

 

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Published

2025-03-10

How to Cite

Liubinarskaia, N. A. (2025). How Self-Isolation Affects Family Relationships: Analysis of Interviews with Young Spouses. Monitoring of Public Opinion: Economic and Social Changes, (1), 262–283. https://doi.org/10.14515/monitoring.2025.1.2559

Issue

Section

Family and Demography