互联网与社会信任:微观证据与影响机制

Internet and Social Trust: Micro Evidences and Impact Mechanisms

本文基于中国综合社会调查数据库(CGSS)2013年数据,考察了个人互联网使用频率对其社会信任水平的影响。利用工具变量克服内生性偏误后的估计结果表明,个体互联网使用频率的增加能够显著提高其社会信任水平,异质性分析显示高收入、高学历的个体在使用互联网过程中其社会信任水平上升幅度更大。机制分析表明,使用互联网能够通过促进线下社交、改善人际关系满意度的方式提升社会信任水平,也会通过影响使用者的社会公平认知而降低社会信任水平,但互联网的多样化信息并未由于增加认知分歧而降低社会信任水平。上述结论在多种稳健性检验下均依然成立,这表明加强互联网基础设施建设、扩大网络使用人群规模是提高社会信任水平的重要途径,该结论有助于澄清互联网对社会信任存在负面影响的社会舆论,进一步凝聚推进建设网络强国的社会共识。

Based on the data of Chinese General Social Survey(CGSS)in 2013,this paper examines the impact of individuals Internet use frequency on their social trust.After using instrumental variable estimation to overcome the endogenous bias of the model,the results show that the increase in the frequency of individuals Internet use can significantly increase their level of social trust.Heterogeneity analysis shows that high-income,highly educated individuals have a greater increase of social trust level in the use of Internet.Mechanism analysis shows that using Internet can improve the social trust level by promoting offline social interaction and improving interpersonal relationship satisfaction.It also reduces social trust level by influencing users social equity perception,but the increasing cognitive differences caused by the display of diversified information on the Internet has not lowered the social trust level.The above conclusions are still established under various robustness tests,which indicates that strengthening the Internet infrastructure construction and expanding the base of Internet users are important ways to improve social trust level.This conclusion helps to clarify the misunderstanding that the Internet has a negative impact on social trust,and thus to strengthen the social consensus on building China into a power in the cyberspace.