城市居民社会网络资本的阶层差异

The Effects of Social Class on Social Capital of Networks in Urban China

本文采取了在社会网络领域长久被忽视的阶层分析的视角研究中国城市居民的社会网络结构特征。通过对2000年北京城市居民社会网络调查资料的定量分析,我们发现,阶层地位对城市居民的社会网络资源产生了重要的影响,主要表现在专业行政管理阶层的网络规模大于工人阶层,前者的关系种类比后者更多元化。专业行政管理阶层和白领阶层比工人阶层拥有更明显的“结构洞”社会资本,前两个阶层与网络成员的交往频率低于后者。专业行政管理阶层的社会网络在性别、年龄和职业异质性方面高于工人阶层。总之,占据高阶层位置的专业行政管理人员比工人拥有更丰富的社会网络资本。社会网络结构特征的差异主要体现在专业行政管理阶层和工人阶层之间,可能与中国阶层结构的不充分分化有关。

This paper is aimed at exploring in what ways and to what extent class position affects the structural characteristics of social network from the perspective of social class analysis. Based on a large-scale questionnaire survey on social networks in urban Beijing, this research analyzed the data collected from a random sample of 1,004 adult residents. Our central hypothesis is: social classes differ in ego-centered social capital of networks. The major findings are in three aspects: first, professionals and administrators (PAs) maintain relatively larger network size and more kinds of role relationship than working class people. Second, PAs and white collars have more prominent social capital of structural holes superior to working class. Third, compared with the workers, PAs have higher social heterogeneity in gender, age and occupation index. In conclusion, PAs have more abundant social capital of networks than workers. The above findings reveals the insufficient differentiation of class structure.