老年人网络参与对其社会信任的影响——基于CGSS2018数据的检验

Research on the Impact of Elderly People’s Network Participation on Their Social Trust——A Test Based on CGSS Data of 2018

老年群体的社会信任不仅是其获得满意感、幸福感和安全感的重要途径,还对促进经济增长、维护社会稳定具有积极作用,在老龄化和数字信息化时代背景下分析网络参与对老年人社会信任的影响具有非常重要的意义。本文基于中国综合社会调查(CGSS)2018年微观数据,运用Probit模型分析网络参与对老年人社会信任的影响并对其中的异质性和具体作用机理进行探讨。研究结果发现在控制其他变量的前提下,以互联网为主要信息来源显著降低了老年人的社会信任概率,采用工具变量法处理内生性后结论依然稳健。控制变量中的老年人年龄、受教育程度、户籍和党派均对其社会信任产生显著影响。在性别方面,以互联网为主要信息来源对不同性别老年群体的社会信任产生大致相当的负面影响;在地区方面,以互联网为主要信息来源仅对东部地区老年人的社会信任产生显著负面影响,而对中部和西部地区老年人产生正面但却不显著的影响,呈现出明显的空间异质性。此外,频繁与邻居朋友聚会和频繁使用传统媒介均能够中和互联网使用对老年人社会信任的消极作用。基于上述结论,建议加强网络环境安全建设,提升老年人信息素养水平,帮助老年群体形成健康的网络参与行为习惯,在普及老年人网络参与的同时维护老年人的社会信任水平。

For elderly people,social trust is not only an important way to get their sense of security and happiness,but also plays a positive role in promoting economic growth and maintaining social stability.It is also of great significance to analyze the impact of network participation on social trust of elderly people in the context of aging and digital information era.Based on the micro data of 2018 from China General Social Survey(CGSS),this paper uses Probit model to analyze the impact of network participation on social trust of the elderly and thus explores the heterogeneity and detailed mechanisms.According to the results,using the Internet as a primary source of information significantly reduces the probability of social trust among elderly people as controlling for other relevant variable,and the findings remain robust after using the instrumental variable approach for addressing endogeneity.The age,education level,registered residence and party of the elderly in the control variables had a significant impact on their social trust.In terms of gender,using the Internet as a primary source of information had roughly equivalent negative effects on social trust for different gender groups of the elderly;in terms of region,using the Internet as a primary source of information only had a significant negative effect on social trust for elderly people in the eastern region,while it had a positive but not significant effect on the elderly in the central and western regions,showing a significant spatial heterogeneity.In addition,gatherings with neighbors and friends from time to time and frequent use of traditional media played a neutralizing role in the negative effect of using the Internet on social trust of elderly people.It is suggested to strengthen the construction of network environment security,improve the information literacy level of the elderly,and help the elderly to form a healthy network participation behavior,so as to protect the social trust level of the elderly while popularizing their network participation.