社会焦虑心理与农村家庭储蓄决策——基于互联网的间接证据

Social Anxiety and Rural Households Saving Decisions--Indirect Evidence based on the Internet

随着焦虑心理成为当下的一种普遍社会心态,社会焦虑对农村家庭储蓄率的影响和机理并不清晰。文章探讨了互联网作为信息传播媒介引发的焦虑心理对农村家庭储蓄率造成的影响。实证分析结果表明,互联网的上偏社会比较引发的焦虑心理会显著提高农村家庭的储蓄率,这一结果在更换自变量赋值方法、剔除不显著工具变量和更换数据集等方法下依然稳健。机制研究发现,一方面,互联网引发的焦虑心理会造成个人对自身更低的主观经济地位评价,出于预防性储蓄动机,农村家庭消费结构中的非生活必需品消费比重会降低,从而提高了农村家庭的储蓄率;另一方面,对互联网的上偏社会比较效应异质性的实证检验发现,互联网作为传播媒介会造成易焦虑群体相比于不易焦虑群体主观经济地位的大幅下降。本研究对实施扩大内需战略,增强国内大循环内生动力具有重要的政策启示。

Since 2008,the following decades have witnessed serial of“black swan”events,such as the global economic cri⁃sis and the rise of trade protectionism,which have exacerbated the uncertainty of the world.How to cultivate,develop and form a solid domestic market and promote endogenous economic growth has become an urgent problem to be solved and has garnered scholars’attention in recent years.At the same time,triggerd by the fear of uncertainties,the spread of anxiety through the Internet has become a typical social mentality.It is of great theoretical and policy significance to clarify the inter⁃mediate mechanism of anxiety affecting rural households’saving decisions,facilitating the cultivation of a boosting domestic market.Using CLDS2016 and CGSS2017 as empirical data,this article explores the impact of the anxiety caused by the Internet as a medium of information dissemination on the saving rates of rural households.The results indicate that the anxiety trig⁃gered by upward social comparison on the Internet significantly increases the saving rates of rural households.This finding re⁃mains robust across various methods,including changing the assignment of independent variables,excluding insignificant in⁃strumental variables,and using different datasets.Further mechanistic investigation unveils that,on one hand,the anxiety induced by the Internet prompts individuals to evaluate their subjective economic status more unfavorably.This,propelled by precautionary motives for saving,consequent⁃ly leads to a reduction in the proportion of non-essential expenditures within the spending patterns of rural households.So,the savings rate of rural households is elevated.On the other hand,this paper further explores the upward social comparison effect occurring during the process of Internet information dissemination,along with its heterogeneous impact on rural house⁃hold savings.Empirical testing of the heterogeneity of the upward social comparison effect on the Internet reveals that,in the context of Internet information circulation and reception,individuals who are more prone to anxiety experience a substantial decline in their subjective economic status evaluation compared to those who are less prone to anxiety.The research findings bear significant policy implications.Firstly,careful attention must be directed towards the adverse impact of social anxiety,as it undermines the savings rates of rural households,dampens consumption dynamism,and ham⁃pers optimal economic circulation.Secondly,the government should implement a range of measures aimed at bolstering ex⁃pectation management and steadying societal outlooks.Last but not least,the protective capacity of pertinent rural social se⁃curity systems remains relatively inadequate,rendering families more susceptible.Hence,it is imperative to enhance the col⁃lective societal capability in safeguarding rural populations from life's uncertainties and mitigating the apprehensions held by rural households.