人际社会网络对普遍信任的正负效应——从国际比较探索中国模式

The Positive and Negative Effects of Social Networks on Generalized Trust:Exploring the China Model through International Comparison

高度的普遍信任是现代化发展的重要社会条件和国家软实力。最新国际数据的中外比较证明,人际社会网络对于普遍信任存在推动和收缩两种力量。推动力指的是,个人的强、弱关系网络多样性越高,其普遍信任的平均水平越高,其中弱关系网络多样性的推动力更为重要。收缩力则表现在,人们参与关系圈内社交餐饮的频率越高,其普遍信任水平越低。数据分析显示,弱关系网络效应和社交餐饮网效应是普遍存在的,但是强关系网络效应受性别、年龄、婚姻、教育、职业和收入的制约。这些实证发现预示着,社会结构现代化的建设重点包括调整强关系网络作用的群体差别和约束条件,让人们在关系圈外扩大社会交往,广泛搭建弱关系网络渠道。

High-level generalized trust is a vital social condition and soft power in the modernization process.Our comparative analysis of the latest international survey data shows that interpersonal social networks can both promote and reduce generalized trust. For one thing, the diversity of individuals' strong-tie and weak-tie networks increase levels of generalized trust, with weak-tie networks being more important. For another, the more frequently people participate in social dining with their core network members, the lower levels of their generalized trust is observed. Data analysis indicates that the expansion power of weak-tie networks and the shrinkage power of social-dining networks are universal, while the effect of strong-tie networks is conditional upon individuals' gender, age, marriage, education, occupation, and income. These empirical findings imply that the effort of constructing a modernized social structure must be focused on adjusting group differences and constraints of strong-tie networks, allowing people to expand social interactions outside their core network circles,and building extensive weak-tie network channels.