Revisiting the Negative Effects of Confucian Culture on Generalized Trust: A study based on 2007 Chinese spiritual life survey

儒家文化必然会降低个体对于一般社会成员的信任程度吗?文化研究和基于国家间比较的经验研究都对这个问题给出了肯定的回答。然而,一些未尽议题的存在让我们在个人层面上对这一问题进行了重新审视。通过分析2007年的中国居民调查数据,我们得出以下结论:首先,儒家文化和一般信任之间的确存在某种联系,但这种联系取决于儒家文化中的某些特定的维度。当人们更多地重视儒家文化中强化差序格局的那些实践和主张时,我们发现儒家文化和一般信任之间存在负相关关系。但是如果人们将儒家文化看成是一种身份认同,那么中国人便因为共享着同一种价值观念而成为一个共同体,这时认同儒家文化的人就表现出了对他人的高度信任。此外,中介分析的结果表明,儒家文化中强化差序格局的面向和一般信任的负关系不是由儒家文化中过分强调对“自己人”的信任造成的。这意味着人们对“自己人”的信任与对“一般他人”的信任并没有直接关系。

Is the relationship between Confucian culture and generalized trust always negative? Cultural analysis and cross-society studies provide an affirmative answer. However, some unsolved issues encourage us to reexamine this research question on the individual level. By analyzing 2007 Chinese spiritual life survey data, the authors find: first, there is indeed certain relationship between Confucian culture and generalized trust, which, however, is contingent on the specific dimension of Confucian culture. If individuals emphasize Confucian teachings which enhance the differential mode of association, the relationship between Confucian culture and generalized trust is negative. However, if Confucian culture is treated as an identity, Chinese people would be more likely to constitute a community with the same value. In this case, Confucian culture is positively correlated with generalized trust. Besides, mediation test suggests that the negative correlation between Confucian culture enhancing the differential mode of association and generalized trust cannot be attributed to the specific trust in "zijiren" (insiders) .which means the trust in "zijiren" and the trust in "wairen" (outsiders) is not associated. This research corresponds to previous studies by Fukuyama and Redding, and our findings expand these classic studies

欢迎阅读《社会学研究》！您是该文第2445位读者！