Social capital as both concept and theory has drawn much intellectuals’ interest and research in the past two decades in social sciences(especially in sociology), but it is a most prominent and controversial concept ...Social capital as both concept and theory has drawn much intellectuals’ interest and research in the past two decades in social sciences(especially in sociology), but it is a most prominent and controversial concept and theory. In my opinion, the controversy on social capital is due to different definitions, concepts,measurements, and analysis levels. The aim of this paper is not to settle all controversies and debates, but to clarify the source of many controversies and debates. I hope that my review will be helpful to future systematic theoretical reconstruction and research on social capital.展开更多
Based on a 1998 survey of urban residents in four Chinese cities, this article presents a rationalist interpretation about the determinants of social trust. It first breaks trust into four categories, namely, trust in...Based on a 1998 survey of urban residents in four Chinese cities, this article presents a rationalist interpretation about the determinants of social trust. It first breaks trust into four categories, namely, trust in family members, trust in friends, trust in acquaintances, and trust in strangers, the last of which is called “social trust”. After reviewing the existing theories of social trust, the second section puts forward a hypothesis that the more resources one possesses, the more likely s/he trusts others. This is so because when one owns more resources, her/his “disaster threshold” would be higher and s/he would be less vulnerable to potential losses due to others’ untrustworthiness. The final section finds empirical evidence to support this rationalist interpretation.展开更多
文摘Social capital as both concept and theory has drawn much intellectuals’ interest and research in the past two decades in social sciences(especially in sociology), but it is a most prominent and controversial concept and theory. In my opinion, the controversy on social capital is due to different definitions, concepts,measurements, and analysis levels. The aim of this paper is not to settle all controversies and debates, but to clarify the source of many controversies and debates. I hope that my review will be helpful to future systematic theoretical reconstruction and research on social capital.
文摘Based on a 1998 survey of urban residents in four Chinese cities, this article presents a rationalist interpretation about the determinants of social trust. It first breaks trust into four categories, namely, trust in family members, trust in friends, trust in acquaintances, and trust in strangers, the last of which is called “social trust”. After reviewing the existing theories of social trust, the second section puts forward a hypothesis that the more resources one possesses, the more likely s/he trusts others. This is so because when one owns more resources, her/his “disaster threshold” would be higher and s/he would be less vulnerable to potential losses due to others’ untrustworthiness. The final section finds empirical evidence to support this rationalist interpretation.
