Educational inequality and residents’ social trust in China: The role of inequality of opportunity

IF 1.2 4区社会学 Q2 AREA STUDIES

Asian Journal of Social Science Pub Date : 2025-06-24 DOI:10.1016/j.ajss.2025.100202

J. Yang , L. Zhang , J. Zhu

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引用次数: 0

Abstract

The impact of educational inequality on social trust is a crucial yet often overlooked issue in social science research. We use the China General Social Survey (CGSS) dataset from 2010 to 2015 to construct city-level indices for both inequality of outcome and inequality of opportunity, and match them with micro data to explore the impact of educational inequality on residents’ social trust. The findings reveal significant disparities in educational development across cities. In each city, inequality of outcome, measured by the Theil index, ranges from 0.02 to 0.15, while educational attainments caused by inequality of opportunity account for 15% to 52% of the overall differences in educational outcome. Inequality of opportunity, rather than inequality of outcome, is found to undermine the social trust of residents. This effect is pronounced among disadvantaged individuals characterized by lower income, less education or a rural hukou. The results remain robust after conducting a series of robustness checks. Mechanism analysis further suggests that self-perceived economic situations and changes in social status serve as significant pathways through which inequality of opportunity affects social trust.

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中国教育不平等与居民社会信任：机会不平等的作用

教育不平等对社会信任的影响是社会科学研究中一个重要而又经常被忽视的问题。本文利用2010 - 2015年中国综合社会调查（CGSS）数据集，构建结果不平等和机会不平等的城市层面指标，并与微观数据进行匹配，探讨教育不平等对居民社会信任的影响。调查结果揭示了城市间教育发展的显著差异。在每个城市，以Theil指数衡量的结果不平等在0.02到0.15之间，而由机会不平等引起的教育成就占教育结果总体差异的15%到52%。机会的不平等，而不是结果的不平等，破坏了居民的社会信任。这种影响在收入较低、受教育程度较低或有农村户口的弱势群体中尤为明显。在进行一系列稳健性检验后，结果保持稳健性。机制分析进一步表明，自我感知的经济状况和社会地位的变化是机会不平等影响社会信任的重要途径。

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来源期刊

Asian Journal of Social Science Multiple-

CiteScore

1.20

自引率

0.00%

发文量

期刊介绍： The Asian Journal of Social Science is a principal outlet for scholarly articles on Asian societies published by the Department of Sociology, National University of Singapore. AJSS provides a unique forum for theoretical debates and empirical analyses that move away from narrow disciplinary focus. It is committed to comparative research and articles that speak to cases beyond the traditional concerns of area and single-country studies. AJSS strongly encourages transdisciplinary analysis of contemporary and historical social change in Asia by offering a meeting space for international scholars across the social sciences, including anthropology, cultural studies, economics, geography, history, political science, psychology, and sociology. AJSS also welcomes humanities-oriented articles that speak to pertinent social issues. AJSS publishes internationally peer-reviewed research articles, special thematic issues and shorter symposiums. AJSS also publishes book reviews and review essays, research notes on Asian societies, and short essays of special interest to students of the region.