Gina Lai

Network resources, contact resources, and status attainment

This paper is a continuation of a research program designed to examine the role of social resources in the status attainment process. Unlike previous studies that conceptualized and operationalized social resources as either network resources or contact resources, it proposes a complementary approach that links the potential pool of the social resources embedded in a persons network to the actual mobilization of social resources in a specific event. The causal link between access to (for example, network resources) and use of (for example, contact resources) social resources is empirically tested in a series of models in which the effects of personal resources and social resources on status outcome are assessed. The analysis is based on a representative sample of employed males in a metropolitan area in upstate New York. Findings support the conceptualization of social resources as having two components. The analysis allows a further re-evaluation of the relative effects, both direct and indirect, of the ascribed versus achieved statuses on status attainment. Results suggest that ascribed factors may exert greater influence on status attainment than previously assumed when mediated effects of achieved factors on status outcome via access to and use of social resources are taken into consideration.

The tie effect on information dissemination: the spread of a commercial rumor in Hong Kong

The ability to acquire information has been considered a crucial factor facilitating instrumental actions, such as job search and organizational innovation. Previous social network studies tend to treat the characteristics of social ties through which information is acquired as causes that may affect instrumental outcomes. However, little research has directly examined the spread of information via social ties and the tie effect on information dissemination. Using telephone survey data collected after the outbreak of an extensive commercial rumor in Hong Kong, the present paper investigates the characteristics of social ties through which the information is spread and the tie effect on information dissemination. Results show that while mass media, particularly television, serves as a major channel of information flow, social ties are also widely used. Individuals tend to share information with strong ties, or people with whom they perceive to have good relations. However, information transmitted via kin ties tends to arrive at the respondent faster than via nonkin ties or other communication channels. Implications of the findings are discussed.

Social Structure and Support Networks in Beijing and Hong Kong

Abstract This study examines personal support networks in Beijing and Hong Kong, based on survey data collected in 2000. It was found that these two Chinese cities, which share a common Confucian cultural heritage, are similar in many aspects of social support. The supportive roles of spouse or partner are prominent and diffuse. Other close relatives are more involved in instrumental than emotional support. Non-kin primary ties specialize in emotional support. Neither extended kin support nor institutional support is significant. Nonetheless, the two cities differ in certain aspects of social support, reflecting their differences in such macro social-structural forces as economic modernization, urbanization and the social organization of work. Compared to the Hong Kong Chinese, the Beijing Chinese are more likely to seek support from close kin or coworkers, but less likely to rely on institutional help. Sources of support in both cities are also affected by the micro social-structural positions people occupy, particularly marital status and household income. It is noted that about 10% of the respondents in both cities reported “no one” to turn to for support. Among the various types of support, emotional comfort is the most difficult to find.

Institutional context and stress appraisal: The experience of life insurance agents in Singapore

This paper examines the experience of work stress and its psychological consequences among Singapores life insurance agents in the context of the institutional arrangements of the life insurance industry. Results showed that our insurance agents generally experienced a low level of work stress, probably due to the cushioning effects of a supportive work environment of the industry. The most stress was found to be derived from work demands, and the least stress from interpersonal relationships at the workplace. Work demands were also found to contribute to the overall experience of work stress. However, such stress did not deter them from having a satisfactory work life nor did it result in mental ill-health. Rather, job satisfaction and mental health were associated with emotional strains caused by professionalism. The professional expectation for working independently may predispose the agents to self-isolation and loneliness while trying to hide their weaknesses and keep their problems to themselves. These feelings were aggravated by the generally low level of acceptance of the insurance profession by Singapore society.

Market Reforms and Psychological Distress in Urban Beijing

This article examines the change in psychological well-being among urban residents in Beijing, China, over a 10-year period of rapid social change. The findings suggest that urban reforms generate economic gains at the expense of urban residents’ psychological well-being. Results from two community surveys conducted in 1991 and 2000 reveal that urban Beijing residents have experienced greater life stress and a rise in depressive symptoms during the 10-year period. The decline in psychological well-being between 1991 and 2000 can be partly explained by greater exposure of Beijing residents to life stressors in the course of rapid social changes associated with the urban reforms. The survey results also lend support to the social adjustment and stress explanation, but not the social relations and support explanation. Changes in social relations only marginally affect the change in depressive symptomatology, and the protective function of social relations, particularly relations with family and co-workers, has gained importance over the years.

Social support networks in urban Shanghai

Abstract The present paper examines the composition of social support network in urban Shanghai. Spouse/partner and parent/parent-in-law are found to provide diffuse support, serving both instrumental and emotional functions. Compared to kin ties, support from coworkers are likely to be more specialized and secondary. These findings are inconsistent with earlier data collected by Ruan and her associates in Tianjin. They observe that work-related ties are more prevalent than kin ties in the Chinese support networks and are more likely to be preferred helpers for a variety of problems. Moreover, the roles of family ties (parent, child, and sibling) tend to be peripheral and highly specialized, mainly, in money issues. Differences in findings from the two cities are attributed partly to the different measures of social support and partly to the different social structures related to marketization.

Residential Mobility and Social Capital in Urban Shanghai

Using survey data of 1200 Chinese adults residing in urban Shanghai, the present study investigates how residential moves are related to the contextual constraints, availability and mobilization of social capital for expressive actions. Our data show that residential mobility may shrink the pool of social capital of traditional sources (e.g., kin- and locality-bound) but does not hamper the activation of social capital. Recent movers and non-movers tend to be equally capable of reaching intimate ties for expressive actions when needed, although the types of activated ties are different. The most important confidant of movers tends to be younger, better-educated, employed, and non-kin-related than that of non-movers. Our results lend support to the community-transformed argument that residential mobility allows individuals to break away from traditional social constraints and gives them freedom to establish social ties of their own choice. The study also highlights the persistent importance of neighbourhoods during the period of rapid urban transformation.

Family, School, and Access to Social Capital Among High School Students in Urban Nanjing

Unequal access to bridging social capital is found to be an important factor of social inequality. School is a social organization where individuals can make social connections and through whom, can accumulate social capital. Existing research on the relationship between school and social capital has mainly focused on the bonding function of social capital and its impact on academic outcomes. Access to bridging social capital through school peers is little understood. The present study aims to examine the relationship between school and access to bridging social capital through peers in urban China. Data come from a probability sample of 989 high school students in urban Nanjing. Respondents from better family backgrounds are found to be more likely to enter high-prestige schools than the less advantaged students. School peers are the most significant source of social capital for students in high-prestige schools. These findings suggest that school is an important channel through which family advantages in social capital can be transmitted to the younger generation and reinforced through school tracking, further exacerbating social capital inequality.

A Holistic Model of Student Development: The Validation of Whole Person Development Inventory for College Students in Hong Kong

This study validated a Whole Person Development Inventory with 1,443 undergraduates. Factor analysis yielded 15 factors, namely, Intellectual-Capacity, Physical-Fitness, Health-Maintenance, Career-...

Transition to higher education in contemporary China: A study of high school graduates in urban Nanjing

China has undergone an expansion of higher education in the 1990s. The university enrollment rate among high school graduates increased from 27.3% in 1990 to 87.6% in 2013. At the same time, Chinese universities are stratified into key universities and non-key universities, which differ significantly in resource input and prestige. Chinese parents are found to play an increasingly active role in preparing their children for the competition to get into elite universities. Researchers argue that in the era of mass education, social inequality is effectively maintained through school stratification and raising entrance bars for prestigious institutions. Thus, the focus of educational inequality should move from quantitative to qualitative differences. While educational inequality in China has attracted much research attention in the past decade, little is understood about educational inequality in China in qualitative terms. The present study aims to fill this research gap. Data come from a panel survey of 759 high school graduates in urban Nanjing initiated in 2010. A vast majority of these students (98.4%) were enrolled in post-secondary education in 2012, among whom 96.6% attended colleges or universities in China. Our findings do not show inequality in mere access by family background or high school prestige. However, family backgrounds make a difference in educational destinations (local vs. overseas as well as prestige of the institutions) but the family impact tends to be mediated by high school ranking. The findings suggest meritocratic elitism in mass education in China, which legitimizes the intergenerational transfer of social advantages and mediated role of school in producing educational inequality.