【作者简介】柳建坤，哈尔滨工程大学人文社会科学学院

【文章来源】《社会学评论》2024年第6期

【内容提要】不同于基于自我利益理论和制度合理化理论的传统解释，本文从社会情境视角探究优绩主义认同形成的逻辑，重点关注不平等和信息媒介这两种可以改变个体社会情境的要素所发挥的作用。对“中国家庭追踪调查”数据的分析发现，个体所在地区的不平等程度越高，其越认同优绩主义。此外，依托互联网的信息媒介可以弱化不平等对优绩主义认同的正向影响。据此，本文提出了“优绩主义认同的社会情境性”命题：一方面，不平等可以通过制造社会情境隔离使个体难以感知到与其他个体的社会经济地位差距，从而更认同优绩主义；另一方面，使用互联网获取信息可以扩展个体的社会情境，从而使其更新关于优绩主义的观念。

【关键词】优绩主义 / 社会情境 / 不平等 / 信息媒介

【全文链接】http://src.ruc.edu.cn/CN/Y2024/V12/I6/183

Inequality, Information Media, and Meritocracy Identification: A Perspective of Social Context

Abstract: Distinct from traditional explanations based on self-interest and system justification theories, this paper explores the formation logic of meritocracy identification from a social context perspective, focusing on the roles of inequality and the information media. By analyzing data from the China Family Panel Survey, we find that the higher the inequality in regions where individuals live, the more they identify with meritocracy. In addition, information media relying on Internet technology can significantly weaken the positive effect of inequality on meritocracy identification. Hence, this paper proposes the proposition“social contextuality of meritocracy identification”. On the one hand, inequality makes it difficult for individuals to perceive socio-economic status gaps with others by creating social contextual segregation, which leads to greater identification with meritocracy. On the other hand, using the Internet to access information can expand the social context of individuals, thus updating their perceptions of meritocracy.