| American sociologist Peter Michael Blau believes that all human behavior is a kind of exchange activity that can bring rewards,and the relationship between parents and children is no exception,which is centered on parent-child relationships,and is a synthesis of the emotions,thoughts,behaviors,and ideas shown by both parties in daily and family activities.As WeChat's official website says,“WeChat is a way of life” after 8 years of development.It has penetrated our life and has gradually become an important tool for family intergenerational communication.At present,domestic research on family intergenerational relationships mostly focuses on the elderly's life and old-age problems,intergenerational interactions within the family,factors of intergenerational exchanges,and intergenerational emotional communication.The research involving WeChat is not so sufficient,not to say interdisciplinary research.This article attempts to combine quantitative research with qualitative research,using questionnaire survey methods and in-depth interviews,taking WeChat groups over 18 years of age and their parents as subjects,and to explore the impact of WeChat use on family social exchange characteristics and resources.The independent variables in this study are WeChat use intensity,function,and motivation of using.The dependent variables are the four characteristics of family social exchange: exchange basis,exchange rationality,imbalance,fairness and reciprocity,and social exchange resources.According to the research results,the following conclusions are drawn:(1)The influence of WeChat use intensity,use function,and use motivation on the exchange foundation is very significant,and the motivation to obtain information has the greatest impact.The stronger the motivation,the stronger the exchange basis;(2)The influence of WeChat use intensity and use motivation on exchange rationality is very significant.The self-disclosure and recreational motivations have the greatest impact.The stronger the motivation,the stronger the exchange rationality;(3)WeChat use function and use motivation have a significant impact on the imbalance,and the information and convenience functions have the largest impact.The more the function is used,the stronger the imbalance;(4)the interpersonal motivation has a significant impact on fairness and reciprocity,the stronger the motivation,the higher the degree of fairness and reciprocity;(5)The time and frequency of communication with parents on WeChat have a significant impact on emotions,thoughts and WeChat interaction.The longer the time and the higher the frequency,the more resources are exchanged;(5)Demographics and social structure variables will affect family social exchanges,but the impact is not significant: The exchange basis of male,non-student,and doctoral groups is lower;the lower the monthly income,the higher the exchange rationality,and male show higher exchange rationality;the family social exchanges of democratic family rearing groups are less unequal;families with social rearing modes of doting and urban groups are lower in terms of fairness and mutual benefit;mother's education level has a more significant negative impact on emotional resources;there is less exchange of ideological resources for groups of laissez-faire and spoiled family upbringing groups;and less WeChat interaction for groups with a doctor degree.In addition,the characteristics of family social exchange under the influence of WeChat are summarized as follows:(1)the emotional resources are dominant and the exchange is more frequent;(2)the sense of trust is more concrete,but it faces challenges;(3)both rationality and affection are important,and the exchange is unbalanced;(4)the status of parents and children tends to be equal,but Parental Authority remains. |
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