| dc.description.abstract | An Analysis of Hakka People′s Public Participation, and Interpersonal Trust and Relationship
Abstract
This study investigates the phenomenon in social cultural change displayed by Hakka ethnic group after major historical events including the ＂Restore-My-Mother-Tongue＂ campaign parade in 1988, formation of Hakka Affairs Council in 2001, and the establishment of a Hakka television station in 2003.
The social capital research by Putnam et al. on the social change exhibits in the United States indicates that interpersonal trust and public participation are fast decreasing, which in turn impact political and economic operations. Accordingly, this research is based on a longitudinal study conducted on Hakka ethnic group between 1984 and 2010, and a quantitative statistical analysis that utilizes the “Academia Sinica- The social change of Taiwan” survey database as the analysis samples, and accounting for the following factors:
- Changes in time;
- Differences in northern vs. southern parts of Taiwan;
- Differences among generations; and
- Impacts on interpersonal trust, interpersonal relationships, public participation, and social change.
The key findings of this research are summarized as follows:
1. From 1984 to 2010, interpersonal trust has shown a decreasing trend, particularly more prevalent for the entire Taiwanese population than Hakka ethnic group. A review of generation differences on an annual basis indicates that interpersonal trust decreases as age increases, for the entire Taiwanese population that includes Hakka ethnic group.
2. Interpersonal relationship in Asian society is affected by how close one person is to another. Social changes have less impacts on people that are close to each other (i.e., close family or friends), while relationships between neighbors are impacted by social changes caused by urbanization. That is, the more the social changes, the less the neighbors interact with each other. This research also finds different results for different age groups or generations. For example, middle generation gets together most frequently with their close relatives, while younger generation connects most frequently with their friends. Older generation, on the other hand, tends to interact more with neighbors, even though support is the highest by the younger generation on the concept to interact with neighbors. The above findings are applicable to the entire Taiwanese population, including Hakka ethnic group, even though but the trend is less prevalent for Hakka ethnic group.
3. Political participation decreases as time increases for the entire Taiwanese population including Hakka ethnic group. There is no statistical significance on the differences between generations vs. time changes. There is a decreasing trend in social participation as time changes. The only difference among generations is that support is the highest by the younger generation (and lowest by the older generation) to help out on public affairs.
4. For Hakka ethnic group, the study finds no statistical significance on the differences in interpersonal trust, interpersonal relationships, and public participation for northern vs. southern parts of Taiwan, while for the entire Taiwanese population, there are some obvious differences.
5. Medium to low correlations found between interpersonal trust / relationships and public participation.
Keywords: interpersonal trust, interpersonal relationships, public participation, social change | en_US |