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Chinese society is facing a decline in social trust, a serious crisis which is escalating as modernization continues. In this article the authors apply Durkheim’s social transitional theory to explain this disconcerting phenomenon, using data from the Chinese General Social Survey (CGSS) 2013. The study finds that economic development as measured by per capita GDP of counties in China has given rise to social anomie, which has led to a reduction in social trust. With the rapid onset of modernization, social norms have gradually fallen by the wayside and new social integration mechanisms have not yet been fully established, resulting in a state of generalized social anomie in China.

Background Despite numbers of vaccine scandals and the potential side effects, COVID-19 vaccines have gained widespread acceptance in China. The purpose of the study was to explain why the support of vaccines is so high in China. Methods Based on existing literature, we proposed hypotheses from three aspects: self-interests, altruism and nationalism. Adopting data from a survey conducted in May of 2021, we used ordered logit regression models to examine the three explanations. Moreover, we explored how individuals’ trust in domestic scientists influences their assessment of the quality of COVID-19 vaccines. Results A total of 2038 participants completed our questionnaire online (females = 48.72%). The statistical results shows that the self-interest and altruism can partially explain public’s positive opinions toward COVID-19 vaccines. And the main finding of this paper is that the nationalistic values are important sources of their acceptance of the vaccines, for the Chinese government has further strengthened the linkage between the vaccine and patriotism. Trust in scientists, as an extension of nationalism, is another important motivation of vaccine acceptance in China, for the reputations of these experts are deliberately shaped by the government. Conclusion This paper finds that citizens’ high recognition of domestic vaccines is a derivative of nationalistic ideology, which implies that public’s attitudes toward vaccines are consciously constructed by the Chinese government.

Objective The attributes affecting happiness include endogenous material factors such as income and social comparison, and exogenous cultural factors like individual values and national ideology. And the latter is greatly affected by media in China. This study seeks to explore the influence path of media construction on happiness under cultural perspective in China. Methods Using Chinese General Social Survey 2015 data, we apply the ordered logit model to calculate the influence of the usage of television and Internet on happiness conspicuously. Results The use of television and Internet both have positive influence on happiness, and the influence path is that state media shapes collectivism and Internet shapes individualism. As the state‐controlled media in China, television continuously promotes nationalism and patriotism, thus strengthens audience's collectivistic value. Meanwhile, Internet which enjoys certain speech freedom in China boosts the user's individualistic value which makes a difference in promoting happiness. Conclusion The U‐shaped effect of “collectivism‐individualism” on happiness found in this paper empirically illustrates that collectivistic and individualistic values can both facilitate happiness, and also further shows that television and Internet can enhance happiness by influencing cultural values.