Elite Networks, Interactions, and Subjective Social Status in Chinese Private Entrepreneurs

The network approach is theorized as one of the classical paradigms for understanding the formation of subjective social status. Drawing on data from the 2018 national private entrepreneurs survey, the statistical results highlight the gap between theoretical explanation and empirical evidence. We employed Agent-based Modeling (ABM) within the framework of the generational models. The ABM reveals that attitude interaction is another mechanism through which the elite network affects the subjective social status of private entrepreneurs. Meanwhile, neglecting the status of the elite network will inhibit and strengthen the differentiation of overall subjective social status during the interaction. The social status will further deviate from the objective social status, but its instrumental rationality has a mitigating effect to some extent. These findings have important implications for understanding social change in contemporary China and contribute to the social network theory of subjective social status.