Social Capital and the Realization of Mutual Assistance for the Elderly in Rural Areas—Based on the Intermediary Role of Psychological Capital

Background: Mutual assistance for the elderly is a new pension model that has been widely valued and discussed in China, especially in rural areas. The social and psychological capital owned by the elderly in rural areas promotes their participation and affects the realization of mutual assistance for the elderly. Based on this, this paper proposes the following hypotheses: H1: Bonding social capital positively affects the realization of mutual assistance for the elderly in rural areas; H2: bridging social capital positively affects the realization of mutual assistance for the elderly in rural areas; H3: linking social capital positively affects the realization of mutual assistance for the elderly in rural areas; and H4: psychological capital plays an intermediary role in the process of social capital influencing the realization of mutual assistance for the elderly in rural areas. The empirical research is carried out around these hypotheses. Methods: In this paper, the 2019 China General Survey of Social Conditions (CSS) database was used as the data source for empirical analysis. Social capital can be divided into bonding social capital, bridging social capital, and linking social capital, while psychological capital can be divided into four dimensions: self-efficacy, optimism, hope, and resilience. Our evaluation was performed using LOGIT regression analysis with STATA16 software. First, the correlation of social capital to the realization of mutual assistance for the elderly in rural areas was verified. Next, the mediation effect was verified using the KHB regression method, and the influence of psychological capital as an intermediary variable on the realization of mutual assistance for the elderly in rural areas was demonstrated. Results: Social capital had a significant positive effect on mutual assistance for the elderly in rural areas. Psychological capital played an intermediary role in the relationship between the three types of social capital and rural mutual assistance for the elderly. Among the four dimensions of psychological capital, self-efficacy, optimism, and tenacity played a partial mediating role in the relationship between social capital and mutual assistance for the elderly in rural areas, while the mediating role of hope was not significant. Conclusions: (1) All three types of social capital have a significant promoting effect on the realization of mutual assistance for the elderly in rural areas, among which bridging social capital has the most significant effect. (2) Psychological capital plays a partial mediating role in the three kinds of social capital’s influence on the realization of mutual assistance for the elderly in rural areas, and the intermediary role is the strongest in the effect of linking social capital on the realization of mutual assistance for the elderly in rural areas, but the overall effect is not high. (3) Among the four dimensions of psychological capital, self-efficacy, optimism, and tenacity all have certain intermediary effects, but the intermediary effect of hope is not significant. (4) There are significant gender and regional differences in the impact of social capital and psychological capital on the realization of mutual assistance for the elderly in rural areas.