从“角色退出”到“角色替代”：老龄化进程中老年社会参与的困境与重构机制

From “Role Withdrawal” to “Role Substitution”: The Dilemmas and Reconstruction Mechanisms of Elderly Social Participation in the Aging Process

摘要: 人口老龄化的深层挑战并非单纯的经济赡养压力，而是老年人在退出职业与家庭等场域后所面临的“社会属性”丧失危机。本文构建“角色推出–社会属性丧失–角色替代”的分析框架，探讨老年人社会参与困境的生成机制与重建路径。研究发现：传统家庭模式的瓦解导致老年人在家庭内部经历了从“当家人”到“被赡养者”的身份降级；退休制度的强制性则在社会层面制造了结构性的角色真空。而当前以银发经济和智慧养老为代表的政策产业实践，仅将老年人定位为“消费者”或“被服务者”，加剧了其社会参与的单向度性与边缘化。老年人社会属性的重建，关键在于从“被赡养”转向“被需要”。互助养老中的“助人者”角色、民族文化传承中的“传承者”角色以及老年组织中的“行动者”角色，构成了角色替代的三条可能路径，其共同机制在于恢复老年人作为社会行动主体的价值感与尊严感。

Abstract: The profound challenge of population aging lies not merely in economic support pressures, but in the crisis of “social identity” loss that older adults face after withdrawing from professional and family spheres. This paper constructs an analytical framework of “role withdrawal-loss of social identity-role substitution” to explore the mechanisms underlying the dilemmas of older adults’ social participation and pathways for reconstruction. The study finds that the dissolution of traditional family models has led to a demotion of older adults’ identities within the family, from “head of the household” to “dependent”; meanwhile, the mandatory nature of retirement systems has created a structural role vacuum at the societal level. Current policy and industrial practices, exemplified by the “silver economy” and “smart aging”, position older adults solely as “consumers” or “service recipients”, thereby exacerbating the one-dimensionality and marginalization of their social participation. The reconstruction of older adults’ social attributes hinges on shifting from being “dependent” to being “needed”. The roles of “helper” in mutual-aid eldercare, “transmitter” in the inheritance of ethnic culture, and “actor” in senior organizations constitute three potential pathways for role substitution. Their common mechanism lies in restoring older adults’ sense of value and dignity as agents of social action.