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From macro aging narratives to personal response scripts: A process model from bilibili comment discourse

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  • Zheng, Zhangwei
  • Tan, Qin Lingda
  • B.A.M, Hafizuddin-Syah

Abstract

Population aging is widely discussed as a structural challenge, yet less is known about how it becomes a personally consequential issue for younger cohorts before late-life constraints are directly experienced. Using naturally occurring discourse from Bilibili, a major Chinese user-generated video platform, this study analyzes 1800 de-identified comments from 10 high-interaction videos through an inductive, constructivist grounded theory–informed approach. The analysis identifies a four-stage process in which aging is framed as a credible public problem, personalized into self-relevant stakes, appraised in terms of feasibility and agency, and stabilized into distinct discourse-level response scripts. Institutional credibility structures the initial interpretive ground; personalization is driven mainly by intergenerational burden, future-self projection, and moral contestation; and appraisal turns on cost thresholding, time–energy depletion, and perceived scope for action. The study advances process theorizing by explaining why similar macro signals yield divergent anticipatory orientations in everyday discourse.

Suggested Citation

  • Zheng, Zhangwei & Tan, Qin Lingda & B.A.M, Hafizuddin-Syah, 2026. "From macro aging narratives to personal response scripts: A process model from bilibili comment discourse," Social Science & Medicine, Elsevier, vol. 402(C).
    • Handle: RePEc:eee:socmed:v:402:y:2026:i:c:s0277953626003886
    DOI: 10.1016/j.socscimed.2026.119312
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