Newsletter No. 476

476 • 19.4.2016 3 新正向主義 A New Positivism 甚 麼是正向社會科學？正向社會科學聯合研究中心行政 主任、心理學系 馮海嵐 教授解釋：「在心理學上有『正 向心理學』，是指人在面對逆境時，懂得利用不同方法，如調 節思想、行為、情緒，令自己和身邊的人生活變得好些。 「正向社會科學素為社會科學院院長 趙志裕 教授所提倡， 他認為應走前一步，在心理學範疇外，加入其他社會科學學 科如建築、地理、社會學、社會工作等，以跨學科研究，從正 向出發，開展人與生活的相關研究。」 馮教授指出，約兩年前成大代表團來訪中大，在商討開展深 入協作的可行性時，發現港台兩地面對同樣問題─社區老 化，長者和舊房子與日俱增。 「經過多輪磋商，兩校決定成立正向社會科學聯合研究 中心，攜手合作，除開展社區活化研究，亦會從創新科技應 用、促進身心健康、豐盛晚年及性別研究等方面着手，以期 在多個生活層面上解決社區老化問題。」馮教授說。 她補充：「中心已在台灣完成一個質向研究，分別訪問了三十 及三十二位香港和台灣長者，了解他們對時間的看法。研究 發現當美國及德國的長者以儲蓄及買醫療保險等方式來為 老年做準備，香港及台灣的長者則用投資在子女及孫輩身上 的方式（如助其置業）來裝備晚年。5月會開展更大型的研 究，調查對象是港台兩地各二百五十名由三十至九十歲的人 士，用一日重建法，訪問研究對象昨天做了甚麼、與誰一起、 想甚麼及情緒怎樣，再比較美、德的類似研究。其他研究亦 會陸續開展。」 社會科學院院長趙志裕教授 馮海嵐教授 中大－中科院心理研究所生物社會心理學聯合實驗室 中大與成大正向社會科學聯合研究中心 W hat is positive social science? Prof. Fung Hoi-lam Helene , administrative director of the Joint Research Centre for Positive Social Science, explained: ‘Positive psychology studies how people, in the face of adversities, adjust their mindsets, behaviours and feelings to enable themselves and their close ones to cope and fare. ‘The champion of positive social science is Prof. Chiu Chi-yue , Dean of Social Science. He believes that our department should take a further step and incorporate other social science subjects such as architecture, geography, sociology and social work to foster a cross- disciplinary research to facilitate our research on people and their lives from a positive social science perspective.’ Professor Fung pointed out that about two years ago, an NCKU delegation called on CUHK to discuss the feasibility of in-depth collaboration and found that Hong Kong and Taiwan faced the same problem—ageing neighbourhoods with increasing number of old people and old houses. ‘After several rounds of talks, the two universities decided to establish the centre. Besides community rejuvenation research, we will also look into the application of innovative technologies to promote physical and mental health, positive ageing and gender studies, to help tackle the problems of ageing neighbourhoods in the various facets of life,’ said Professor Fung. She added, ‘The Centre has completed a qualitative survey in Taiwan, where 30 and 32 elderly people from Hong Kong and Taiwan, respectively, were interviewed on their perception of time. The survey found that the elderly in the US and Germany prepare for old age through personal savings and medical insurance. But their Hong Kong and Taiwan counterparts tend to invest in their children and grandchildren (such as helping them in home ownership). In May, we will commence a larger-scale research project, targeting a group of 250 individuals aged 30 to 90, each from Hong Kong and Taiwan. Employing a day-construction method, the interviews will inquire what these people had done the day before, who they were with, what they had thought of and their emotional states. The findings will be compared with those of similar surveys conducted in the US and Germany. Other studies are in the pipeline.’ ‘A core issue in the psychological science concerns the nature of human sociality: How do our biology and social experiences make each other up? Innovative research that is under way in the joint laboratory will illuminate the mutual constitution of body, mind, and society, and inspire new thoughts on the evolution of human sociality.’ Prof. Chiu Chi-yue, Dean of Social Science Prof. Fung Hoi-lam Helene CUHK-Institute of Psychology (IP) CAS Joint Laboratory on Biosocial Psychology CUHK-NCKU Joint Research Centre for Positive Social Science ‘Positive social science, as a humanist scientific movement, aspires to promoting innovative and rigorous integrative social science research for the betterment of personal and collective well-being. The current collaborative activities in the joint research centre include interdisciplinary effort to create actionable social knowledge for the purposes of building caring, innovative and egalitarian communities and promoting human fulfillment and civic virtues.’ 「心理學上人類社群性的一項主要研究課題是：我們的 生物特質和社會經驗如何相互影響？生物社會心理學 聯合實驗室以創新思維，開拓身心與社會互動關係科研 新天地，並為人類社群性的演化注入新視野。」 「正向社會科學是以人為本的科學運動，宗旨是推動 創新、嚴謹的社會科學整合研究，為個人和社會帶來福 祉。正向社會科學聯合研究中心現在進行的合作研究， 就是結合跨學科力量，創造可行的社會知識，以建立一 個關愛、創新、平等的社會，也讓心靈更富足，公德水平 得以進一步提高。」 Photo by ISO staff