大学生物质主义与儒家传统价值观的冲突研究

以价值观冲突理论为依据，探讨中国社会转型时期物质主义与儒家传统价值观的并存给当代大学生带来的心理冲突。采用测谎仪记录被试回答价值观选择两难情境问题时的皮电值，结果发现：对于高儒家传统价值观的大学生而言，物质主义水平的上升会引起其皮电值的显著增加，而对于低儒家传统价值观的大学生则没有这种效应。表明同时拥有高水平的物质主义和儒家传统价值观的大学生会体验到大量的心理冲突。

A Study on the Conflict Between Materialism and Traditional Confucian Values in College Students

Since the reform and opening-up, Chinese society and economy have changed greatly, promoting the transition of social values. Most outstandingly, with the development of market economy, materialism is prevailing so rapidly as to impact traditional Chinese values. Based on this realistic background and values conflict theory, this paper aimed to explore college students’ mental conflict resulting from the coexistence of materialism and traditional Confucian values. The study used a 2 (materialism: low or high) × 2 (Confucian traditional values: low or high) between-subjects experimental design, and placed the subjects in dilemmatic settings in which they faced different values-based choices, to examine the interaction between materialism and traditional Confucian values on an individual’s mental conflict. In view of that self-report questionnaires might not be able to measure the subjects’ state of mind accurately, the study used a polygraph of PG-10 type to register the subjects’ galvanic skin response (GSR) when they answered questions about the dilemmas, in order to provide objective physiological index for mental conflict. The procedures were as follows: (1) Selecting subjects qualified for the experiment. 213 undergraduates from general psychology classes completed a set of questionnaires, including the Material Values Scale, Traditional Confucian Values Scale, and the 10-item short version of Marlowe-Crowne Social Desirability Scale. 82 subjects were eliminated for failure to respond seriously or being high in social desirability. The remaining subjects were used to create low versus high groups in materialism and traditional Confucian values according to 27% of the total scores. Finally, 46 subjects were selected to participate in the experiment. (2) Designing 5 dilemmatic scenarios and 4 corresponding questions about each scenario that reflected the conflict between materialism and traditional Confucian values. Though hypothetical, these scenarios and questions involved choices college students might face in everyday life. And to ensure their validity, they were rated by 15 graduates, and then were typed into the interface of the polygraph in preparation for the subsequent test. (3) Physiological testing. There was only one subject each time. Upon arrival in the laboratory, the subject was given some instructions about the test and then wore the galvanic skin sensor in his/her adjacent fingers and relaxed. After the stability of his/her physiological baseline, the test began. The experimenter asked questions about each dilemma twice in random order and the subject answered with "yes" or "no". Meanwhile, the polygraph registered the subject’s GSR. The results of ANCOVA including gender as a covariate showed that the interaction between materialism and traditional Confucian values was significant (F (1, 41) = 4.99, p = .03). Further analysis of simple effect showed that among subjects who were high in traditional Confucian values, the GSR elevated markedly when moving from the low to high materialism group (Mlow= 100.82, Mhigh= 135.87, F (1, 43) = 4.77, p = .03). In contrast, for those low in traditional Confucian values, the GSR didn’t appear to vary as a function of their level of materialism (Mlow = 108.11, Mhigh = 126.16, F (1, 43) = 1.25, p = .27). In sum, the results imply that individuals who have high levels of materialism and are also high in Confucian traditional values will experience substantial mental conflict. The innovation of this paper lies in the method of physiological measurement, which contributes to provide objective and strong evidence for college students’ values conflict that many scholars are concern about in the social transformation period of China.