自谦: 中国人一种重要的行事风格初探

研究一通过对古籍的检索, 初步构建了古籍自谦语料库, 在此基础上对自谦的内涵、分类、功能进行内容分析。结果表明, 自谦是一种“以阳居阴”的行事风格; 它有“虚性”和“实性”之分; 其功能可以分为“和谐性”、“进取性”、“防御性”、“礼貌性”、“道德性”五个方面。研究二对现代人的开放式调查表明, 古今人们对自谦内涵的看法是比较一致的, 绝大多数人认为, 自谦仍然具有重要的现实意义, 但对自谦功能的认同内容和比例偏重都与古人不同。研究三用自编问卷考察了大学生对自谦的认同度。结果表明, 大学生非常强调自谦的“防御性”、“自我完善”和“提升形象”的功能。最后, 围绕本研究的方法、结果、启示进行了讨论, 并展望了自谦未来的研究方向。

Preliminary Study on Self-modesty:One Significant Behavioral Style of Chinese

The purpose of this study is to examine the connotation, classification and function of self-modesty com-prehensively from cultural and historical perspective. In Study 1, through the retrieval of ancient Chinese books, 889 articles describing self-modesty had been collected, with 109 (12%) of them on its connotative, 112 (13%) on classification and 616 (69%) on function. The content analysis of these ancient books showed that self-modesty, divided into “real” and “false”, referred to an attitude or behavior with which one hid or evaded his or her own advantage or success. Its functions included harmoniousness, aggressiveness, defensiveness, courtesy, and morality, accounting for 4.7%, 4.1%, 40%, 5.3%, and 12%, respectively, of the ancient books. In Study 2, the open investigation was carried out among 217 university students and the general public. The results showed that modern people held almost the same views as those in ancient times on the connotation of self-modesty, as 84% believed that self-modesty was still of a considerable realistic significance. However, they differed in terms of the identity content and emphasis of self-modesty’s function, which could be caused by the differences in expressions, the nature of language materials, and the manoeuvrability of classification. In Study 3, a self-prepared survey was conducted on identity commitment among 486 university students. The results indicated that university students laid enormous emphasis on the functions of self-modesty including defensiveness, ego integrity, and image promotion. Different from the concepts of “negative illusion” and “below-average effect” in western theories, self- modesty is the embodiment of Chinese dialectical thinking and their pursuit of society-oriented self- actualiza-tion. Its functions can be summed up in two macro dimensions–“instrumental” and “transcendence”. Therefore, more priority in future studies should be given to the contextual situation and socialization of self- modesty.