本研究運用實證資料描述台灣青少年的道德信念,並從社會依附的觀點檢視家庭與學校之影響。由於華人對於道德的傳統思維和西方社會不同,我們將道德區分為「私德」和「公德」兩層面,並主張台灣青少年的道德信念傾向「私德重於公德」的傳統模式。實證資料的來源為中央研究院社會所執行之「台灣青少年成長歷程研究」(Taiwan Youth Project),該計畫採問卷調查方法,以長期追蹤方式,蒐集台灣青少年成長歷程中之個人、家庭與學校資料。本研究結果大致上支持涂爾幹之社會依附觀點。在家庭依附方面,我們發現親子之間的親近性與家庭凝聚力都有助於增強青少年道德信念;至於學校依附的影響力則只限於師生親近性,班級凝聚力並未達到顯著水準。最後,我們針對本研究在理論、方法及實務方面的應用與限制提出討論。
This study investigates the moral beliefs of Taiwanese adolescents and examines how such beliefs may be associated with adolescent attachment to family and school. On the basis of Chinese cultural tradition, we conceptualize morality as having two dimensions-a private sphere and a public sphere-and argue that Taiwanese adolescents tend to have firmer beliefs in private-sphere morality than in public-sphere morality. The empirical data used to examine the hypotheses derive from the Taiwan Youth Project, a longitudinal survey study conducted by the Institute of Sociology, Academic Sinica. Consistent with Durkheim's social attachment theory, our findings confirm the positive impact of family attachment on both private and public spheres of morality. The findings indicate that either parent-child closeness or family cohesion is likely to strengthen adolescent moral beliefs. Hypotheses about school attachment are only partially supported, however. Attachment to school-teachers but not attachment to one's class is found to be positively associated with adolescents holding firm beliefs in morality. The study concludes with a discussion of its theoretical, methodological, and pragmatic implications as well as its limitations.