Attitudes toward Marriage and the Family among the Overseas Chinese Students in Taiwan

僑生對傳統婚姻及家庭的態度

本文的目的為研究在臺僑生對婚姻與家庭所持的態度。用以分析的資料為六百七十一位臺灣大學及政治大學各科系一、二年級僑生對問卷調查的反應，用以作比較的資料的是Marsh and O'hara 調查651個臺灣本地大學生及238個美國密歇根大學學生的結果。1.在若干較單純的問題中，僑生們的反應較本地學生的態度更現代化（西方化），且與密歇根大學學生接近。換而言之，僑生們大部份贊成婚姻應甚於愛，男女社交應公開，中學以上應男女合校，婚前應有訂婚手續等。2.但在若干有條件的問題下，例如必須違抗父母意見，以及提醒他們中國傳統的倫理孝道等，僑生們的反應則表現很明顯的退縮，有些則趨向“非現代化”的態度。3.比較上述兩種反應態度，我們可認為僑生們在一方面對現代化的婚姻及家庭很嚮往，但另一方面固有的價值、倫理仍牢記在內心；新的標準與舊的價值尚未取得整合，所以有不一致的態度反應。4.在另一組牽涉到評價中國文化或有關種族關係的問題上，僑生們的反應也趨向“非現代化”或“保守”的態度，與第一組問題的反應有矛盾，這種似有“文化自尊”的現象，我們亦在另一僑生研究中看到。

The changes in the Chinese family system since the turn of the century have formed one of the most interesting topics for discussion among sociologists and social anthropologists. Most of their studies show that the changes since the revolution of 1911, or even after the effecting of the now Civil Code in 1931, until communist control of China mainland in 1949, are half-way between traditional and Westernized, or in all degrees of combination and compromise of such. Such scholars as Lang (1946), Chin (1948), Levy (1949) and Ruey (1961) have dealt with this theme intensively. Other scholars, such as Freedman (1961) and Yang (1959) have gone a step further to delineate the changes in the family system under Communist policies on the Mainland. The study of the current changes to the Chinese family in Taiwan has yet to be thoroughly devefopecf. An article by Marsh and O'hara questioning1 the degree of modernization of the attitudes toward marriage and the family is one of the few papers dealing with the topic and reaches the conclusion that although modern (Western) attitudes are prevalent among most college students, traditional views still have a part in their thinking. The changes in the family system among the Overseas Chinese are interesting in another respect. The Overseas Chinese, especially in Southeast Asia, have always been considered by scholars and administrators as more conservative in attitude and behavior than the Chinese in the homeland. Whether this statement is correct, and if so, in what manner and to what degree their conservation extends would be interesting questions theoretically and factually. The present paper endeavours to explore this theme. Our hypothesis for test is that the Overseas Chinese are more conservative in their attitudes toward marriage and the family. Our data for analysis are the responses to a questionnaire survey from the Overseas Chinese students in Taiwan.