邁向發聲之路：上下關係中「忍」的歷程與自我之轉化

Pathways toward Voicing: Ren (Forbearance) and Self-transformation in the Context of Vertical Relations

「忍」經常被視為一種國民性格，或是一種人際衝突的因應策略。本研究則將忍視為一種歷程且涵蓋多重心理機制之概念，加入時間的向度，探討在上下關係的權力結構中，下位者對上位者忍之歷程及自我之轉化。本研究以深度訪談法進行敘說資料之蒐集，受訪者共18位，男性7位，女性11位，年齡介於25歲至65歲之間。研究結果顯示：在多次忍的經驗中，自我歷經五個階段：「前忍耐」、「自我壓抑」、「自我區隔」、「自我勝出」、「伸縮自如」；各階段主要特色為：「言聽計從，不疑有他」、「忍氣吞聲，委屈求全」、「陽奉陰違，兩面做人」、「意識清晰，自主性強」、「順勢迂迴，伸縮自如」；同時，自我的狀態會隨忍階段的進展而有所改變。忍各階段間之自我轉化機制分別為：(1)從「前忍耐」到「自我壓抑」：自我覺醒、質疑權威；(2)從「自我壓抑」到「自我區隔」：自我認同、自我分化；(3)從「自我壓抑」到「自我勝出」：自我認同、自我決志、自我培力；(4)從「自我區隔」到「自我勝出」：自我決志、自我培力；(5)從「自我區隔」或「自我勝出」到「伸縮自如」：自我調控、順勢迂迴。研究也發現：個體與權威的關係呈現相互消長的拉鋸狀態，本研究用「小我」與「大我」間的辯證關係來呈現此消長，共包含六個階段：「小我與大我疊合」、「小我意識覺醒」、「小我與大我分離」、「小我的私我自主」、「小我自主且勝出」、「小我與大我相當且伸縮自如」，此六階段展現個體自我之力量由小而大、從下到上，最後勝出而與權威者形成抗衡，除了擁有自主外，且自我能伸縮自如。最後，本文也對忍歷程之次序性、忍之情境性、忍與關係和諧性，以及忍與華人之自主性、論文限制等提出進一步的討論。

Ren (forbearance) has been considered a Chinese national character or a strategy of coping with interpersonal conflicts in existing literature. The approach of regarding Ren as a strategy of coping specifies not only its constituents, but also how it operates in various contexts. Adhering to this approach, Ren was conceptualized as a psychological process with multiple mechanisms, which was defined by various experiences occurring at different stages toward the same social object. Meanwhile, special attention was given on how people transform in the process of Ren. Considering Chinese Relationalism, the vertical relation was viewed as the most important interpersonal context for the operation of Ren. A qualitative study was conducted to explore various experiences of Ren in vertical relations. Eighteen participants (7 males and 11 females) were interviewed for approximately 2-3 hours each to elicit their experiences of self-transformation in the process of Ren. Analysis of their narratives identified five stages of selftransformation, and were labeled as 'pre-forbearance', 'self-repression', 'self-compartmentalization', 'self-exceeding', and 'flexible self' in a sequential order. The vicissitudes of relationship between individual and authority were discussed by means of analyzing the dynamics between 'Xiao-wo' (the individual self) and 'Da-wo' (the authority figure): as the strength of an individual's self increases, it may counterbalance the power of authority figure, and the individual may become capable of being autonomous. Thus, we concluded that the self may transform in the process of Ren.