資訊社會對生活品質之影響：從科技與文化的觀點探討   全文下載

The Impact of the Information Society to the Quality of Life：From the Perspectives of Technologies and Culture

本研究從文化價值觀的觀點探討資訊社會化的程度對於人民生活品質的影響。近年來各國對資訊科技的日益重視，但資訊社會是否真能提高國民生活品質，學者間仍存在不同的見解。本研究主要從科技與文化思想的觀點，探討（1）資訊社會是否能真正達成提高生活品質的目標；（2）確認文化價值觀所扮演的角色。透過二階段研究（國家與個人兩個層級）發現，影響生活品質的因素，以「財富」影響最為顯著；關鍵的價值觀則包括「個人主義」、「男性主義」以及「儒家思想」。再者，有關文化價值觀對資訊化社會的影響，則是以「個人主義」最為關鍵。本研究建議，政府在重視科技硬體的投資的同時，國家人民的價值觀，更是決定資訊科技投資能否發揮其功效的重要關鍵因素。兩者必須相輔相成，才能夠正建構現代化的資訊社會。

Will the information and telecommunication technologies (ICTs) alone bring the fortune and happiness to us, or is it the way we make daily decisions based on our cultural values that really count? This research studies the influence of cultural values and the degree of ICTs’applications on people's economical and psychological well-beings. In recent two decades, many nations recognize the power of ICTs, but experts still cannot have conclusive evidences about the role of cultural values and the applications of ICTs on people's social and economical living quality. In order to find out the answers related to these issues in international level and individual level, this study designs a two-phase research. At first, relevant secondary data from various international institutions are collected and statistically analyzed. Secondly, a survey method was adopted to collect individual data from master students in National Central University’s continuing education program and members of Taiwan’s Rotary Club. In the international level, we find that the use of ICT and cultural values bears significant impact on income per capita and life satisfaction. However, in the individual level the impact of some cultural values is noticeable, yet the impact of ICTs is negligible. It implies that ICTs are becoming commodities when they are cheaply available. Once ICTs are available, it is our mind-sets, not technologies, that make us rich and happy.