坐立不安：香港中產的社會心理狀況

在有關當代中產階級的主觀世界的研究之中，一直偏向於關注他們的政治態度、階級意識，而較少瞭解心理和情感方面的狀況。這明顯地有別於歷史學及歷史社會學對中產階級研究所觀察到的情況。關於20世紀兩次世界大戰之間歐洲國家中產階級的一大特點，是他們面對不確定的社會、政治及經濟環境時所表現出來的焦慮不安。要瞭解中產階級的個性，就必須研究他們處於不同階級之間的夾縫的特性，並從階級關係的變化去認識他們的主觀世界。本文以2006年香港社會流動調查的實證資料為基礎，來探討生活在一個逐漸變得不確定環境裡的中產階級，他們的心理與情感狀態起了些什麼變化。他們對自己的將來開始失去原來的那一份自信，同時對下一代的處境更為憂慮。本文除了分析香港中產的狀況外，更想突出從心理及情感角度來進行階級分析的重要性。
Studies of the subjective perspective of the middle class have long confined their attention to questions concerning class consciousness and political orientation. Historically studies of the middle class, particularly those regarding politics during the inter-war period, have looked into growing anxieties in an environment of instability and uncertainty; the emotionaland psychological aspects of the question have been unduly neglected in sociological analysis. How ever, in order to understand the social character of the middle class, we must examine the in-betweeness of their class situation and how changing inter-class relations shape their mentality. This paper, based upon the findings of the "Survey on Social Mobility and Life Chances in Hong Kong 2006", is an attempt to follow this emphasis on the evaluative perspective of social class and to depict the state of mind of Hong Kong’ s middle class. It is primarily an exploratory attempt to show the significance of understanding the uneasiness and anxiety of the middle class. It is an attempt to explain why Hong Kong ’ s middle class is becoming uneasy as well as a case study to illustrate the value of considering psychological and emotional factors in class analysis. Copyright © 2012 社會科學文獻出版社.