The Review 2007

28 29 More Hong Kong Adolescents Feel Chinese Hong Kong adolescents’ sense of identity has undergone subtle shifts in the 10 years since the handover to Chinese sovereignty and the findings, from a study by the Department of Psychology, raise issues for civic education specialists. Associate Professor Dr Lam Shui-fong and her research team surveyed more than 13,000 secondary school students in 1996 and 2006, and found 22.3 per cent identified themselves as “Chinese, secondarily Hong Konger” in 2006, compared with 15.8 per cent in 1996. Those who identified themselves as solely Hong Kongers dropped from 33.9 per cent in 1996 to 28.7 per cent in 2006. The findings applied regardless of whether the youths were born in Hong Kong or Mainland China. Young people were also more likely to have positive attitudes towards China if they identified themselves more as Chinese. Overall, the students were more upbeat about China’s political and economic development and they had greater confidence in themselves and the future of Hong Kong. Interestingly, the more responsible young people felt for China’s future, the more they agreed they should support state policies to be patriotic. “The changes over the past 10 years need attention from educators who are concerned with civic education,” Dr Lam said. “For example, the association of responsibilities for the nation with support for state policies prompts us to rethink the meaning of nationalism. What are the possible meanings of Chinese identity? Is there only one way to be patriotic? I hope civic educators can pay particular attention to these questions.” Young people were also more likely to have positive attitudes towards China if they identified themselves more as Chinese. Locating the Key to Happiness The pursuit of happiness may have different characteristics in Chinese society and researchers are investigating how to use that understanding to help patients. Chinese tend to define happiness in terms of their re- lationships with others, while in Western countries happiness is identified with the individual self and individual needs. Associate Professor of Psychology, Dr Samuel Ho, demonstrated the differences in earlier work and is now studying how to apply the results to Chinese people with depression, using positive psychology. Positive psychology involves getting people to con- centrate on positive emotions rather than focusing on their problem of depression. Dr Ho has conducted a success- ful pilot study with patients in Hong Kong and, in 2008, will expand the study to three major cities in China: Beijing, Guangzhou and Hangzhou. One of his patients was Hanna, a graduate student from Beijing who is studying at the University. She had be- come depressed because her mother and her husband were unable to get along. Dr Ho asked her to complete a questionnaire on her strengths, which were found to be love and forgiveness. Then she was asked to write letters to her mother and hus- band focusing only on their positive attributes, although she did not have to send the letters. “I couldn’t imagine how my strengths were connect- ed to this problem. But when I wrote the letter, I realised my mother and husband both loved me very much and they wanted me to be happy,” Hanna said. “I was able to see their relationship from a different direction and to see my mother in a more positive way. Now I can face the problem with normal emotions and there is no more depression.” Dr Ho said the case illustrated that relationships are an important source of happiness and this understanding could help in treating Chinese patients. “In the West people distinguish between my happi- ness and other people’s happiness. Among Chinese, the distinction is not so clear. People don’t know what to say if you ask them whether they are happy. The interpersonal dimension needs to be added in. We’ve done some analysis that shows interpersonal-based happiness is more predic- tive of people’s well-being than intra-personal happiness,” he said. I was able to see their relationship from a different direction and to see my mother in a more positive way. Dr Samuel Ho, focusing on positive emotions Sinopix Photo Agency