ABSTRACT

THIS STUDY AIMS TO EXPLORE THE LIVE DEMANDS OF UNMARRIED PEOPLE IN MIDDLE ADULTHOOD. THE MOTIVATION FOR THE STUDY COMES FROM THE RESEARCHER'S OBSERVATION THAT MORE AND MORE PEOPLE IN MODERN SOCIETY ARE DELAYING MARRIAGE OR CHOOSING TO BE SINGLE. THIS LIFESTYLE DOES NOT ONLY APPEAR IN MACAO, BUT ALSO OCCURS IN MANY COUNTRIES AND REGIONS AROUND THE WORLD. FUTURE POLICY FORMULATION AND SOCIAL SERVICES MUST PAY ATTENTION TO THIS GROWING GROUP. IN ORDER TO DEEPEN THE UNDERSTANDING OF THE LIVE DEMANDS AND ADAPTATION STRATEGIES OF MACAO’S UNMARRIED PEOPLE IN MIDDLE ADULTHOOD, THIS STUDY ADOPTS A QUALITATIVE APPROACH AND INVITES 13 MID-ADULT UNMARRIED PEOPLE AS RESEARCH PARTICIPANTS. A PHENOMENOLOGICAL RESEARCH METHOD WAS USED TO COLLECT DATA THROUGH IN-DEPTH INTERVIEWS WITH THE INTERVIEWEES. AFTER OBTAINING THEIR PERSONAL EXPERIENCE SHARING, THE RESEARCHER INTEGRATED THE DIFFERENT EXPERIENCES, ELABORATED ON THEM IN THE FORM OF LIFE STORIES, AND ARRIVED AT DIFFERENT FINDINGS IN THE PROCESS OF INDUCTION. RESEARCH RESULTS SHOW THAT UNMARRIED MIDDLE-ADULTS HAVE INDEPENDENT PERSONAL BELIEFS, ADHERE TO THEIR OWN VALUES, MAINTAIN REAL INTERPERSONAL RELATIONSHIPS, AND GAIN SUPPORT AND RECOGNITION FROM FAMILY, FRIENDS, AND SOCIETY. THESE CHARACTERISTICS ENABLE THEM TO FREELY CHOOSE AND ENJOY UNMARRIED LIFE. HOWEVER, WHEN THE RESEARCHERS COMPILED THE LITERATURE, THEY FOUND THAT THE YOUTH POLICY LAUNCHED BY THE MACAUSAR GOVERNMENT TARGETS YOUNG PEOPLE UNDER THE AGE OF 35. NO CORRESPONDING POLICY MEASURES HAVE BEEN ISSUED FOR THE 35-59 GROUP. THEREFORE, IN ADDITION TO SOME SUGGESTIONS MENTIONED BY THE INTERVIEWEES DURING THE INTERVIEW, SUCH AS ASSISTING YOUNG PEOPLE TO BUY HOMES, PROVIDING CAREER PLANNING COUNSELING, STRENGTHENING MENTAL HEALTH SUPPORT, ETC., TO HELP PEOPLE IN MIDDLE ADULTHOOD SUCCESSFULLY TRANSITION THROUGH THIS IMPORTANT STAGE OF LIFE. BASED ON THE ABOVE RESEARCH FINDINGS, THE RESEARCHERS ALSO INTEGRATED SOME SPECIFIC SUGGESTIONS TO SERVE AS A REFERENCE FOR UNMARRIED GROUPS, GOVERNMENT-RELATED UNITS, SOCIAL SERVICE AGENCIES, AND FUTURE INTERESTED RESEARCHERS. KEYWORDS: PHENOMENOLOGY, MIDDLE ADULTHOOD, LIFESTYLE, UNMARRIED PEOPLE, LIVE DEMAND 本研究之目的是為探討成年中期未婚人士的生活需求，研究動機源於研究者觀察 到現代社會中有愈來愈多成年人延遲結婚或選擇單身生活，這種生活型態不單出現在澳門，甚至在全球多個國家及地區也有同樣的情況發生，在未來政策制定及社會服務上不得不關注這個日益擴大的群體。為了深入瞭解本澳的成年中期未婚人士在生活上的需求以及適應的策略，本研究採質性研究，邀請 13 位成年中期未 婚人士為研究參與對象，以現象學的研究方式，與受訪者透過深度訪談蒐集資料。在獲得他們的個人經歷分享後，研究者整合了不同的經驗，以生活故事形式闡述，並在歸納過程中得出不同的發現。研究結果顯示：未婚的成年中期人士擁有獨立自主的個人信念，堅持自我價值觀，會維持實在的人際關係，並且獲得家人朋友及社會的支援及認同，以上特點令他們能自在地選擇並享受未婚生活，然而，研究者在匯整文獻資料時發現，特區政府推出的青年政策的對象人群是35歲以下的青年，針對35-45的群體，未見有任何對應的政策措施出台。因此，除了受訪者也在訪談過程中提及到一些建議，如協助青年人置業、提供生涯規劃輔導、加強心理健康支援等建議，以協助成年中期人士可以順利過度這一重要的生活階段，研究者亦根據以上的研究發現，整合了一些具體建議，為未婚族群、政府相關單位、社會服務機構及未來有興趣之研究者做參考。