ABSTRACT

AGAINST THE BACKDROP OF MACAU’S RAPIDLY AGEING POPULATION, THIS STUDY INVESTIGATES THE MECHANISMS THROUGH WHICH NEGATIVE SOCIAL LABELLING INFLUENCES OLDER ADULTS’ SENSE OF SELF-EFFICACY. LABELS SUCH AS “USELESS IN OLD AGE” AND “DEPENDENT ON OTHERS” FREQUENTLY APPEAR IN BOTH PUBLIC AND FAMILY CONTEXTS, POTENTIALLY CONSTRAINING OLDER ADULTS’ SELF-PERCEPTIONS AND SOCIAL PARTICIPATION. ADOPTING A QUALITATIVE RESEARCH DESIGN, THIS STUDY CONDUCTED SEMI-STRUCTURED IN-DEPTH INTERVIEWS WITH 17 OLDER ADULTS AGED 60–82 IN MACAU BETWEEN MAY AND AUGUST 2025. DATA WERE ANALYSED USING BRAUN AND CLARKE’S (2006) THEMATIC ANALYSIS. FOUR KEY THEMES EMERGED: (1) THE DUAL FORMS OF EXPLICIT AND IMPLICIT LABELLING AND THEIR INTERNALISATION PROCESSES; (2) THE BIDIRECTIONAL MECHANISM OF EFFICACY DECLINE AND GROWTH, WITH “THREE CONSECUTIVE SUCCESSFUL EXPERIENCES” IDENTIFIED AS A CRITICAL TURNING POINT FOR REBUILDING CONFIDENCE; (3) A SPECTRUM OF COPING STRATEGIES RANGING FROM PASSIVE WITHDRAWAL TO ACTIVE RESISTANCE, SHAPED BY INITIAL EFFICACY LEVELS, HEALTH STATUS, AND PEER SUPPORT; AND (4) THE BUFFERING OR REINFORCING ROLES OF MULTI-LAYERED ENVIRONMENTS, INCLUDING FAMILY, COMMUNITY, AND MEDIA. ON THIS BASIS, THE STUDY DEVELOPED A CONCEPTUAL MODEL LINKING “LABELLING FORMS—EFFICACY CHANGE—COPING STRATEGIES—ENVIRONMENTAL MODULATION,” HIGHLIGHTING THE DYNAMIC PATHWAYS THROUGH WHICH SOCIAL LABELS SHAPE OLDER ADULTS’ PSYCHOLOGY AND BEHAVIOUR. THE STUDY CONCLUDES WITH MULTI-LEVEL PRACTICAL RECOMMENDATIONS, SUCH AS REDUCING IMPLICIT LABELLING IN DESIGN, CREATING OPPORTUNITIES FOR CUMULATIVE SUCCESS, FOSTERING PEER-SUPPORT NETWORKS, AND ENHANCING INTERGENERATIONAL INTERACTION AND COMMUNITY EMPOWERMENT. THESE FINDINGS NOT ONLY ENRICH SCHOLARLY DEBATES ON SELF-EFFICACY THEORY, SYMBOLIC INTERACTIONISM, AND ECOLOGICAL SYSTEMS THEORY, BUT ALSO PROVIDE ACTIONABLE INSIGHTS FOR ELDER POLICY AND SOCIAL PRACTICE IN MACAU. 本研究以澳門社會快速邁入高齡化為背景，聚焦於「社會負面標籤」對長者自我效能感的影響機制。隨着「年老無用」「依賴他人」等標籤在公共與家庭語境中不斷出現，長者的自我認知與社會參與受到潛在限制。本研究採用質性研究方法，於2025年5月至8月間訪談17位年齡介乎60至82歲的澳門長者，並以BRAUN與CLARKE（2006）提出的主題分析法進行資料整理與歸納。研究結果提煉出四個核心主題：（1）負面標籤的顯性與隱性形態及其內化機制；（2）自我效能感的消退與增長的雙向機制，其中「三次成功體驗」為信心轉折的臨界點；（3）長者應對標籤的被動退縮與主動反駁光譜，受初始效能感、健康狀況及同伴支持影響；（4）家庭、社區與媒體等多層環境的緩衝與強化作用。基於上述發現，本研究構建了「標籤形態—效能感變化—應對策略—環境調節」的概念模型，揭示了社會標籤對長者心理與行為的動態影響路徑。研究最後提出多層次的實踐建議，包括減少隱性標籤設計、創造可累積的成功體驗、建立同伴支持網絡、優化代際互動及社區賦能機制。本研究不僅回應了自我效能理論、符號互動論及生態系統理論的學術討論，也為澳門的長者政策與社會實踐提供了可操作的參考依據。