本研究以深度訪談的方式，對25對結婚6至26年的夫妻進行多次而深入的訪談。訪談的內容主要包括夫妻的關係史、婚姻生活中一般事件及關鍵事件的描述，及夫妻情感關係的體會。研究者將夫妻間的親密關係定義為一種親近的情感連結，並從訪談資料中整理出四種夫妻之間的親密之情，分別為感激之情、欣賞之情、親近之情與契合之情。研究者並對中國夫妻親密情感的發展歷程提出一個假設性的模型。指出親密情感的形成主要來自個人的付出與共同的生活經驗，而個人對婚姻的期望與溝通，是影響親密情感形成的重要因素。研究者並指出，親密情感的四種內涵會隨著時日的累積，彼此相生相長，這種變化主要受個人面對婚姻衝突的方式及婚姻中關鍵事件的影響。最後，研究者對中國人的親密情感提出四項結論，分別從中國婚姻的角色基礎與互動本質、親密情感循環互動的過程、衝突帶來的改變與調整，及親密情感的長遠回顧等方向討論之。至於本研究的貢獻與限制，及未來研究的方向，研究者亦有整體的說明與建議。

This study is an attempt to study the formation and development of intimacy in Chinese marital couples. The researcher used a life history approach and conducted several in-depth interviews with 25 couples married between 6 to 26 years. The content of the interviews included the marital history of the couple, the general and critical incidents in the marriage, and the intimate feelings they experienced. The researcher identified four components of marital intimacy: feelings of gratitude, appreciation, closeness and understanding. The researcher also proposes a hypothetical model to explain the developmental process of marital intimacy. It is pointed out that marital intimacy comes from individual's devotion and couples' mutual experience, which are affected by marital expectation as well as communication. The researcher further claims that the four components of marital intimacy vary from one state to another as time goes by. This change usually happens when conflicts or some critical incident occur during a marriage. In the final section, the researcher draws four conclusions: First, Chinese marital intimacy is related to role performance and sexual attraction. Second, the development of intimacy shows a circular pattern. Third, conflicts brings about change and adjustment. Finally, feelings of marital intimacy are accumulated throughout marital life.

婚姻；親密；情感；質化研究

marriage; intimacy; affection; qualitative research