ANTICIPATING STRESS IN THE COMMUNITY - WORRIES ABOUT THE FUTURE OF HONG-KONG

The transition from British to Chinese rule in 1997 is a unique exampl e of a predictable stressful event that affects the community of Hong Kong in various ways. The present paper describes the historical and p olitical context preceding this transition characterized by high socio political volatility, as suggested by some objective data (e.g., emigr ation) and subjective data (e.g., opinion surveys). Psychometric items designed to assess threat/worry, challenge/self-efficacy, and benefit were administered to two groups, a large random sample of the ethnic Chinese Hong Kong population and a sample of Chinese university studen ts. About half the random sample reported to be seriously concerned ab out the future after 1997, whereas in the student sample only about on e fifth did so. Neither group expected advantages from the political t ransition. The students felt somewhat less challenged or less self-eff icacious in dealing successfully with the upcoming event. In discussin g these findings it is argued that first-year students might have othe r concerns shortly after being admitted to college as opposed to the a verage population, which might be more involved in sociopolitical matt ers.