本研究旨在透過說話者對稱讚之不同應答，探討存在於中國社會中，不同群體間之溝通問題。稱讚應答(compliment response)可分為三種俗定語(routine)：「否定」、「迴避」、以及「接受」。基於此三項分類，研究者提出四組假設：(一)傳統「否定別人稱讚」的回應方式，已漸被「接受別人稱讚」所取代；(二)具不同社會特徵之受試者，對三種俗定語持不同偏好；(三)俗定語的選擇與親近程度共變；(四)稱讚應答是否細分，依親近程度而定。資料主要採集方式，以問卷發放行之。親近程度乃由四項因素操控：熟悉度、輩份、階級、以及性別差異。在十三個題目中，受試者須自九個選項選出答案，以回應不同親近程度的人所給予之稱讚。蒐集的資料，以卡方考驗分析之。 「稱讚應答」正在改變是首要發現：「接受」的回應已超越了傳統的「否定」而成為新的慣例。這或許與「個人主義」從固有受壓抑之自我中釋放出來有關。其次，稱讚應答會依受試者之年齡、性別、及教育程度而有不同偏好。大柢而言，高教育程度、年齡介於36至45歲、及女性最有可能主導此稱讚應答之改變。其中，又以36至45歲、擁有高學歷之女性為最。這幾個社群的主導權，可能來自於自身的獨立思考、反權威思潮、以及女性主義運動的影響。其三，稱讚應答的細分與否，確與親近程度有關。在與熟人暨不同輩分的人應對時，稱讚應答會有較精細的區分。其四，「接受」的選用會隨親近程度而改變；然而此關係在「否定」的選用上並未發現。其五，「直接與否(±direct)」與「接受與否(±accept)」兩組觀念即可充分解釋稱讚應答的基底結構。大體而言，四組假設幾乎都證實為真。 上述發現，可經由中國社會裡，整體價值轉型所引起的個人基模改變所解釋。文中嘗試以李齊(Leech)的謙遜原則(Modesty Maxim)與同意原則(Agreement Maxim)，復以布朗與萊文生(Brown and Levinson)的面子處理原則(face want approach)解釋此變異與變遷。個人主義所促發的相異禮貌原則(Politeness Principles)與傳統文化所形成的相同期望之間的拉鋸，突顯出現代與固有間的矛盾與衝突。 此研究在幾個方面迥異於前人：(一)對稱讚應答的分類最少；(二)對於基模做量化的探討；(三)賦子面子處理原則新的詮釋；(四)以動態時間的觀點闡述禮貌原則的應用情形。 / This study is aimed at exploring the communication problem between different social groups via the change of compliment response in Chinese society. Compliment response is divided into three routines: rejection, avoidance, and acceptance, based on which, four hypotheses are proposed: a) the traditional compliment routine－rejection－is surpassed by acceptance; b) the preference for a certain routine of compliment response co-varies with informants' social characteristics; c) the selection of routines varies with intimacy; d) the differentiation of compliment response varies with intimacy. Questionnaire is the main tool to collect data, within which intimacy is controlled by four factors: familiarity, generation, ranking, and gender difference. Nine possible answers are offered for the informants to respond to the compliment paid by people of different intimacy in thirteen questions. The collected data is analyzed with Chi-Square test. The first major finding is that compliment response is changing, with the use of acceptance surpassing traditional rejection and becoming a new normative response. This may be related to the release of individualism from the traditionally repressed self. Second, compliment response is diverse according to the classification of informants by age, gender, and educational level. Higher educational level, middle age group, and females all contribute to the change, among which, higher-educated, middle-aged females' behavior is the most significant. This may be explicated via independent thinking of informants, anti-authoritarianism movement, and feminism. Third, the differentiation of compliment response co-varies with the degree of intimacy. More elaborate differentiation is used in talking to familiars and different generation. Fourth, the selection of acceptance varies with intimacy while rejection does not. Fifth, [±direct] and [±accept] are sufficient to account for the deep structure of compliment response. Generally, almost all the hypotheses are verified. The above findings can be explained by the change of frame caused by the value shift in Chinese society. Leech's Modesty and Agreement Maxim as well as Brown and Levinson's face want approach are adopted to account for the variation and change. It is proposed that the keen competition between various politeness principles, resulting from individualism, and identical expectation, formed by the traditional culture, manifests the conflict of modernization and tradition preservation. The study is different from previous ones in several respects: a) the least classification of compliment response, b) a quantitative study of frames, c) a new interpretation for face want approach, and d) the application of politeness maxims from a dynamic point of view.