The Effects of Subjective Social Class on Subjective Well-Being and Mental Health: A Moderated Mediation Model

Kai Li, Feng Yu (), Yanchi Zhang and Yongyu Guo
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Kai Li: Department of Psychology, School of Philosophy, Wuhan University, Wuhan 430072, China
Feng Yu: Department of Psychology, School of Philosophy, Wuhan University, Wuhan 430072, China
Yanchi Zhang: School of Psychology, Northwest Normal University, Lanzhou 730070, China
Yongyu Guo: School of Psychology, Nanjing Normal University, Nanjing 210097, China

IJERPH, 2023, vol. 20, issue 5, 1-11

Abstract: In recent decades, China’s rapid economic growth has substantially improved average living standards; however, this has not been accompanied by greater happiness among the Chinese population. This phenomenon is known as the Easterlin Paradox (i.e., there is no link between a society’s economic development and its average level of happiness) in Western countries. This study examined the effects of subjective social class on subjective well-being and mental health in China. Consequently, we found that individuals in a relatively low social class had lower levels of subjective well-being and mental health; self-class discrepancy partially explains the relationship between subjective social class and subjective well-being and fully explains the relationship between subjective social class and mental health; and subjective social mobility moderates the path from self-class discrepancy to subjective well-being and mental health. These findings suggest that enhancing social mobility is an important method for reducing class differences in subjective well-being and mental health. These results have important implications, indicating that enhancing social mobility is an important method for reducing class differences in subjective well-being and mental health in China.

Keywords: subjective social class; self-class discrepancy; subjective social mobility; subjective well-being; mental health (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: I I1 I3 Q Q5 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2023
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