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Empirical evidence indicates the links between social class and subjective well-being are numerous and varied, and Need Theory proposes that their relationship depends, in part, on whether people’s basic needs are being met. Given that sense of control is one of the fundamental social needs of human beings, the present research examined a mediated moderation model between the social class and subjective well-being by testing whether sense of control moderates this relationship, and whether this moderating effect is mediated through self-esteem. A sample of 536 Chinese adolescents (mean age = 13.79 years, SD = 0.95) completed anonymous questionnaires about their subjective and objective social class, sense of control, self-esteem, and subjective well-being. Consistent with the hypothesized mediated moderation model, the association between social class and subjective well-being was moderated by sense of control, with social class significantly influencing the subjective well-being of adolescents when their sense of control was low but not high. This moderation effect was then mediated by self-esteem. In addition, this model was found to be more suitable for adolescent boys than girls. The findings demonstrate that adolescents’ personal sense of control and self-esteem represent key mechanisms determining how social class is associated with subjective well-being.

Though previous studies have showed that social class is positively associated with subjective well-being (SWB), in fact, subjective social class has a stronger impact on SWB compare to objective social class. Thus, it is more important to explore the relationship between subjective social class and SWB. In the current study, we suggested that perceived scarcity and sense of control would play the mediating role between subjective social class and SWB. Study 1 used two big samples from China (CGSS2017) and over the world (WVS7) to test the hypothesis, the results confirmed that the effect of individual subjective social class on SWB was mediated by perceived scarcity and sense of control. More importance, we also find a sequential mediation effect of perceived scarcity and sense of control between individual subjective social class and SWB. Similar results were also both found in Study 2 using an empirical approach and Study 3 using a measure approach in China. These findings extend previous work by examining the psychological mechanisms between subjective social class and SWB from the resource scarcity theory.

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.

Though the link between objective social class and interpersonal distrust has been well documented, the link between subjective social class and distrust has been less investigated. Besides, very little research has investigated the potential mechanism underlying this association. Based on relative deprivation theory and just world theory, the present study examined the relation between subjective social class and distrust as well as the mediating roles of individual/global relative deprivation and belief in a just world among college students in Chinese culture. A sample of 796 Chinese college students finished the measures of subjective social class, individual/group relative deprivation, belief in a just world, and interpersonal distrust. The result indicated that lower subjective social class was predictive of higher level of distrust. Path analyses indicated that individual relative deprivation mediated the association between subjective social class and distrust. Besides, belief in a just world and individual relative deprivation acted as sequential mediators between subjective social class and distrust. Furthermore, moderated mediation analysis did not support the moderating role of belief in a just world in the relationship model of subjective social class, individual/group relative deprivation, and interpersonal distrust. These findings highlight that to alleviate interpersonal distrust among students in the lower subjective social class, we should pay attention to students’ perceptions of justice and individual relative deprivation and how that could be shaping their interpersonal trust.

Objectives The majority of studies exploring the relationship between internet use and subjective wellbeing among older adults tend to overlook the mediating mechanisms, particularly psychological ones. Additionally, while research has concluded that internet use is significantly associated with higher levels of subjective wellbeing, it remains unclear whether these associations might become insignificant or negative under certain conditions. To address these gaps, this study investigated the association between internet use and subjective wellbeing in older adults, with a focus on the mediating role of hope and the moderating role of subjective social class. Method A sample of 1,045 older adults was selected from the Chinese General Social Survey. SPSS 24.0 and its PROCESS macros were utilized for data analyses. The bootstrapping method with 5,000 resamples was utilized to examine the mediating role of hope. Interaction terms were formulated to assess the moderating roles of subjective social class. Results The results revealed that older adults who used the internet were more likely to report higher levels of subjective wellbeing than those who did not. Hope served as a key psychological mechanism mediating this relationship. Additionally, subjective social class moderated the association between internet use and subjective wellbeing: the positive association was significant among older adults with higher subjective social class, whereas no significant association was observed among those with lower social class. Interestingly, subjective social class also moderated the relationship between hope and subjective wellbeing, albeit in the opposite direction. Conclusions These findings contribute to our understanding of the psychological mechanisms underlying internet use and older adults’ subjective wellbeing. Furthermore, they provide implications for considering the relative dark of internet use on subjective wellbeing for older adults with lower subjective social class.

While existing studies have established a significant correlation between social class and work volition, the dynamics of this relationship remain unclear. To address this gap, this study examined how subjective social class influences career decision self‐efficacy (CDSE) and work volition over time. We surveyed 310 Chinese college students (155 women) across three time points, each separated by a 3‐month interval. The findings indicate that subjective social class at Time 1 and Time 2 positively influenced CDSE at Time 2 and Time 3, and CDSE at Time 1 and Time 2 positively predicted work volition at Time 2 and Time 3, respectively. CDSE longitudinally mediated the relationship between subjective social class and work volition. This study contributes to academic knowledge regarding how subjective social class affects the work volition and offers valuable insights for career guidance targeting enhanced work volition.

Previous studies have revealed a positive relationship between social class and subjective well-being, but it is still unclear why social class is associated with subjective well-being. In the current study, 4168 Chinese adults aged 17 to 67 years completed measures of social class, present fatalistic time perspective and subjective well-being. Then a mediation analysis was conducted to examine whether present fatalistic time perspective would mediate the association between social class and subjective well-being. Results indicated social class was positively associated with subjective well-being; subjective social class (SSC) had a stronger association with subjective well-being than did objective social class (OSC). Social class was negatively related to present fatalistic time perspective; however, OSC was more predictive of present fatalistic time perspective than was SSC. Moreover, the relationship between social class and subjective well-being was mediated by present fatalistic time perspective, whether SSC or OSC. These results add to our understanding of the theoretical concept of social class and shed new light on a mechanism involved in the social class/well-being association. The implications of this study and future directions are also discussed.

Purpose Given the increasing need after the outbreak of COVID-19 to encourage restaurant customers to dine in, the purpose of this paper is to examine the effects that anthropomorphic cues jointly with brand awareness and subjective social class have on restaurant-visit intention. Design/methodology/approach To better comprehend the use of anthropomorphic cues, this paper involved two studies that used two types of anthropomorphic cues: (1) non-food (a spoon) and (2) food ingredients. For each study, a 2 × 2 mixed factorial design was used. Findings Using three-way mixed ANOVAs, the results from Study 1 confirmed that adding anthropomorphic cues to a non-food object (a spoon) could induce positive effects for restaurants with lower brand awareness, especially among individuals with low subjective social class. In contrast, Study 2 showed that adding anthropomorphic cues to a food ingredient (e.g. tomato, lettuce and olive) had a weaker effect on restaurants with high brand awareness, especially among individuals with a high subjective social class. Practical implications Marketers should use anthropomorphism strategies based on their target customers, especially if their brand is less popular. Originality/value Using the theoretical framework from the elaboration likelihood model, this paper contributes to the anthropomorphism literature by showing how an anthropomorphized image that fits an individual’s interests could trigger a careful thinking process that leads to differential behaviors based on brand awareness.

The association between a proactive personality and entrepreneurial career intention with the moderating effect of social class (socioeconomic status and subjective social class) was examined in Chinese college students in the current study. After controlling for gender and university grade, a proactive personality was discovered to positively predict entrepreneurial intention (both goal intention and implementation intention) among a sample of 367 college students (228 females and 139 males; 119 freshmen, 166 sophomores, and 82 juniors). Subjective social class strengthened the relationship between a proactive personality and entrepreneurial intention, whereas socioeconomic status did not significantly moderate this relationship. Finally, the implications of the results and suggestions for future research were discussed.

Emotion recognition is a skill that helps build good social relationships. This study emphasizes the interaction between subjective social class and sex, aims to identify which groups have deficient emotion recognition ability, and explores the underlying psychological mechanisms. Two studies using a self-developed Chinese facial emotion recognition task provide support for the interaction between subjective social class and sex in emotion recognition (Study 1 and Study 2), and the mediating role of dominance (Study 2). Specifically, only male participants in a subjectively higher social class tend to be dominant, resulting in lower emotion recognition ability, whereas female participants did not show differences in dominance strategy preference and emotion recognition ability related to subjective social class. Moreover, these findings apply not only to students but also to working people with social experience. These studies help to improve mutual understanding between different groups of people, and provide insights and guidance for forming good human interactions.