Subjective economic inequality is associated with lower well-being through more upward comparison and lower trust
Corresponding Author
Hongfei Du
Institute of Advanced Studies in Humanities and Social Sciences, Beijing Normal University, Zhuhai, China
Center for Studies of Psychological Application, South China Normal University, Guangzhou, China
Correspondence
Hongfei Du, Institute of Advanced Studies in Humanities and Social Sciences, Beijing Normal University, Zhuhai, China.
Email: [email protected]
Search for more papers by this authorYajing Huang
University of Electronic Science and Technology of China, Zhongshan Institute, Zhongshan, China
Search for more papers by this authorLijun Ma
Department of Psychology, Guangzhou University of Chinese Medicine, Guangzhou, China
Search for more papers by this authorXin Chen
Department of Applied Social Sciences, The Hong Kong Polytechnic University, Hong Kong, China
Search for more papers by this authorPeilian Chi
Department of Psychology, University of Macau, Macau, China
Search for more papers by this authorRonnel B. King
Department of Curriculum and Instruction, Faculty of Education, The Chinese University of Hong Kong, Hong Kong SAR, China
Search for more papers by this authorCorresponding Author
Hongfei Du
Institute of Advanced Studies in Humanities and Social Sciences, Beijing Normal University, Zhuhai, China
Center for Studies of Psychological Application, South China Normal University, Guangzhou, China
Correspondence
Hongfei Du, Institute of Advanced Studies in Humanities and Social Sciences, Beijing Normal University, Zhuhai, China.
Email: [email protected]
Search for more papers by this authorYajing Huang
University of Electronic Science and Technology of China, Zhongshan Institute, Zhongshan, China
Search for more papers by this authorLijun Ma
Department of Psychology, Guangzhou University of Chinese Medicine, Guangzhou, China
Search for more papers by this authorXin Chen
Department of Applied Social Sciences, The Hong Kong Polytechnic University, Hong Kong, China
Search for more papers by this authorPeilian Chi
Department of Psychology, University of Macau, Macau, China
Search for more papers by this authorRonnel B. King
Department of Curriculum and Instruction, Faculty of Education, The Chinese University of Hong Kong, Hong Kong SAR, China
Search for more papers by this authorHongfei Du and Yajing Huang contributed equally to this work and share first authorship.
Abstract
Individuals often misconstrue the actual degree of economic inequality, which might account for the ambiguity in the literature about the role that inequality plays in well-being. Instead of focusing on objective inequality, we propose a subjective inequality approach by investigating the long-term association between subjective economic inequality and well-being (N = 613). We found that subjective inequality predicted lower life satisfaction and higher depression one year later, which were accounted for by more upward socioeconomic comparison and lower trust. Furthermore, the negative association between subjective inequality and well-being remained constant, regardless of individuals' objective socioeconomic status (SES), subjective SES, and mindset of SES. The long-term association between subjective inequality and well-being remained robust after controlling for prior levels of well-being and multiple covariates. Our findings revealed that subjective inequality is detrimental to well-being and opens a new window into psychological research on economic inequality.
CONFLICT OF INTEREST STATEMENT
The authors have no conflict of interest to declare.
Open Research
DATA AVAILABILITY STATEMENT
The data that support the findings of this study are openly available in OSF at https://osf.io/eucn4/.
Supporting Information
| Filename | Description |
|---|---|
| aphw12467-sup-0001-Subjective Inequality and Well-Being_Supplementary Materials.docxWord 2007 document , 135 KB | Table S1. Descriptive statistics and bivariate correlations among constructs. Table S2. The fit indices of Model 1 to Model 3. Figure S1. Model 1 with standardized path coefficients. Note. LS = life satisfaction. Dashed line indicates path is not significant. *p < .05; **p < .01; ***p < .001. Figure S2. Model 2 with standardized path coefficients. Note. LS = life satisfaction. Dashed line indicates path is not significant. *p < .05; **p < .01; ***p < .001. |
Please note: The publisher is not responsible for the content or functionality of any supporting information supplied by the authors. Any queries (other than missing content) should be directed to the corresponding author for the article.
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