Mobility and political trust in China: belief in a just world and happiness as possible mediators

Thesis

This study examines how subjective inter- and intragenerational social mobility and objective intergenerational educational mobility are associated with trust in local government in China, and whether belief in a just world (BJW) and happiness serve as potential bridges in these relationships. Building on the Antecedent-Belief-Consequence (ABC) model, the study treats mobility as an activating event (A), political trust as the attitudinal consequence (C), and BJW and happiness as belief-based and well-being-based mechanisms (B). Using the 2010 China General Social Survey, the analysis shows that subjective upward inter- and intragenerational social mobility is positively associated with political trust. As predicted, BJW and happiness act as a bridge between the inter- and intragenerational mobility and trust associations. By contrast, objective upward educational mobility is negatively associated with political trust. This negative relationship is fully accounted for by the negative indirect path through BJW, whereas happiness provides a positive indirect path that partially offsets, but does not reverse, the negative association. The study contributes to sociological theories of mobility and political trust by showing that mobility is not only a status movement across origin and destination positions, but also a socially interpreted experience. Subjective mobility can stabilize political trust through fairness beliefs and well-being, whereas educational mobility can destabilize trust by fostering critical awareness of institutional fairness. In addition, the study discusses practical policy implications for sustaining political trust by strengthening mobility opportunities, perceived fairness, and well-being.

Authors: Su, C

• DOI: 10.5287/ora-mv8vprj0w
• Type of award: MLitt
• Level of award: Masters
• Awarding institution: University of Oxford
• Language: English
• Keywords: social mobility; educational mobility; political trust; belief in a just world; happiness; China