Frustrated Achievers or Satisfied Losers? Inter- and Intragenerational Social Mobility and Happiness in China

How and to what extent is rank mobility associated with happiness of the Chinese population? Does mobility provide insight into the vast numbers of frustrated workers in times of economic growth? To date, few studies have examined the consequences of social mobility on happiness in transitional societies. The present analysis investigates the association of both inter- and intragenerational rank mobility with happiness in China using data from the General Social Survey’s 2003, 2006, and 2008 waves. We examine two general mechanisms, social adaptation and social comparison, by statistically decomposing the independent contributions of social origin, social destination, and mobility. We find there is a significant positive association between short-distance intragenerational downward mobility and happiness, while not any intergenerational mobility pattern has been found to be significant. Apparently, we have a group of satisfied losers. Our findings favor social comparison explanations.

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