Subjective social class and distrust among Chinese college students: The mediating roles of relative deprivation and belief in a just world

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.