The relationship between Chinese citizens' debt and redistribution preferences

Abstract Debt is a global issue. The high household leverage ratio in China indicates that Chinese people may face significant debt pressure. Previous studies have found that heavy debt has a detrimental effect on individuals' cognition, emotion and behaviour. This study examines the impact of debt on policy attitudes and preferences, specifically redistribution preferences, as well as its mediation mechanism. In Study 1, self‐reported data on the amount of debt, debt pressure, wealth attribution and redistribution preferences of 10,058 Chinese citizens were obtained through the questionnaire survey. The results showed that debt pressure was positively correlated with redistribution preferences, and the external attribution of wealth played a mediation role. Study 2 recruited full‐time employees as participants and manipulated their debt pressure to obtain causal evidence. The results showed that compared with the control group, participants in the debt pressure group were more inclined to attribute wealth status externally and had stronger redistribution preferences. This study contributes to understanding indebted people's political attitudes and preferences from the perspective of social fairness.