Perceptions of upward social mobility and life satisfaction in China: the moderating role of Internet use

Abstract

ABSTRACT Since Sorokin’s seminal work, numerous studies have examined the correlation between upward social mobility and subjective well-being, and they have generated mixed results. One commonality of the existing studies is that most of them have not taken endogeneity issues into account. We exploit plausibly exogenous, within-province, cross-cohort variation in peers to deal with the selection into perceptions of upward social mobility (PUSM). Using nationally representative data from the 2019 Chinese Social Survey, we find that PUSM has a significant positive impact on life satisfaction. An investigation into the mechanisms reveals that PUSM leads to an increased perception of social fairness and political trust. As a unique contribution, we also investigate the moderating role of Internet use, and find that while Internet use significantly attenuates the positive impact of PUSM on life satisfaction, this moderating effect manifests primarily among males, urban residents, and younger adults. Last, the sensitivity analysis using a bounding approach suggests that our main results are robust to the potential selection on unobserved factors.