Psychological well-being and social status in China and Germany: testing the local-ladder effect

Abstract

Social status can be conceptualized as socioeconomic status (e.g., income, education level) or sociometric status (e.g., social network, respect, support among friends). Both forms predict subjective well-being. In the present study, the relative strength of the subjective well-being – social status relation in a sample from China and Germany is investigated. In a Chinese (N = 313) and a German sample (N = 1,307) status (socioeconomic, sociometric), perceived living standard, and subjective well-being was assessed via self-reports. In both samples, sociometric status was more strongly related to life satisfaction, positive affect, sense of purpose and perceived living standard than socioeconomic status. In addition, perceived living standard partly mediated the relation between sociometric status and well-being. Overall, in both samples individuals’ sociometric status matters more to their well-being than does their socioeconomic status, supporting the notion of a local-ladder effect.