The Influence Of College Students’ Upward Social Comparison On Subjective Well-being ——The Mediating Role Of Relative Deprivation And The Moderating Role Of Belief In A Just World

Upward social comparison is a common phenomenon among college students.This kind of social comparison can have an impact on individual cognition and emotion,and change the behavior of college students.As the upward social comparison exposes the individual’s perceived inferiority,their self-perception may change,and they view themselves in a more negative way than before,which will have a negative impact on the individual’s normal life,and then make the individual’s subjective Happiness feels the impact.In order to explore the internal influence mechanism between upward social comparison and subjective well-being,this study conducted a study on the influence process of upward social comparison on subjective well-being of college students,and explored the changes of subjective well-being of college students after upward social comparison,as well as justice and fairness.The moderating role of world beliefs in the influence of relative deprivation on subjective well-being.This study uses the valid data of 508 college students,adopts the "Upward Social Comparison Scale"（Chinese version）revised by Bai Xuejun,the "Subjective Well-being Scale"（Chinese version）revised by Xiong Chengqing and Huang Li,and Li Shanshan’s revision."College Students’ Relative Deprivation Questionnaire" and "Just World Beliefs Scale" revised by Su Zhiqiang（Chinese version）measured college students.Research indicates:1.College students’ upward social comparison and belief in a just world are at the upper level,the relative deprivation is at the middle-lower level,and the subjective well-being is at the middle level.2.There is a significant difference in whether the family is poor or not in the upward social comparison of college students,which indicates that compared with college students from non-poor families,college students from poor families are more likely to make upward social comparisons.There are significant gender differences in college students’ relative deprivation and their affective and cognitive deprivation dimensions,indicating that compared with female college students,male college students are more likely to experience relative deprivation,and male college students have higher levels of cognitive deprivation.,indicating that male college students experience a sense of relative deprivation mainly through cognitive deprivation.There is a significant difference in the relative deprivation of college students whether their families are poor or not,indicating that compared with college students from non-poor families,college students from poor families are more likely to experience relative deprivation.3.The upward social comparison of college students is negatively correlated with subjective well-being and its life satisfaction dimension and positive emotion dimension;regression analysis shows that upward social comparison can negatively predict subjective well-being and its life satisfaction dimension and positive emotion dimension,indicating that College students with a higher level of upward social comparison experience a lower sense of subjective well-being.The upward social comparison of college students is positively correlated with relative deprivation;regression analysis shows that upward social comparison can positively predict relative deprivation,indicating that college students with a high level of upward social comparison experience a higher sense of relative deprivation.The relative deprivation and each dimension of college students are negatively correlated with subjective well-being;regression analysis shows that relative deprivation and each dimension can negatively predict subjective well-being,indicating that college students with high relative deprivation experience low subjective well-being.College students’ belief in a just world and its dimensions are positively correlated with subjective well-being;regression analysis shows that belief in a just world and its dimensions can positively predict subjective well-being,indicating that college students with a higher level of belief in a just world experience higher subjective well-being.4.College students’ relative deprivation plays a partial mediating role in the effect of upward social comparison on subjective well-being.This indicates that college students have a high level of upward social comparison,experience a strong sense of relative deprivation,and a low sense of subjective well-being.5.College students’ belief in a just world plays a moderating role in the effect of relative deprivation on their belief in a just world: when college students’ belief in a just world is low,relative deprivation can significantly negatively predict subjective well-being;when college students’ belief in a just world is high,the negative predictive effect of relative deprivation on subjective well-being was significantly reduced.6.The belief in a just world plays a moderating role in the second half of the mediation effect of this model,indicating that for individuals with high levels of belief in a just world,the negative predictive effect of relative deprivation on subjective well-being is weakened.Therefore,improving the belief level of college students in a just world is helpful to improve the subjective well-being of college students.Through the empirical research on the mechanism of college students’ subjective well-being under the influence of a series of factors,this research not only has a further theoretical understanding of the causes affecting the subjective well-being of college students,but also based on the prevailing social comparison of contemporary college students.,the characteristics of relative deprivation,and the status of belief in a just world.The research results can provide practical reference for guiding college students to form a positive mental health quality and improve their subjective well-being.