This dissertation consists of three distinct essays about subjective inequalities in contemporary China, examining the evolving aspirations related to migration, the subjective well-being (SWB) puzzle among rural, migrant and urban populations, and the psychological consequences of village migration in rural area. Utilizing dataset from China Family Panel Studies 2010-2012, the first essay mainly identifies how migration process may change people’s standards in evaluating social status, and reveals that rural-to-urban migrants adopt higher standards than rural residents, but their evaluation norms still remain significantly lower than those adopted by urban residents. The second essay shows that a SWB puzzle exists in divided Chinese society, i.e., people from lower social stratum with...[ Read more ]

This dissertation consists of three distinct essays about subjective inequalities in contemporary China, examining the evolving aspirations related to migration, the subjective well-being (SWB) puzzle among rural, migrant and urban populations, and the psychological consequences of village migration in rural area. Utilizing dataset from China Family Panel Studies 2010-2012, the first essay mainly identifies how migration process may change people’s standards in evaluating social status, and reveals that rural-to-urban migrants adopt higher standards than rural residents, but their evaluation norms still remain significantly lower than those adopted by urban residents. The second essay shows that a SWB puzzle exists in divided Chinese society, i.e., people from lower social stratum with disadvantaged socioeconomic status, such as rural villagers and rural-to-urban migrants fare better in SWB than do urban residents, and the underlying mechanisms are also explored. The third essay investigates the contextual influence of village migration on the SWB of rural population staying behind and its variation across village context (kinship network), as well as the potential pathways. The three essays contribute to our understanding about individuals’ life perceptions and subjective inequalities in contemporary China.