The Effect Of Social Class On Life History Strategies Of Senior High School Students

In order to verify the impact of social class on senior high school students’ life history strategy(LHS),and explore the internal role of belief in a just world(BJW)and future orientation(FO)in it,this study built a serial mediation model,which was based on the life history theory,using the two-focused angle of class social cognitive theory and Wisconsin theoretical model.Self-assessment questionnaire method and the experimental-causal-chain approach were used to verify the model.In Study 1,we explored the relationship between the objective family social class(objective FSC),subjective family social class(subjective FSC),subjective personal social class(subjective PSC),BJW,FO and LHS.After demographic covariates(such as gender,age,the-only-child-or-not,& left-behind-child-or-not,et al.)were controlled for,the results revealed that:(1)subjective FSC,subjective PSC,BJW,FT,and LHS were significantly positively related,while the correlations between objective FSC and BJW,FO or LHS were not significant;(2)both subjective FSC and subjective PSC positively predicted LHS,while objective FSC has no significant predictive effect on LHS;(3)BJW and FO mediated the link between subjective social class(SSC,includes subjective FSC and subjective PSC)and LHS in a parallel fashion;and(4)BJW and FO also mediated the link between SSC and LHS in a sequential fashion.In Study 2,we manipulated the subjects’ SSC through situational priming method,and then measured the subjects’ BJW,FO and LHS by self-reporting in questionnaires.The results showed that:(1)Compared with the subjects whose SSC was activated to a higher level,the subjects whose SSC was activated to a lower level reported lower BJW,lower FO and faster LHS.This means that there is a causal relationship between SSC and BJW,FO,as well as LHS.(2)Taking the SSC(higher vs.lower)as the independent variable,the sequence mediation model was tested again,and it was found that the serial mediation model was still valid and the effect was significantly enhanced.In Study 3,we manipulated the subjects’ BJW by recall priming method.The objective FSC,subjective FSC,subjective PSC and demographic information were measured before the experimental manipulation,and the BJW,FO and LHS were measured by self-report after the experimental manipulation.The results showed that compared with the subjects whose BJW was activated to a higher level,the subjects whose BJW was activated to a lower level reported lower FO and faster LHS.This means that there was a causal relationship between BJW to FO as well as BJW to LHS.In study 4,we manipulated the subjects’ FO through the imagination priming method.The subjects’ subjective FSC,objective FSC,objective PSC and BJW were measured before the experimental manipulation,and the subjects’ FO and LHS were measured after the experimental manipulation.The results showed that compared with the subjects whose FO was activated to a higher level,the subjects whose FO was activated to a lower level reported faster LHS.This means that there was a causal relationship between FO and LHS.In the context of Chinese culture,this thesis explored the differences in the choice of life history strategies among senior high school students of different social classes,and reveals the internal psychological mechanism behind the differences from the dual perspectives of Social Cognitive Theory of Social Class and Wisconsin Theoretical Model,which provides inspiration for senior high school students to break through social class barriers and achieve better individual development.