Perceived Upward Mobility and Happiness Among University Students in Seven Countries
Stephen J.J. McGuire
California State University, Los Angeles, USA
Yang Zhang
University of Tennessee at Chattanooga, USA
Tatiana Goroshnikova
Financial University, under the Government of the Russian Federation, Russia
Carmen Păunescu
Bucharest University of Economic Studies, Romania
Juan Perusquía
Universidad Autónoma de Baja California, Mexico
Eduardo Ahumada-Tello
Universidad Autónoma de Baja California, Mexico
Mansi Rastogi
Amity University Kolkata, India
Robert Tang
De La Salle-College of Saint Benilde, The Philippines
Jinfeng Wang
Shandong Technology and Business University, China
Volume 21: 2026, pp. 00-00; ABSTRACT
The study examined the relationship between perceived upward mobility and happiness
with a sample of 1,750 business undergraduate students in China, India, Mexico, Philippines,
Romania, Russia, and the United States. Following wellbeing theory and prior research, we
hypothesized that both economic and social mobility would explain subjective and psychological
wellbeing, for which we found robust support. We then examined the mediating roles of optimism
(belief of a favorable future) and responsibility (feeling accountable for outcomes and for others).
Results indicate that optimism mediated the relationship between economic mobility and social
wellbeing overall and in each country sample, while responsibility mediated the relationship
between social mobility and psychological wellbeing. Among university students in the 7 countries,
economic and social mobility contribute to increases in happiness – both short term pleasure and a
longer term feeling of fulfillment of potential. We discuss avenues for future research as well as
pedagogical implications of our findings.
Keywords: happiness, upward mobility, economic mobility, social mobility, wellbeing, optimism,
responsibility.
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