Integrating social relative deprivation and institutional trust within a prism of sustainability framework: residents’ support for national park tourism in China

China’s emerging quasi-national park system provides an important context for examining how biodiversity conservation can be aligned with community well-being. Grounded in the Prism of Sustainability, this study develops an integrative model incorporating social relative deprivation (SRD), tourism satisfaction, and institutional trust to examine residents’ support for national park tourism. Using a mixed-methods design combining structural equation modelling (SEM) of 543 household surveys with longitudinal interviews of 59 households (2015–2024) in Shennongjia, China, the study examines the proposed direct, indirect, and serial indirect relationships involving satisfaction and trust. The results indicate two contrasting pathways. Socio-cultural and institutional sustainability were positively associated with satisfaction and trust, which were in turn positively associated with support, whereas SRD was negatively associated with satisfaction, trust, and support. Economic and ecological sustainability were not significantly associated with satisfaction or trust. Rather than extending the constituent dimensions of the Prism, the study elaborates its explanatory application by showing how social comparison and institutional trust are associated with residents’ responses to multidimensional sustainability outcomes. The findings offer empirical insights for equitable, participatory, and trust-based governance in emerging national park systems.