Societal and Personal Social Mobility Beliefs and Prosocial Behavior in Chinese Adolescents: The Mediating Role of Belief in a Just World and Urban‐Rural Differences

Introduction China's urban‐rural dual structure creates distinct social contexts that may be associated with differences in adolescents’ societal and personal social mobility beliefs. However, it remains unclear how societal and personal social mobility beliefs relate to prosocial behavior across urban‐rural contexts. This longitudinal study examined whether belief in a just world mediates the associations between societal and personal social mobility beliefs and prosocial behavior, and whether these pathways differ between urban and rural adolescents. Method A total of 895 Chinese adolescents ( M age = 12.70 ± 2.15 years; 57% girls; 56% rural) were surveyed at Time 1, with 811 participants (attrition = 9.4%) completing a follow‐up 6 months later. Results A cross‐lagged panel model within a half‐longitudinal design indicated that societal social mobility belief was negatively associated with subsequent prosocial behavior, whereas personal social mobility belief was positively associated with subsequent prosocial behavior. Belief in a just world mediated the associations of both societal and personal social mobility beliefs with prosocial behavior. Multigroup analyses further revealed urban–rural differences. Among urban adolescents, belief in a just world mediated the associations of both societal and personal social mobility beliefs with prosocial behavior. Among rural adolescents, however, belief in a just world mediated only the association between personal social mobility belief and prosocial behavior. Conclusion These findings suggest that social mobility beliefs are indirectly associated with prosocial behavior through belief in a just world, and that these indirect associations differ across urban and rural contexts.