Moderating role of hope in the relationship between perceived discrimination and life satisfaction among left-behind children in China

We examined the moderating role of hope in the relationship between perceived discrimination and life satisfaction among left-behind children in China. Participants were 588 left-behind pupils at three rural primary schools, who completed the Children’s Hope Scale, the Perceived Discrimination Questionnaire of the Left-Behind Children, and the Students’ Life Satisfaction Scale. Results show that there were significant correlations between the perceived discrimination, hope, and life satisfaction of our participants. In addition, hope significantly alleviated the negative effect of perceived discrimination on life satisfaction. We can conclude that perceived discrimination and hope both significantly predicted life satisfaction, and hope moderated the effect of perceived discrimination on life satisfaction among left-behind children in China. Our findings have implications for school teachers and social workers to help reduce left-behind children’s hurt resulting from perceived discrimination.