Social mindfulness facilitates the formation of positive interpersonal relationships and individual social adaptation. While previous studies had predominantly conceptualized and examined it as an antecedent variable, the influencing factors of social mindfulness among junior high school students undergoing the critical stage of peer socialization remains scarce. The present study constructed a moderated mediation model integrating experimental paradigms to investigate how subjective social status affects social mindfulness behaviors among junior high school students, with particular focus on the mediating role of belief in a just world and the moderating effect of self-esteem. The results revealed that subjective social status significantly and positively predictes levels of social mindfulness. Meanwhile, belief in a just world partially mediates this association. Moreover, self-esteem has a significant moderating effect on both the initial stage of the mediating pathway and the direct relationship between subjective social status and social mindfulness. These findings elucidate the mechanisms through which subjective social status influences social mindfulness in junior high school students, providing theoretical foundations for cultivating moral behavior.

subjective social status, social mindfulness, belief in a just world, self-esteem, junior high school students