Abstract: There usually exists bias between the object strata status and the subject strata perception. Based on the data of Chinese Society Comprehensive Survey, this paper adopts the latent class analysis method to generate the object social strata from the three aspects of income, occupational prestige and education level. Then it investigates the impact and action mechanism of the biased perceptions of strata on the preference for redistribution and happiness. The findings show that, compared with the consonant perception of strata, the downward (upward) bias of strata perception has a positive (negative) effect on the preference for redistribution, and the downward (upward) bias of strata perception has a negative (positive) effect on the happiness. When the possible endogeneity problems that are caused by left-out explaining variables and self-selection are relieved as much as possible, this finding is still robust. The results of further investigation show that the sense of fairness and views of effort and luck are not only the factors influencing the preference for redistribution, but also the important channels through which biased status perception influences preference for redistribution.

Key words: biased perception; redistribution preference; happiness; social strata