Background: Several studies have explored the positive relationship between socioeconomic status and sense of gain. However, little is known about the underlying mechanism between them. This study aimed to explore whether community identity had a mediating role between them among Chinese adults. Methods: Data were collected from a nationally representative samples of 28,300 adults from the China Family Panel Studies. Socioeconomic status was assessed using individuals' income and social status. Community identity was assessed through evaluation of the community's public facilities, surrounding environment, surrounding security, neighborhood relationship, neighborhood assistance and feelings towards the community. Sense of gain was measured by evaluation of environmental conservation, gap between the rich and the poor, employment, education, medical treatment, housing, social security, and government corruption. Pearson's correlation was used to examine the associations between major variables. Mediation analyses were performed to explore the mediating role of community identity between socioeconomic status and sense of gain. Results: Socioeconomic status was positively associated with sense of gain. Community identity played a mediating role between socioeconomic status and sense of gain. Conclusion: Community identity mediated the relationship between socioeconomic status and sense of gain. Promoting the mobility of socioeconomic status and actively intervening in community identity are conducive to improve sense of gain. political sense of gain, security sense of gain and self-realization sense of gain. Studies have reported there is positive associations between sense of gain and cognition and psychological health, such as well-being [5,6], government trust [2,7], andperception of social stability [8]. Therefore, exploring how to enhance individuals' sense of gain contributes to national stability and psychological health.Socioeconomic status is a social classification used to reflect the relative position of an individual in the social hierarchy, which is composed of objective material resources (often measured by income, education level, and occupational status), and subjectively perceived social status [9,10]. Socioeconomic status affects every aspects of an individual's life, including sense of gain. For example, Wang [11] found that the increase of socioeconomic status was often accompanied by the improvement of sense of gain. Specifically, upper-middle status or upper-status residents have higher sense of gain than lower status residents. Wang, Tan, and Fu [12] also found that socioeconomic status had a significant and positive effect on sense of gain. Tan, Wang and Zhang [13] found significant differences in sense of gain among different educational levels and monthly income. Dou, Dong and Tan [14] found that there were positive relationship between subjective and objective socioeconomic status and sense of gain. There are also studies that provide indirect evidence for the relationship between socioec...
