Parental perceptions of economic inequality and investment in children's organized extracurricular activities: The influences of perceived child competition and expected educational returns

Abstract Escalations in parental investments in organized extracurricular activities (OEAs) have garnered significant interest from both scholars and policymakers. The current study investigates the relationship between parental perceived economic inequality and parental investment in OEAs while also considering the potential mediating role of parental perceived competition among children and the moderating role of the expected return to education. Study 1 analysed two waves of data from the China Family Panel Studies Project ( n = 1516) and found that parental perceived economic inequality was significantly and positively related to parents' investment behaviours 2 years later. Study 2 classified OEAs into two categories, academic‐oriented OEAs and nonacademic‐oriented OEAs, and recruited 232 Chinese parents whose children were in elementary school from grades 3 to 6. The Results indicated that the direct effect of parental perceived economic inequality, the mediating role of perceived competition among children, and the moderating role of the expected return to education on the direct effect were confirmed for academic‐oriented OEAs but not for nonacademic‐oriented OEAs. These results offer novel insights into the dynamics of educational fervour in regions marked by pronounced economic disparities.