Research has demonstrated that family socioeconomic status is an important determinant of people's life satisfaction, in that individuals from disadvantaged backgrounds are typically less satisfied with their life than the rich. But little is known about the mediating and moderating mechanisms underlying this relation. The present study examined the mediation effect of adolescents' self-esteem in the association between socioeconomic status and life satisfaction, and whether this mediating process was moderated by optimism. A sample of 668 Chinese adolescents (mean age = 14.53 years, SD = 1.81...