Social Class Identity, Public Service Satisfaction, and Happiness of Residents: The Mediating Role of Social Trust

The impact of epidemic infectious diseases on the relationship between subjective well-being and social class identity in older adults: The mediating role of Self-rated health

BACKGROUND

The purpose of this paper is to explore the relationship between subjective well-being, social class identity, and Self-rated health among older persons,. Focusing on the mediating role of health and the impact of epidemic infectious diseases on these relationships.

METHODS

Based on the 2018 and 2021 China General Social Survey (CGSS) databases, the data were screened, and processed. Using Stata17, we employed ordered probit regression to examine the relationships among variables and Bootstrap methods to assess mediation effects, and the CGSS data for 2018 and 2021 were compared and analyzed.

RESULTS

Our results revealed that factors such as social class identity, health status, and personal income significantly positively impact older persons' subjective well-being (P<0.01). Notably, there was a partial mediating effect of health status between the subjective well-being of the elderly and social class identity. And findings showed that when older adults were affected by epidemic diseases, their subjective well-being, social class identity, and Self-rated health remained significantly positively correlated. Subjective well-being, social class identity. What is more noteworthy is that when affected by epidemic infectious diseases, older adults' subjective well-being, social class identity, and Self-rated health remained significantly positively correlated. The mediating role of self-rated health in older adults' subjective well-being and social class identity increased from 9.6% to 12.4%.

CONCLUSIONS

In the face of epidemic infectious diseases, we need to pay more attention to the Self-rated health of the elderly, and the Chinese government should take effective measures to improve their health level, which will in turn improve the subjective well-being of the elderly and realize the goal of healthy aging.

Association of urbanization with psychological well-being in Chinese adults aged 50 years and older: a population-based study

OBJECTIVE

To examine the association between urbanization and psychological well-being (PWB) in China.

METHODS

Data were obtained from the 2015 China Health and Nutrition Survey (CHNS) and included 3,071 men and 3,385 women aged 50 years or older who lived in 288 communities across 12 provinces and municipalities. The urbanization index, which summarizes 12 urbanization dimensions at community level, was categorized into tertiles representing low, medium, and high levels of urbanization. PWB was assessed by scoring three self-reported questions. Gender-stratified multilevel analyses were used to estimate the association between urbanization and PWB.

RESULTS

After controlling for individual-level factors, the urbanization index was associated positively with PWB. More specifically, an increase of one SD in the score of community population density, economic activity, housing, education, sanitation, or diversity was associated significantly with PWB in both genders. In addition, increases in the score of community communications, social services, transportation, or modern markets were associated significantly with PWB in women, but not in men.

CONCLUSION

Urbanization has, on average, had an independent and positive effect on PWB in middle-aged and older Chinese populations, with many components of urbanization being separately and positively associated with PWB, especially in women.

Migration for Better Jobs or Better Living: Shifts in China

Traditionally, studies of mobility follow two main strands: migration driven by better jobs and by better living. However, the interactions and shifts between them are rarely addressed. In the largest-scale domestic migration, millions of Chinese movers have experienced changes in migration motivations in the past ten years. Starting with migration patterns, we attempt to explore the interaction and changes in migration motivations in a dynamic way and relate them to the evolution of socio-economic contexts. Based on the latest two population censuses (2010 and 2020) in mainland China, we built an empirical model attributing migration motivations to job and living conditions, and then estimated the model by ordinary least squares (OLS) and quadratic assignment procedure (QAP) methods. The results reveal that employment is the primary and fundamental factor, though its impact is weakening. Good living is becoming significantly influential in migration willingness, and there is an interactive effect between the factors of job and living. Furthermore, we offer an explanation of the motivation evolution as being migrants' response to socio-economic status to maximize their utility. This study contributes to the migration literature from a longitudinal lens, and appeals to a continuous focus on migration evolution in the scientific research on population geography.

Chinese Consumers’ Trust in Food Safety Surveillance Sampling of Commonly Consumed Foods

In China, food has become safer over the past five years, especially commonly consumed foods. Food supervision sampling has played an important role in improving food safety. However, consumer acceptance of the results of food safety supervision have not kept pace. Communicating actual food safety risks to consumers and improving the public trust in food safety supervision sampling inspection has become an important issue. This study focused on food safety surveillance sampling of commonly consumed foods. In total, 4408 adult consumers were surveyed between August and October 2021. Structural equation modeling was performed for data analysis. This study found significant differences along gender lines and across different cities and levels of education with respect to evaluating competence trust and care trust on food supervision sampling inspection. This study identified the public’s competence trust, care trust, and perception of food safety as factors that significantly affect one’s attitude toward supervision sampling inspection. Care trust showed a more pronounced effect on trust enhancement than competence trust. The present study also provides some practical measures for food safety supervisors to improve public trust in the national food inspection. Specifically, the sampling process should be open and transparent.

On the Micro-Foundations of Creative Economy: Life Satisfaction and Social Identity

Incorporating the unavoidable changes manifesting in the behavior of individuals as an outcome of evolution at the level of development of the economy and society, we pinpoint a new theoretical background requiring the reconfiguring of the micro-foundations of economic theory regarding the creative economy. We thus set the theoretical micro-foundations of the creative economy where the main microeconomic incentive lies in life satisfaction attainment rather than utility maximization. At the macroeconomic level, we propose the pairing of sustainability with the creative economy. The objective is met through the vehicle of social identity derived from the responses to a questionnaire distributed in Greek society. Through principal components analysis, we locate two sets of variables shaping life satisfaction: the exogenous influences within social identity (state of health, age, and level of education) and the endogenous primary influences within social identity (lending, cultural change, and happiness). Each one of these variables is determined by other interpretative variables. Furthermore, we observe a weakness of economic policy to influence life satisfaction in advanced Western societies, resulting in a paradox of the economic toolkit. Our findings are relevant for policymaking to promote life satisfaction, especially within the creative economy context.

Determinants of Satisfaction with Solid Waste Management Services: A Central-Local Comparison in China

The Chinese central government proclaimed a mandatory or demonstration waste separation policy in some cities or counties to manage the increasing amounts of generated waste since 2017. Many cities and regions have also begun to build waste separation management systems and institutions, and community managers have created waste management rules and provided separation management services under the guidance of local government. However, little is known about how these policies or services have performed and the degree of residents’ satisfaction, especially regarding the central government. Therefore, the purpose of this study was to analyze the consequence of these policies using residents’ community and national satisfaction levels with solid waste management services (SWMS) and their determinants. An online survey in 2021 showed that the overall satisfaction levels of communities and national SWMS are similar, but the differences between rural and urban regions are significant. Residents’ satisfaction with community SWMS in urban regions was higher than national satisfaction, and the results in rural regions was contrary. The determinants of community and national satisfaction were also different and varied by region. To improve satisfaction, the government need to standardize basic management systems in different types of regions, gradually improve management services and institutions in rural areas and non-pilot cities and provide special services or facilities for less healthy residents.

Chinese Residents' Subjective Class Identity and Physical Activity Participation Mechanism

The aim of the present study was to evaluate the association between participation in physical activity and subjective class identity of people in urban and rural areas of China. The effect of social class identity on residents' physical activity was tested using the Monte Carlo method. There is a positive correlation between physical activity and the subjective class identity of urban and rural residents (r = 0.351, p < 0.01). It has been also seen that subjective class identity can significantly improve residents' physical activity. The path coefficient of subjective class identity to residents' physical activity was 0.12 (p < 0.003). Therefore, national and local governments should promote the equalization of physical activities by providing public services and government transfer payments in urban and rural areas, improve the physical activity by improving subjective class identity and promote social progress.