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Social cohesion associated with health mediated by emotional experience and life satisfaction: Evidence from the internal migrants in China

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Abstract

Social cohesion is important for the physical health of migrants, but the mechanism is less discussed, and the mediating role of subjective well-being (SWB) is not clear. Based on the China Migrants Dynamic Survey in 2014 (N = 15,997), this study applied the structural equation model to analyze the mediating effect of SWB (consisting of emotional experience and life satisfaction) on social cohesion affecting physical health. The findings reveal that elevated social cohesion promoted the physical health and SWB of Chinese internal migrants, and SWB played an important mediating role in the relationship between social cohesion and physical health. Specifically, cohesion in local culture, social network, identity, and local acceptance were positively related to physical health, but hometown culture exclusion was negatively related to physical health. Both emotional experience and life satisfaction played a partial mediating role in all measures of social cohesion affecting physical health, except for life satisfaction in the process of network cohesion improving physical health. Furthermore, a heterogeneous mechanism between migrant workers and skilled or well-educated migrants was also observed. Social cohesion is a critical factor for the promotion of SWB and physical health in Chinese internal migrants, and targeted interventions should be taken to help different migrants integrate into their new life.

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Notes

  1. All villages/neighborhoods in each city/district are included in the sampling frame.

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  1. Zhang and Jiang contribute equally to this study.

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  1. School of Health Sciences, Wuhan University, Wuhan, China

    Ling Zhang, Junfeng Jiang & Peigang Wang

  2. Population and Health Research Center, Wuhan University, Wuhan, China

    Peigang Wang

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Zhang, L., Jiang, J. & Wang, P. Social cohesion associated with health mediated by emotional experience and life satisfaction: Evidence from the internal migrants in China. Applied Research Quality Life 16, 1285–1303 (2021). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11482-020-09818-1

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