Social cognition, socioeconomic status and subjective well-being of Chinese migrant workers

Abstract

In the framework of the new economic norm, industrial restructuring and social development have made it more difficult for migrant workers to experience subjective well-being. The subjective well-being of migrant workers is based on the unity of internal and external needs, material and immaterial needs. Thus, based on data from the 2017 China General Social Survey (CGSS), this paper applies ordered logit models and OLS models to investigate the impact of social cognition and socioeconomic status on the subjective well-being of migrant workers and their intergenerational differences. The results indicate that: (1) Social cognition has a significant impact, and the impact of fairness perception is more pronounced than depression perception and class change perception; (2) among socioeconomic status, personal income did not have a significant effect as education level, car ownership and house property ownership; (3) there are intergenerational differences. The emotional state of the older generation is the most critical factor influencing their subjective well-being. In contrast, the new generation is more concerned with their feelings about future expectations. The older generation is more concerned with their house property ownership, while the increase in income, education and car ownership can significantly increase the subjective well-being of the new generation. For this reason, we believe that the Chinese government should gradually change the existing urban and rural management system to create a fair and just social environment; make migrant workers receive the same protection as urban residents and improve the income distribution mechanism; pay attention to the social security of the older generation of migrant workers and the development opportunities of the new generation of migrant workers and their ability to integrate into the city to improve their subjective well-being.

Full text

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Social cognition, socioeconomic status and
subjective well-being of Chinese migrant workers
Weichao Huang
Fujian Agriculture and Forestry University
Shipeng Su (  ssp@fafu.edu.cn )
Fujian Agriculture and Forestry University
Xiaoyu Sun
Huazhong Agricultural University
Yashan Zhang
Fujian Agriculture and Forestry University
Research Article
Keywords: migrant workers, subjective well-being, social cognition, socioeconomic status,
intergenerational differences
Posted Date: April 27th, 2023
DOI: https://doi.org/10.21203/rs.3.rs-2855461/v1
License:   This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License. 
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Abstract
In the framework of the new economic norm, industrial restructuring and social development have made
it more dicult for migrant workers to experience subjective well-being. The subjective well-being of
migrant workers is based on the unity of internal and external needs, material and immaterial needs.
Thus, based on data from the 2017 China General Social Survey (CGSS), this paper applies ordered logit
models and OLS models to investigate the impact of social cognition and socioeconomic status on the
subjective well-being of migrant workers and their intergenerational differences. The results indicate that:
(1) Social cognition has a signicant impact, and the impact of fairness perception is more pronounced
than depression perception and class change perception; (2) among socioeconomic status, personal
income did not have a signicant effect as education level, car ownership and house property ownership;
(3) there are intergenerational differences. The emotional state of the older generation is the most critical
factor inuencing their subjective well-being. In contrast, the new generation is more concerned with their
feelings about future expectations. The older generation is more concerned with their house property
ownership, while the increase in income, education and car ownership can signicantly increase the
subjective well-being of the new generation. For this reason, we believe that the Chinese government
should gradually change the existing urban and rural management system to create a fair and just social
environment; make migrant workers receive the same protection as urban residents and improve the
income distribution mechanism; pay attention to the social security of the older generation of migrant
workers and the development opportunities of the new generation of migrant workers and their ability to
integrate into the city to improve their subjective well-being.
1. Introduction
The course of human development is also the course of the pursuit of happiness. The report of the 19th
Party Congress points out that "the main contradiction in our society has been transformed into the
contradiction between people's growing need for a better life and unbalanced and insucient
development." The people's denition of happiness is no longer limited to solving the problem of food
and clothing but includes more diverse and advanced content, such as satisfying spiritual needs and
achieving all-around development of the individual body and mind. Since the reform and opening up,
China's economy and society have developed rapidly, and a large number of migrant workers have owed
into cities and made great contributions to the modernization of the country. The relevant data from the
National Bureau of Statistics show that the total number of migrant workers in 2022 is 295.62million, an
increase of 1.1% over the previous year. Among them, 171.9million migrant workers went to cities, a rise
of 0.1%. As a disadvantaged group in the city, the subjective well-being of migrant workers is closely
related to China's livelihood work. Improving the subjective well-being of migrant workers is an important
part of realizing Chinese modernization.
Well-being is a broad phenomenological category that includes people's emotional responses, domain life
satisfaction, and comprehensive judgments of life satisfaction[1]. Therefore, there are three general
expressions of Well-being in quantitative analysis, namely, Subjective Well-being [2], Life Satisfaction[3],

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and Ladder-of-life[4], which are interchangeable and can be used as proxies for Well-being. These
variables are interchangeable and can be used as proxies for well-being.
Numerous elds, including psychology, sociology, and economics, are active in subjective well-being
research, the most prominent being economics research on the relationship between income and
subjective well-being. Since the formulation of the "Easterlin Paradox" in 1974, numerous academics
have examined the standard theories of contemporary economics to investigate the mechanism of the
"happiness-income puzzle." Studies that use absolute income as an entry point conclude that there is no
signicant correlation between average income and happiness levels [5]. From the perspective of
adaptation theory, the increase in income will result in the psychological habit of automatic adaptation to
high income, such that improving economic conditions has no signicant effect on improving subjective
well-being [6]. Meanwhile, studies based on Maslow's needs theory conrm the law of marginal
diminution of residents' income on subjective well-being [7]. Studies examining the relationship between
absolute income and subjective well-being from the perspective of income disparity mainly contain the
following two views: First, the "expectation change theory," which states that income difference can affect
people's subjective well-being by altering their income expectations, including the "positive tunnel effect"
[8–10] and the "negative tunnel effect" [11–13]. Second, the "relative deprivation theory" states that
economic discrepancy causes individuals to feel comparatively deprived throughout the comparison
process, which in turn impairs their happiness experience [14].
Inspired by foreign research, Chinese scholars have launched a series of research. Individual-level
research has steadily shifted its focus from income to non-economic determinants like health [15],
marital quality [16], employment status [17], and psychological status [18]. The research on social
features includes political issues like basic public services [19], ocial corruption [20], and government
quality [21]; social elements like social class [22], social trust [23], and social relationships [24]; and
ecological environment like environmental pollution [25]. Benecial research conducted by Chinese
academics on the subjective well-being of urban and rural populations in China provides a new reference
point for government policymakers seeking to reform development paradigms and increase national
happiness. Despite these accomplishments, it is clear that the focus of domestic study remains on urban
and rural residents and that research on the subjective well-being of migratory workers still needs to be
strengthened.
In the framework of the new economic norm, industrial restructuring and social development have made
it more dicult for migrant workers to experience subjective well-being. The subjective well-being of
migrant workers who have left their hometowns is based on the unity of internal and external needs,
material and immaterial needs, which not only derive from their subjective perception and self-evaluation
of their lives but also depend on the improvement of their social status to satisfy their needs of
belonging, respect, and self-fulllment. To improve their subjective well-being, migrant workers must not
only overcome the psychological challenge of being "marginalized in the city" and get psychological
recognition and adaption but also assess if an increase in pay alone can meet their material demands
[26]. In this setting, what are the novel aspects of the relationship between the social perceptions and

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socioeconomic status of migrant workers and their subjective well-being? How should policymakers
modify their governance techniques to accommodate the increased needs of migrant workers? The
solutions to these concerns require extensive empirical research based on data from microscopic studies
of migrant workers. In this regard, this paper examines the logical relationship between social cognition,
socioeconomic status, and subjective well-being using CGSS2017 research data, with the expectation
that the study will serve as a reference for the formulation and execution of government policies in the
new era.
Additional studies on discrimination perception [27], depression perception [28], fairness perception [29],
and class change perception [30] demonstrate how migrant workers' impressions of society and life
inuence their subjective well-being experiences. And research on permanent assets such as house
property ownership [31] and automobile ownership [32] demonstrates how the possessions owned by
migrant workers can improve their subjective well-being by satisfying multi-level demands such as
security, sociability, and respect.
By analyzing the existing research, we nd that, rst, psychological factors and research on the subjective
well-being of migrant workers rarely involve social cognition; second, subjective well-being is a pleasant
psychological experience or spiritual feelings, and its inuencing factors must include two basic
dimensions: subjective and objective [33]. Considering objective well-being conditions or individual
cognitive levels alone is likely to cause model-setting bias due to omitting key variables. In addition, in the
context of rapid urbanization and continuous changes in population structure, the heterogeneity of
migrant workers has become increasingly prominent. As a new variable that cannot be ignored,
intergenerational differences should be included in the analytical framework of migrant workers'
subjective well-being.
As a result, as a supplement to previous research in this area, the focus of this work is as follows:
Integrate social cognition and socioeconomic status into a coherent framework and investigate the
impact of internal subjective feelings and exterior objective situations on the subjective well-being of
migrant workers; Second, the values and actual requirements of different generations of migrant workers
vary greatly. Therefore, an in-depth investigation of the intergenerational disparities in the factors
inuencing the subjective well-being of migrant workers will enhance the applicability of important
conclusions. Thirdly, address potential endogenous issues in the model to improve the dependability of
empirical analysis results.
The possible contributions of this paper are: providing evidence of the inuence of social cognition
among psychological factors on migrant workers' subjective well-being through empirical analysis,
complementing the study of generational differences on migrant workers' subjective well-being, and
further analyzing whether migrant workers' well-being is mainly affected by subjective feelings or
objective conditions across generations.
2. Theoretical Analysis and Research Hypotheses

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2.1. Social Cognition and Subjective Well-Being
Social cognition in sociology can be traced back to Durkheim, and he proposed a concept of collective
representation that encompasses all elements of cognition present in the associative ties and group
relations of social members. In subsequent studies, although scholars produced different insights on the
analytical dimensions of social cognition [34], they have reached a consensus on the basic connotation
of social cognition, that is, social cognition includes the cognition of self, others, the surrounding
environment, and social phenomena.
In social cognition, emotions, attitudes and social perception are the core themes. Regarding emotions,
subjective well-being encompasses the individual's subjective evaluation of long-term emotions. It is self-
evident that negative emotional experiences brought about by stress and depression lead to a decrease in
subjective well-being [35]. Regarding social attitudes, as the economy grows, the pursuit of fairness and
justice among the populace grows steadily. People's conceptions of social justice are evolving from "Not
concerned about a shortage, but concerned about unequal distribution" to "Not concerned about scarcity,
but concerned about unequal distribution, more concerned about unfair distribution." The lower an
individual's perception of social fairness, the lesser their motivation to pursue goals, which impacts their
subjective well-being.
Regarding social perception, this study focuses on migrant workers' perception of their future class
changes. Regarding the relationship between social class and subjective well-being, whether it is a
sample study of transnational immigrants [36] (p34)or a specic analysis of internal immigrants in a
certain country or region [37], most of them have reached similar conclusions: social class identity and
class upward mobility have a signicant positive effect on subjective well-being. Based on this, put
forward the hypothesis:
H1
Positive social cognition has a positive and signicant effect on the happiness experience of rural
migrants
It should be added that the subjective well-being of rural residents is more susceptible to changes in
social class than urban residents. However, by working in metropolitan locations, migrant workers can
enhance their income and hence improve their social status, reducing the inuence of social class
changes on the subjective well-being of the migratory worker group [38]. In terms of emotions, due to the
opportunities for upward mobility and stronger social capital in migrant communities, migrant workers
are less likely to experience negative emotions, and their mental health is in good condition. Similarly,
migrant workers whose motives for migrating to work in cities are mainly focused on improving their
economic conditions. During the working period, when institutional barriers posed by the household
registration system signicantly impeded the employment acquisition of migrant workers, the desire for
fairness will have a more signicant impact on subjective well-being than the perception of depression
and class change. Based on this, put forward the hypothesis:

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H2
Among social perceptions, the effect of perception of fairness on subjective well-being was more
pronounced compared to perception of depression and perception of class change.
2.2. Socioeconomic Status and Subjective Well-Being
Socioeconomic status is a sociological concept that refers to the social position of an individual or group
in the social structure dened by the social resources they possess. According to Maslow's theory of
needs, the need for social status arises from the pursuit of belonging and self-actualization or belonging
and self-actualization need to be realized through the acquisition of certain social status. In related
studies, improving one's socioeconomic situation to achieve higher life satisfaction and subjective well-
being has established a consensus in relevant studies. However, with rapid economic development, more
and more research has indicated that socioeconomic position has a marginally diminishing effect on
subjective well-being [39], and some studies have found that persons who care about the materiality of
wealth have lower subjective well-being [40].
It should be noted that the effect of socioeconomic status on subjective well-being needs to consider
differences in economic and cultural contexts. In a cross-country study, income and educational
attainment predicted subjective well-being more for Chinese residents as subjects compared to Japan,
Korea, and the United States [41]. Meanwhile, in a study on the relationship between income and
happiness of migrant workers, Chinese scholars found that although there is an "Easterlin Paradox," the
remainder, after deducting the necessary expenses, contributes to the happiness level [42]. Therefore,
when studying migrant workers, it is necessary to consider the specicity of the relationship between the
acquisition of socioeconomic status and the subjective well-being of this group. Based on this, put
forward the hypothesis:
H3
Overall, the improvement of socioeconomic status contributes to the subjective well-being experience of
the rural migrant group
At the same time, we still need to pay attention to the different effects of the components of
socioeconomic status on the subjective well-being of migrant workers. In the research on the impact of
income on subjective well-being, it is generally believed that absolute income has an inverted U-shaped
effect on subjective well-being. In contrast, relative income signicantly affects subjective well-being
more than absolute income [43]. However, the negative relationship between relative income and
subjective well-being has been partially contested. Some research indicates that relative income also
correlates favorably with subjective well-being [44]. This demonstrates that the mechanisms by which
income affects subjective happiness are complicated and vary.

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In contrast to income, the impact of education as a component of socioeconomic status on subjective
well-being can not only enhance the social status of disadvantaged groups by reducing social exclusion
but also translate into cultural capital, which can help individuals to obtain higher wage returns and more
opportunities to leap up the social ladder in the future [45]. At the same time, under the inuence of
Chinese culture and historical traditions that have shaped the notion of educational rewards, social
advancement and economic improvement are important expected outputs of education in the minds of
the public: "There is a house of gold in books" reects this folk "belief." To this day, "reading changes
one's fate" is still the typical popular perception of the value of reading. Thus, for Chinese residents,
education implies the possibility of a leap up the social class. And the use of automobiles has enabled
people to break through various spatial restrictions and further expand the "operating area" of the living
world.
On the one hand, automobile ownership helps to break spatial and temporal tensions and enhances their
sense of empowerment in controlling their lives. On the other hand, automobiles meet social needs
beyond material things, promoting subjective well-being through emotional communication and
interpersonal interaction. At the same time, the state of residence brought about by real estate reects a
relatively stable social relationship. The differentiation of the state of residence has become one of the
most important contents of social stratication and social differentiation in Chinese cities [46]. Based on
this, put forward the hypothesis:
H4
Among socioeconomic status, education level and ownership of property and cars contribute more
signicantly to the subjective well-being of migrant workers than income
2.3. Intergenerational Differences in the Subjective Well-
Being of Migrant Workers
Throughout the literature, existing research on intergenerational differences among migrant workers has
advanced from investigating fundamental demographic factors to values, preferences, attitudes, and
behaviors, as well as from the material to the spiritual level. Differences in the motivation, identity, and
future development aspirations of older and younger migrant workers to work outside the home may also
result in a variable logical relationship between their subjective well-being. The long-standing "hidden
barriers" of China's urban-rural duality structure have misaligned the institutional identity of migrant
workers with their actual identity. In addition, the identities of the younger and older generations of
migrant workers have diverged due to their different life and employment histories. Older migrant workers
seldom question their identities as farmers. Although they are constantly away from home, their
psychological identity, economic ties, and social links to the countryside have not diminished.
On the contrary, the new generation of migrant workers generally lacks farming experience, blurring their
institutional identity as "peasants.". In addition, the inculcation of urban culture continues to reduce their

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emotional identication with their hometowns, which directly affects their choice of future belonging, and
integrating into the city and becoming a member of the city is the object pursued by new generation
migrant workers. According to the social comparison model proposed by Falk and Markus (2004)[47], the
differences in identity and vernacular identity and future development expectations of the new and old
generations of migrant workers may lead to differences in their choice of relative income reference
groups and Chinese scholar Liu (2010)[48], claries that the new generation of migrant workers has a
stronger sense of relative deprivation because their chosen reference group is the workers in their place of
work, while the reference group of the old generation of migrant workers is mostly the villagers in their old
rural homes. Based on this, put forward the hypothesis:
H5
The older generation of migrant workers is more concerned about the inuence of psychological aspects,
i.e., social cognitive factors are more signicant for the subjective well-being of the older generation of
migrant workers.
H6
The new generation of migrant workers is more inclined to integrate into the city, so improving socio-
economic status can bring more subjective well-being.
3. Data and Methods
3.1. Data Source
The data used in this research comes from the 2017 Chinese General Social Survey, a large-scale
nationwide survey designed to explore trends in social change. The China Survey and Data Center of the
Renmin University of China carries out the survey. It adopts a four-level stratied sampling plan, covering
multiple levels of individuals, families, communities and society. It is domestically recognized
authoritative micro-survey data. Based on the characteristics of the sample required for this paper and
the conventions of existing studies[49], we screened with "whether engaged in non-agricultural industries"
and "whether with agricultural household registration" and removed respondents with "undergraduate and
above" education. Screen out 2030 samples of migrant workers that meet the needs of the research.
3.2. Method
In the regression analysis, the ordered Logit model is often chosen to estimate the probability model of
the dependent variable as an ordered variable. The model is set as follows :
1
yi
=
F
(
βXi
+
ϵi
)

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In Eq.(1), is the dependent variable, i.e., subjective well-being. represents the independent variable
(see table for details). is the random disturbance term. F(.)is a nonlinear function, its concrete for
2
In Eq.(2) , ...... are the cut points, all of which are parameters to be estimated. is the
potential subjective well-being of the sample migrant workers, which is a latent variable due to the
unobservability of this value. This latent variable satises the following conditions
= (3)
In the regression of the variables of interest, an ordered logit model was chosen based on the
characteristics of the dependent variable. At the same time, the OLS model was selected to provide a
more intuitive interpretation of the model t's marginal effects and test the regression analysis's
robustness without affecting the positive or negative values and signicance of the coecients of the
variables.3.3. Selection of Model Variables.
The purpose of this study is to explore the impact of social cognition and socioeconomic status on the
subjective well-being of migrant workers and their intergenerational differences. Specic measures of
various variables are as follows:
3.3.1. Dependent Variable
This article selects the question "In general, do you think your life is happy?" in the questionnaire as a
measure of subjective well-being. The answer options for this question include using a ve-digit Likert
scale, from "very unhappy" to "very happy", and assigning values from 1 to 5 in turn. The average score of
subjective well-being of migrant workers interviewed is 3.81, indicating that the subjective well-being of
migrant workers is generally between "can't tell whether they are happy" or "relatively happy".
3.3.2. Independent variables
The core independent variables in this paper include social cognition and socioeconomic status.
Social cognition: Individual perception and social perception comprise social cognition. Individual
perception focuses mostly on an individual's evaluation of internal aspects, such as one's attitude and
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mood. In contrast, social perception encompasses an individual's feelings regarding social growth and
evaluations of future situations. Therefore, based on the availability of data, this paper draws on the
social perception research by Le [50], and selects three indicators of depression perception, fairness
perception and class change perception to measure the social cognition of migrant workers.
Socio-economic status: Socioeconomic status, as a multidimensional concept, reects the stepwise
inequality in the distribution of economic resources among different groups in society, emphasizing the
economic status of individuals in society, often using economic income, education level and occupation
as objective measures [51]. Notably, socioeconomic status is also determined by the ownership of xed
assets, such as the number of house properties and automobiles. In light of the unique characteristics of
this group of migratory workers, this study considers personal income, education level, house property
and automobile ownership to measure socioeconomic status.
3.3.3. Control Variables
Based on existing studies on subjective well-being, we can learn that subjective well-being is also
inuenced by factors such as gender, education, age, marriage, number of children, and corresponding
social security. In order to control other factors that may affect the subjective well-being of migrant
workers and based on the premise of referring to previous papers, this paper selects gender, age, marital
status, number of children, basic pension insurance, basic medical insurance, political outlook, labour
contract signing status, and religious belief as control variables.
3.3.4. Instrumental Variables
To overcome the possible endogeneity of the model, this paper choosing "Did you vote in the last
village\neighborhood committee election?" as an instrumental variable. The reasons are: rstly, the
familiarity status of community development history or voting experience reects the social cognition of
migrant workers to a certain extent, which satises the relevance requirement of instrumental variable;
secondly, this variable describe migrant workers' recollection of relevant experiences or information in the
past, which is not inuenced by other factors at present, thus satisfying the exogeneity requirement of
instrumental variables; thirdly, this variable has no direct effect on subjective well-being, but an indirect
effect through social cognition. The specic denitions and descriptive statistics of the above four types
of variables are shown in Table1.

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Table 1
Descriptive statistics.
Variable Description Mean SD
SWB 5 points scale, Very unhappy = 1, very happy = 5 3.811 0.849
Depression
perception Rarely or never = 0, other = 1 0.661 0.474
Fair Perception Other = 0; fairer, perfectly fair = 1 0.440 0.496
Class change
perception Perception of class change differential in the next ten years
Other = 0; Rising = 1 0.949 0.219
Logged annual
income Chinese yuan 10.36 1.670
Education level Actual years of education 8.175 3.213
Automobile
ownership Own a automobile? No = 0, Yes = 1 0.276 0.447
House property Number of house properties owned 0.677 0.626
Gender Female = 0; Male = 1 0.586 0.493
Age Age in 2016 44.299 13.983
Marital status Unmarried or other = 0; Married = 1 0.849 0.357
Number of
children "How many children do you have?" 1.641 1.036
Basic pension
insurance No = 0; Yes = 1 0.606 0.489
Basic medical
insurance No = 0; Yes = 1 0.903 0.296
Political
appearance A member of the CPC? No = 0; Yes = 1 0.057 0.233
Employment
Contract sign an employment contract No = 0; Yes = 1 0.159 0.365
Religious beliefs Is there a religious aliation? No = 0; Yes = 1 0.099 0.299
Migration
distance Current account registration. This city = 0;Other = 1 0.219 0.414
Voting experience Vote in the last village election? No = 0; Yes = 1 0.450 0.498
4. Results

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4.1. Analysis of the Main Effects of Social Cognition and
Socioeconomic Status on Subjective Well-Being
Table2 lists the tting results of all effective samples. Models 1 to 3 are the regression results obtained
by tting the ordered Logit model, respectively examining the inuence of social cognition,
socioeconomic status, and both on the subjective well-being of migrant workers. Model 4 is the result of
the robustness test using the OLS model. According to the regression results of the model, the signicant
results of the core variables, such as social cognition and social status selected in this paper, are
relatively consistent, indicating that the regression results have a certain degree of robustness.

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Table 2
Ordered-logit and OLS estimates for social cognition and socioeconomic status
on SWB.
Variables Model 1 Model 2 Model 3 Model 4
O-Logit O-Logit O-Logit OLS
Depression perception 0.784***  0.749*** 0.306***
 (0.098)  (0.098) (0.039)
Fair Perception 0.950***  0.970*** 0.379***
 (0.093)  (0.094) (0.035)
Class change perception 0.172***  0.169*** 0.062***
 (0.037)  (0.037) (0.014)
Personal income  0.044 0.051* 0.022*
  (0.028) (0.029) (0.011)
Education level  0.032** 0.037** 0.012**
  (0.015) (0.015) (0.006)
Automobile ownership  0.531*** 0.522*** 0.180***
  (0.103) (0.106) (0.039)
House property ownership  0.190** 0.150* 0.059**
  (0.079) (0.081) (0.030)
Gender -0.156* -0.144 -0.218** -0.0968***
 (0.092) (0.092) (0.095) (0.037)
Age -0.079*** -0.010*** -0.081*** -0.030***
 (0.020) (0.021) (0.021) (0.008)
Age squared 0.001*** 0.001*** 0.001*** 0.0004***
 (0.000) (0.000) (0.000) (0.000)
Marital Status 0.986*** 0.854*** 0.862*** 0.360***
 (0.145) (0.149) (0.149) (0.062)
Number of children 0.015 0.017 0.027 0.004
 (0.053) (0.053) (0.053) (0.021)
Basic Pension insurance 0.232 0.0939 0.191 0.090

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Variables Model 1 Model 2 Model 3 Model 4
O-Logit O-Logit O-Logit OLS
 (0.163) (0.168) (0.166) (0.069)
Basic Medical Insurance 0.177* 0.155 0.099 0.055
 (0.101) (0.101) (0.101) (0.0400)
Political Appearance 0.443** 0.415** 0.373** 0.129**
 (0.174) (0.180) (0.176) (0.061)
Employment Contract 0.408*** 0.410*** 0.384*** 0.137***
 (0.130) (0.127) (0.130) (0.048)
Religious beliefs 0.134 0.179 0.190 0.0568
 (0.156) (0.153) (0.155) (0.061)
Migration distance -0.217* -0.212* -0.264** -0.086**
 (0.111) (0.111) (0.113) (0.044)
Provincial dummies Yes Yes Yes Yes
Observations 2030 2030 2030 2030
*
P
value < 0.1; **
P
value < 0.05; ***
P
value < 0.01;.
4.1.1. The inuence of social cognition on subjective well-
being
The regression results in Table2 indicate that, at the 1% signicance level, perceptions of depression,
fairness, and class change substantially impacted the subjective well-being of migrant workers in Models
1, 3, and 4. Therefore, hypothesis H1 is conrmed.
From a psychological perspective, we can understand that people with a positive emotional state can
face life's challenges and failures with greater ease. This positive emotional experience can assist
migrant workers in adapting to the "urban peripheral" mentality they encounter when living and working in
the city, thereby enhancing their subjective happiness. In fairness perception, social comparison theory
suggests that the nature and level of subjective well-being are frequently the consequence of social
comparison [52] and that the quality of this result depends on the direction and content of social
comparison. For the group of migrant workers employed in different places in urban work, the reference
object of comparison increases the group of urban residents. However, their treatment is completely
different from urban residents, so their sense of relative deprivation is stronger. Therefore, the extent to
which migrant workers are treated fairly, especially in terms of income, children's education, and

Page 15/27
intergenerational mobility, signicantly impacts their subjective well-being. At the same time, the
perception of class change also shows a signicant positive effect on subjective well-being. This
indicates that respondents' perceptions of future class changes have a goal-directed effect, enabling
migrant workers to perceive and plan for their future. When individuals can focus on the longer-term
future and perceive time and its value, they are better able to manage their time and are thus more
motivated to achieve their goals. This motivation translates into expectations for the future, ultimately
enhancing migrant workers' subjective experience of well-being. In the tting results of social perceptions
on migrant workers' subjective well-being, it can also be observed that the regression coecients of
perceptions of fairness are 0.950, 0.970, and 0.379, respectively, and the corresponding regression
coecients of perceptions of depression and class change are 0.784, 0.749, and 0.306 versus 0.172,
0.169, and 0.062. It can be inferred that fairness judgments have a higher impact on the subjective well-
being of migrant workers than perceptions of depression and class change. Therefore, hypothesis H2 is
veried.
The reason for this is that the initial intention of migrant workers to seek employment is typically strongly
tied to family support, with the obvious motivation of economic demands. However, the institutional
discrimination between urban and rural areas hinders their chances of nding suitable jobs. The gap
between their expectations and reality leads to lower subjective happiness perceptions. At the same time,
when the migrant population enters the city to work and live, their reference group becomes urban
residents rather than community residents before mobility. This strong sense of material frustration
makes them dissatised with their current living condition. Therefore, the desire for fairness will more
obviously affect the subjective well-being of migrants.
4.1.2. The effect of socioeconomic status on subjective
well-being
In the regression results in Table2, the impact of personal income on the subjective well-being of migrant
workers only shows a positive signicance level of 10% in Model 4. However, neither Model 2 nor Model 3
shows a signicant impact. The impact of education level, house property and automobile ownership on
subjective well-being in models 2 to 4 are all positive and statistically signicant at the 5% level. This
demonstrates that the impact of socioeconomic status on the subjective well-being of migrant workers
generally has a signicant positive impact, and the impact of income on the subjective well-being of
migrant workers is not obvious compared with the other three types of variables. Therefore, hypotheses
H3 and H4 are veried.
The reason is that from the perspective of the "positive tunnel effect" in terms of income, people in a
congested two-lane tunnel nd that the cars in the next lane start to move forward, even though the lane
they are in is congested, but still generate a sense of pleasure because of the optimistic expectation of
getting out of the congestion, which also predicts a widening income gap. It can bring optimistic income
expectations and thus increase one's subjective well-being [53]. However, it should be noted that if, after a
long time, people nd that only the lane next to them has been cleared, and their lane remains congested,

Page 16/27
the optimistic expectations will disappear and be replaced by dissatisfaction, anger, and even illegal lane
changes. This is also known as "Negative Tunneling." Although migrant workers' income climbed by
25.5% between 2012 and 2016, it is primarily utilized to pay for daily necessities. Compared to urban
inhabitants, it is evident that the income growth of migrant workers does not result in a considerable
increase in subjective well-being. In this case, it is not the family income that affects the subjective well-
being of migrant workers, but the remaining part after deducting the necessary living expenses, that is,
the amount of development expenditure, has a signicant positive impact on their subjective well-being.
In contrast, education generates both consumer and production values for its beneciaries. On the one
hand, consumer value refers to the non-monetary return of education, which indicates the direct effect of
features of consumer goods [54]. Education as a consumer commodity can boost an individual's physical
and mental happiness, increasing their utility or subjective well-being. Productive value, on the other hand,
reects the indirect effect of education on subjective well-being. It refers to the indirect effect of education
on subjective well-being by enhancing people's wage income or earning capacity.
In terms of house property, people are also concerned about the stability of life while pursuing income. In
traditional Chinese thought, the house is the place to avoid danger and the space for social life. Owning a
house property guarantees the life and work of migrant workers. Secondly, the asset attributes of house
property are also an important factor. With the rising prices, house property is in a state of constant
appreciation.
Moreover, house property is essential to the naturalization of migrant workers. It is intimately associated
with the education of the children of migrant workers, access to public resources, and community
integration. Therefore, both self-built and self-purchased residences can have a signicant "happiness
effect" on migrant workers. The inuence of housing property on the subjective well-being of migrant
workers is not limited to the provision of housing consumption ow; it also increases residents' subjective
well-being by easing liquidity limitations and decreasing preventative savings.
It is also important to note that automobile ownership also contributes to the subjective well-being of
migrant workers. First, as a commodity and a means of transportation, the automobile provides utility
value and fullls the need for transportation. Second, the increased radius of activity space and the
breaking of xed schedule constraints create a sense of psychological security. Owning automobiles
helps them alleviate the spatial and temporal tension in modern society, maintain their existing social
relationships, and enhance their current social capital by constructing opportunities for people to be
socially present and increasing the probability of their social interactions. In other words, migrant workers
who own automobiles tend to build their relationship networks in the city more quickly and eciently,
which undoubtedly promotes the integration of migrant workers into urban life, reduces the psychological
strain caused t by foreign mobility, and enhances their subjective sense of well-being.
4.2. Analysis of Intergenerational Differences in the Effects of Social Cognition and Social Status on
Subjective Well-Being

Page 17/27
Numerous studies on age differences in subjective well-being have revealed that, despite declining health
and income levels with age, older adults' subjective well-being remains stable or even tends to increase.
This phenomenon is known as the well-being paradox of the aging process. To maintain a sense of
control and shield themselves from the shocks brought on by aging, older persons frequently pick a
downward social comparison strategy during the social comparison process, according to research on
this contradiction. Therefore, this study also investigates if the intergenerational inequalities between the
older and younger generations of migrant workers become a factor affecting their subjective well-being
due to high economic development and the marginally diminishing effect of income on subjective well-
being.

Page 18/27
Table 3
Ordered-logit and OLS estimates for intergenerational differences
Variables New generation of migrant
workers Older generation of migrant
workers
Model 1 Model 2 Model 3 Model 4
OLS O-Logit OLS O-Logit
Depression perception 0.299*** 0.774*** 0.311*** 0.734***
 (0.070) (0.169) (0.048) (0.123)
Fairness Perception 0.448*** 1.127*** 0.363*** 0.933***
 (0.061) (0.164) (0.042) (0.115)
Class change perception 0.069*** 0.174*** 0.037 0.112*
 (0.018) (0.049) (0.022) (0.054)
Personal income 0.039* 0.111* 0.008 0.010
 (0.022) (0.062) (0.013) (0.032)
Education level 0.021* 0.050** 0.004 0.011
 (0.011) (0.0239) (0.007) (0.02)
Car ownership 0.237*** 0.651*** 0.069 0.247
 (0.046) (0.130) (0.072) (0.183)
House property
ownership 0.013 -0.001 0.064* 0.175*
 (0.062) (0.157) (0.035) (0.095)
Marital Status 0.346*** 0.829*** 0.264*** 0.588***
 (0.098) (0.236) (0.0810) (0.193)
Number of children -0.003 0.021 0.043* 0.127**
 (0.050) (0.124) (0.022) (0.057)
Political Appearance 0.035 -0.043 0.201*** 0.596***
 (0.117) (0.343) (0.068) (0.197)
Employment Contract 0.142* 0.323* 0.106* 0.363**
 (0.076) (0.196) (0.064) (0.179)
Migration distance -0.076 -0.233 -0.120** -0.367**
 (0.070) (0.177) (0.059) (0.154)

Page 19/27
Variables New generation of migrant
workers Older generation of migrant
workers
Model 1 Model 2 Model 3 Model 4
OLS O-Logit OLS O-Logit
Other variables control control control control
Observations 670 670 1,360 1,360
*P value < 0.1; **P value < 0.05; ***P value < 0.01;.
In the regression results in Table3, the subjective well-being of older generation migrant workers is
signicantly inuenced by depression perception and fairness perception in terms of social perception,
both of which are signicant at the 1% level. In contrast, the variables in socioeconomic status only have
a positive and signicant effect on SWB in terms of house property at the 10% level, so hypothesis H5 is
veried. The regression results of the new generation of migrant workers not only in socioeconomic
status on subjective well-being but also personal income, education level and car status show positive
signicance at least 10% level, so hypothesis H6 is veried.
Intergenerational differences in the inuence of social cognition-related variables on the subjective well-
being of migrant workers are mainly manifested in the perception of class change. It is important to pay
attention to the fact that the old and new generations of migrant workers are not at the same stage of
social transformation, which also leads to differences in the logical relationship between the two at the
level of social cognition and subjective well-being.
Specically, the motivation of the older generation of migrant workers to work is summarized as a
passive choice based on "survival rationality" and is mainly economical. While the new generation of
migrant workers has diversied the purpose of going out to work from simply "earning money," they
consider earning money while pursuing an urban lifestyle, with the characteristics of economic and
lifestyle coexisting.
Compared with the older generation of migrant workers, the new generation of migrant workers tends to
see going out as a process of accumulating human capital and social capital and using it to transform
their institutional identity. Therefore, the new generation of migrant workers pays attention to wages and
improving their skills, the realization of rights and the long-term development of the future. Therefore, in
the regression results in Table3, we can see that the perception of class change has a signicant impact
on the subjective There is a signicant positive effect on subjective well-being, but not on the older
generation of migrant workers.
There are also signicant differences between the two in terms of socioeconomic status. First of all, only
house property owner has a positive impact on the subjective well-being of the older generation of

Page 20/27
migrant workers. Personal income, education level, and car ownership all positively and signicantly
impact the subjective well-being of the new generation of migrant workers.
Although social perceptions and socio-economic status inuence the subjective well-being of both
generations of migrant workers, due to the differences in social motivation between the elderly and the
young, the older generation's subjective well-being is less inuenced by material-economic factors such
as work and income. In contrast, emotional-psychological factors such as their ability and social
relationships have a greater impact on subjective well-being. Young migrant workers pay more attention
to materialistic economic status, so improving self and subjective well-being in economic comparison is
easier. In the traditional concept, the prerequisite for providing for the elderly is "having a place to live."
Therefore, owning real estate has a decisive impact on improving the subjective well-being of older
migrant workers. At the same time, the notion of old age being provided for is manifested in the older
generation of migrant workers as child support, so the number of children signicantly positively impacts
the subjective well-being of the older generation of migrant workers.
For the new generation of migrant workers, whose motivation for working has changed, personal income
and educational attainment are important inuences on the subjective well-being of the new generation
of migrant workers. For the new generation of migrant workers, whose social relationship formation is at
a critical stage, automobile ownership helps them integrate into urban life more quickly, both in terms of
reducing social tensions in time and space and in terms of symbolic solidarity and convergence of
consumption that automobile ownership itself provides. Therefore, automobile ownership greatly
improves the subjective well-being of the new generation of migrant workers.
Overall, the older generation of migratory workers gradually withdraws from the labor market as they age,
and their focus switches from earning a living to retirement. Therefore, changes in retirement-related
characteristics are more likely to affect the subjective well-being of this group. However, a shift in the
desire of the new generation of migrant workers to work causes this group to place a greater emphasis on
their materialistic economic status.
4.3. Treatment of Endogeneity of Social Cognitive Variables
Since social cognition and subjective well-being are subjective variables, there may be some similar
psychological mechanism of action, leading to reverse causality. Higher subjective well-being brings
positive social cognition, while non-social cognition affects subjective well-being. Or there may be highly
unobserved omitted variables that simultaneously affect social cognition and subjective well-being,
resulting in biased estimates of social cognition's effect on subjective well-being.
To solve the possible endogenous problem of social cognition, this paper draws on the endogenous
treatment of social cognition by Lu et al.(2017)[55] to generate a new dummy variable: if and only if the
three variables measuring social cognition are simultaneously taken as When the value is 1, assign the
dummy variable a value of 1 and name it "positive cognition," and use "whether there is voting experience"
as an instrumental variable of positive cognition for endogenous testing and analysis.

Page 21/27
In this paper, two-stage least squares (2SLS) were used for parameter estimation, and weak instrumental
variable test and endogeneity test were used to determine the validity of the instrumental variables,
exogeneity and endogeneity of the variable "positive cognition." Table4 displays the regression results.
The rst-stage regression results indicate that "voting experience" signicantly impacts migrant workers'
positive attitudes. The F-statistic of the joint signicance test is 19.62, which is greater than 10, indicating
that there is no weak instrumental variable; the p-values of the Sargan test and Basmann test are more
signicant than 0.01, indicating that the original hypothesis that the instrumental variable meets the
condition of exogeneity cannot be rejected at the 1% statistical level; the p-value of the endogeneity
Hausman test is 0.0023, which cannot overturn the original hypothesis that positive cognition is an
exogenous variable.
According to the econometric theory, the ordered Logit and OLS models are more effective than the 2SLS
models under the condition of no endogeneity. From the regression results of the ordered Logit model and
OLS model, positive cognition has a signicant positive effect on the subjective well-being of migrant
workers, which again conrms the robustness of the results of the empirical analysis in this paper.
Table 4
TSLS regression results of the effect of social cognition on the SWB of migrant workers.
2SLS 2SLS O-Logit OLS
Phase I
Dependent variable:
positive cognition
Phase II
Dependent variable:
SWB
Voting experience 0.107*** ——  
 (0.022)   
Positive Perception —— 1.540*** 1.051*** 0.422***
  (0.432) (0.101) (0.034)
Adjusted R20.030 0.054  0.118
5. Discussion
Social cognition and socioeconomic status are important windows to understanding the subjective well-
being of migrant workers. Through this window, we can observe 1. The inuence of internal subjective
feelings and external objective conditions on the subjective well-being of migrant workers in social
changes difference. 2. The impact of intergenerational differences in migrant workers' values and
practical needs on subjective well-being.

Page 22/27
As mentioned above, subjective well-being is a pleasant psychological experience or spiritual feeling, and
its inuencing factors must include two basic dimensions, subjective and objective. The analysis in this
paper is only the beginning, and there are still many deciencies that need to be further expanded in
future research.
First, "Do you think your life is happy?" only measures one aspect of subjective well-being, namely
positive emotions or affective well-being. The broader concept of subjective well-being includes other
components, such as life satisfaction and purpose.
Second, future research must discuss in depth the impact of psychological factors on migrant workers’
subjective well-being. Both psychological changes in urban integration and research on reintegration into
rural society are topics worthy of further discussion.
Third, future research needs to pay more attention to the impact of migrant worker group heterogeneity
on subjective well-being. This article only considers the age factor. The heterogeneity of migrant workers
should also consider the inuence of gender, class, ethnic group, and region. Future research is necessary
to theoretically explain and empirically test the mechanism by which migrant worker group heterogeneity
affects subjective well-being from a spatial or regional perspective. All in all, these related issues still
need to be further studied.
6. Conclusions and Policy implications
How to improve the subjective well-being of migrant workers is an important topic in the process of
China’s economic structural transformation. This paper uses the 2017 China General Social Survey data
to analyze the impact of social cognition and socioeconomic status on the subjective well-being of
migrant workers and their intergenerational differences. The following conclusions and corresponding
policy implications are drawn:
6.1. Conclusions
The results found that: (1) social cognition, measured by depression perception, fairness perception and
class change perception, has a signicant impact on migrant workers' subjective well-being, and the
impact of fairness perception is more obvious than the other two. This indicates that although migrant
workers have achieved upward mobility from rural to urban areas, the existence of the urban-rural divide
marked by the household registration system has left migrant workers with a lack of equitable
development opportunities. This is similar to the conclusions of Htay's study [56] of migrant workers in
Malaysia that migrant workers are more vulnerable to mental health problems resulting from migration,
separation from family, discrimination and social exclusion. (2) among the socioeconomic status
measured by personal income, education level, automobile ownership and house property ownership, all
the socioeconomic statuses have signicant positive effects except for income, which does not have a
signicant effect on the subjective well-being of migrant workers. This indicates that with institutional

Page 23/27
change and social transformation, the subjective well-being of migrant workers is affected by various
socioeconomic statuses, and the proportion of income on subjective well-being decreases due to the
diversication of work purposes. This result is corroborated by Cai's research on international migration
[57]. The study believes that the SWB-migration relationship is more robust than the income-migration
relationship. For immigrants, the spiritual pursuit is more important than the income pursuit. (3) there are
intergenerational differences between social cognition and socioeconomic status in migrant workers'
subjective well-being. The emotional state of the older generation of migrant workers is the most
inuential factor on their subjective well-being, while the new generation of migrant workers is more
concerned with the feeling of future expectations; the older generation of migrant workers is more
concerned with the house property ownership, while the increase in income, education and automobile
ownership can signicantly improve the subjective well-being of the new generation of migrant workers.
6.2. Policy Implications
Firstly, the existing management system at both urban and rural levels should be gradually changed to
encourage all members of society to work together with social groups to create a fair and just social
environment. It should also provide positive guidance in the process of urban work and the life of migrant
workers to promote them to form reasonable psychological expectations and good psychological states.
Secondly, it should make the migrant workers obtain the same protection as urban residents, gradually
improve the income distribution mechanism according to individual endowment and contribution, and
promote the socioeconomic status of migrant workers as a vulnerable group.
Thirdly, we can learn that the older generation of migrant workers is gradually withdrawing from the labor
market, so they should focus on the social security level. As for the new generation of migrant workers,
more opportunities should be created for them to develop in the city so that they have more ability to
integrate into the city to promote the subjective well-being of the migrant workers' group.
Declarations
Author Contributions:Conceptualization, W.H. and S.S.; methodology, W.H. and X.S.; formal analysis, W.H.
and Y.Z.; investigation, W.H. and Y.Z.; writing—original draft preparation, W.H. and Y.Z.; writing—review and
editing, S.S. and X.S.; supervision, S.S. All authors have read and agreed to the published version of the
manuscript.
Funding:This research received no external funding.
Institutional Review Board Statement:Not applicable.
Informed Consent Statement:Not applicable.
Data Availability Statement:The data set used in this study was provided by the Center for Social Science
Survey at Renmin University of China, and raw data can be applied via ocial email (cgss@ruc.edu.cn).

Page 24/27
The Stata code used for the paper is available upon request from the authors.
Conicts of Interest:The authors declare no conict of interest.

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