Background: At present, most Chinese adults are under great psychological pressure, which seriously affects the improvement of life satisfaction. The purpose of this study was to shed light on the associations between individual social capital and life satisfaction among mainland Chinese adults.
Methods: We used a nationally representative dataset called 2016 China Family Panel Studies, and a total of 26,009 people suited our study requirements. Chi-squared test and binary regression analysis were used to determine the relationship between individual social capital and life satisfaction among mainland Chinese adults.
Results: The results indicated that cognitive social capital had significant effects on life satisfaction (p < 0.05), but the impact of structural social capital on life satisfaction became less significant when combined with sociodemographic variables and socioeconomic status (SES) (p > 0.05). Moreover, we also found that life satisfaction was better in married/cohabited (p < 0.05) and in over 65 age group people (p < 0.05). Self-rated income level, self-rated social status, and self-rated health all had positive effects on life satisfaction (p < 0.001).
Conclusions: Given the stabilizing effect of cognitive social capital at the individual level on life satisfaction, the government should attach great importance to this aspect when trying to improve adults' life satisfaction.
Keywords: China Family Panel Studies (CFPS); chinese adults; general trust; life satisfaction; neighborhood relationship; norms of reciprocity; social capital.