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Variable Variable definition Subjective well-being Very unhappy = 1; Unhappy = 2; Cannot say happy or unhappy = 3; Happy = 4; Very happy = 5 Paper reading The logarithm of the number of printed books read in the past year. Digital reading The logarithm of the number of digital books read in the past year. Loneliness Never = 1; Seldom = 2; Sometimes = 3; Often = 4; Very often = 5 Perceived fairness Completely unfair = 1; Unfair = 2; Cannot say fair or unfair = 3; Fair = 4; Completely fair = 5 Age The actual age of respondents in 2017 Gender Male = 1; Female = 2 Ethnic minorities Han = 1; Ethnic minorities = 0 Spouse Yes = 1; No = 0 Urban/rural Urban = 1; Rural = 2 Income The logarithm of the total income in 2016 Educational level Primary School or below = 1; Middle school = 2; High school = 3; Undergraduate = 4; Graduate = 5 Member of Communist Party of China (CPC) Yes = 1; No = 0 Health condition Very unhealthy = 1; Unhealthy = 2; Cannot say healthy or unhealthy = 3; Healthy = 4; Very healthy = 5 Interpersonal stress Never = 1; Seldom = 2; Sometimes = 3; Often = 4; Very often = 5 Medical insurance Yes = 1; No = 0 Table 1.
Main measured variables definition.
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Items Loneliness Interpersonal stress How often do you feel you lack a companion in the past month? 0.708 How often do you feel isolated from others in the past month? 0.852 How often have you feel left out in the past month? 0.866 Is there any pressure from your family? 0.723 Do you feel that your family members, relatives and close friends always require too much from you? 0.739 Have important persons (e.g. your spouse, family members or close friends) felt angry or disappointed with you in the past 4 weeks? 0.548 Cumulative % 80.873 66.998 Table 2.
Results of EFA.
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Measured variables Mean SD Min Max Subjective well-being 3.86 0.853 1 5 Paper reading 0.218 0.413 0 2.7 Digital reading 0.16 0.369 0 3 Loneliness 1.774 0.85 1 8 Perceived fairness 3.1 1.065 1 5 Age 51.128 16.723 18 103 Income 3.624 1.67 0 7 Health condition 3.456 1.102 1 5 Interpersonal stress 1.634 0.753 1 8 Measured variables N % Ethnic minorities China's main nationality 11,135 92.50% Ethnic minorities 900 7.48% Educational level Primary school or below 4,197 34.90% Middle school 3,380 28.10% High school 2,111 17.50% Undergraduate 2,166 18.00% Graduate 165 1.40% Member of China Communist Party (CPC) Yes 1,352 11.20% No 10,675 88.70% Medical insurance Yes 11,211 93.20% No 824 6.80% Spouse Yes 9,355 77.70% No 2,680 22.30% Gender Male 5,679 47.20% Female 6,356 52.80% Urban/rural Urban 7,625 63.40% Rural 4,410 36.60% Table 3.
Descriptive statistics of measured variables (n = 12,035).
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Measured varibles Model 1 Model 2 Model 3 Model 4 Age 0.149(0.001)*** 0.163(0.001)*** 0.156(0.001)*** 0.122(0.001)*** Gender 0.040(0.027)** 0.042(0.027)** 0.047(0.026)** 0.05(0.025)*** Ethnic minorities −0.011(0.050) −0.012(0.050) −0.007(0.049) −0.002(0.047) Spouse 0.082(0.032)*** 0.089(0.032)*** 0.067(0.032)*** 0.075(0.031)*** Urban/rural 0.024(0.031) 0.029(0.031) 0.035(0.030)* 0.019(0.029) Income 0.022(0.000) 0.021(0.000) 0.018(0.000) 0.014(0.000) Educational level (control: Primary school or below ) Middle school 0.048(0.036)** 0.041(0.036)* 0.032(0.035) 0.044(0.034)* High school 0.084(0.043)*** 0.063(0.044)*** 0.054(0.043)** 0.067(0.042)*** Undergraduate 0.110(0.049)*** 0.068(0.052)** 0.055(0.051)* 0.065(0.049)** Graduate 0.046(0.137)** 0.025(0.140) 0.022(0.138) 0.022(0.133) Member of China Communist Party (CPC) 0.047(0.046)** 0.04(0.046)* 0.041(0.046)* 0.033(0.044)* Health condition 0.251(0.013)*** 0.248(0.013)*** 0.223(0.013)*** 0.205(0.012)*** Interpersonal stress −0.164(0.018)*** −0.166(0.018)*** −0.121(0.018)*** −0.101(0.017)*** Medical insurance 0.014(0.051) 0.014(0.051) 0.011(0.051) 0.01(0.049) Paper reading 0.071(0.037)*** 0.069(0.036)*** 0.053(0.035)** Digital reading 0.048(0.041)** 0.042(0.041)* 0.033(0.039)* Loneliness −0.168(0.016)*** −0.153(0.016)*** Perceived fairness 0.261(0.012)*** Observations 3837 3837 3837 3837 Adjusted R2 0.121 0.127 0.151 0.216 * p < 0.05, ** p < 0.01, *** p < 0.001 Table 4.
OLS regression models of reading mediums on subjective well-being.
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Path Effect Estimate S.E. Est./S.E p-value Prop. mediated Paper reading→Subjective well-being Total effect 0.113 0.010 11.784 0.000 ACMEa 0.023 0.004 5.248 0.000 20.35% Loneliness 0.010 0.003 2.999 0.003 8.85% Perceived fairness 0.013 0.003 4.707 0.000 11.50% ADEb 0.090 0.009 10.481 0.000 79.65% Digital reading→Subjective
well-beingTotal effect 0.032
(0.046)c0.010 3.348 0.001 ACME 0.003 0.005 0.760 0.447 6.52% Loneliness 0.010 0.004 2.825 0.005 21.74% Perceived fairness −0.007 0.003 −2.528 0.011 15.22% ADE 0.029 0.008 3.513 0.000 63.04% a ACME means average causal mediation effects
b ADE means average direct effects.
c As there is a suppressing effect, the value of total effect (0.046) is the sum of the absolute value of ADE and indirect effects
* p < 0.05, ** p < 0.01, *** p < 0.001Table 5.
The mediating effect of loneliness and perceived fairness (Bootstrap = 2,000).
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