The Relationship Between Macro-Social Environmental Factors and Subjective Health Perception: The Mediating Role of Exercise Intention

Abstract

This study explored the relationship between macro-social environmental factors and subjective health perception among urban residents in China, as well as the mediating role of exercise intention between the two. This study is based on 6,245 valid data from the 2017 China General Social Survey (CGSS) and the China Statistical Yearbook (CSY) cross-sectional dataset for exploration. This study employed the questionnaire from CGSS 2017 to collect data on exercise intentions and subjective health perceptions and used CSY 2017 to gather relevant data on macro-social environmental variables. Based on SPSS 25.0, Stata 12.0, and AMOS 12.0 software, this study primarily conducted statistical analyses using Spearman correlation analysis, multiple linear regression analysis, binary logistic regression analysis, and mediation effect testing. The results indicate that GDP per capita, urbanization rate, and air excellence rate are associated with the transformation of exercise intention and subjective health perception. In addition, exercise intention plays a mediating role between macro-social environmental factors and subjective health perception, particularly in the relationships between urbanization rate, green coverage in built-up areas, GDP per capita, and subjective health perception. The results enrich the “environment-behavior-health” model and have positive implications for the formulation of relevant policies on macro-social environment.