Voting participation in grassroots elections and rural residents’ subjective well‐being in China: The mediation roles of social class and fairness

Abstract Drawing upon three waves of micro‐level data from the Chinese General Social Survey (CGSS) collected during the period of 2015 to 2018, the study empirically examines the relationship between voting participation in grassroots elections and individual‐level SWB in rural China. The empirical results indicate that those rural residents who participated in villagers’ committee elections are associated with higher levels of SWB. Furthermore, the findings based on partial least square structural equation modeling (PLS‐SEM) also reveal that the positive relationship between rural residents’ voting participation and their SWB is mediated by a chain effect of subjective social class and perceived social fairness. Significant heterogeneity of such mediation roles across different demographic groups is detected. The findings of this research highlight the importance of promoting the engagement of residents in grassroots‐level elections as a means of enhancing social harmony. Public Significance This study demonstrates that voting participation in rural elections in China is associated with individual subjective well‐being, with this effect mediated by individual social status and sense of fairness. These findings underscore the importance of civic engagement in promoting personal well‐being, highlighting the need for policies that encourage widespread participation in grassroots governance.