Does city air pollution affect the attitudes of working residents on work, government, and the city? An examination of a multi-level model with subjective well-being as a mediator

Although there are many studies addressing the impacts of air pollution on average residents, little is known about why and how city air pollution affects the attitudes of working residents on work, government, and the city (i.e., work engagement, government satisfaction and intention to leave the city). To address this issue, we employ the conservation of resource theory to construct a multilevel model of the effects of city air pollution with subjective well-being as a mediator. This study investigates 891 working residents nested in 84 cities in China. Using hierarchical linear modelling, we find that with heavier city air pollution, working residents exhibit lower work engagement, government satisfaction, and subjective well-being and higher intentions to leave the city. Air pollution still has significant incremental effects on the variables mentioned above after controlling for the per capita GDP. Furthermore, the results reveal that subjective well-being mediates the effects of city air pollution on the other outcomes of the working residents as mentioned above. Finally, the theoretical and practical implications, limitations and suggestions for future research are discussed. (c) 2021 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Automated summary

The study revealed that worsening city air pollution leads to lower work engagement, government satisfaction, and subjective well-being among working residents, as well as increased intention to leave the city. Furthermore, subjective well-being acts as a mediator in the effects of city air pollution on other outcomes of working residents.