The effect and mechanism of mutual aid on the subjective well-being of participants under the COVID-19 pandemic
Abstract The outbreak of COVID-19 led to the emergence of various forms of mutual aid. While prior research has demonstrated that mutual aid can contribute to participants’ subjective well-being, the majority of these studies are qualitative and lack clear understanding of the underlying mechanisms....
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| Format: | Article |
| Language: | English |
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BMC
2025-01-01
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| Series: | BMC Psychology |
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| Online Access: | https://doi.org/10.1186/s40359-025-02360-5 |
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| author | Aiping Xu Yiwei Zhang |
| author_facet | Aiping Xu Yiwei Zhang |
| author_sort | Aiping Xu |
| collection | DOAJ |
| description | Abstract The outbreak of COVID-19 led to the emergence of various forms of mutual aid. While prior research has demonstrated that mutual aid can contribute to participants’ subjective well-being, the majority of these studies are qualitative and lack clear understanding of the underlying mechanisms. Using a questionnaire survey and structural equation modeling, this study finds that mutual aid significantly enhances the subjective well-being of participants in China. Bootstrap chained mediation analysis shows that this is mainly because mutual aid not only provides material resources to participants but also helps to expand their social networks, thereby enhancing their self-esteem and self-efficacy, and ultimately improving their subjective well-being. In the chain mediation mechanism, the total effect of social network is significantly higher than that of material resources. Our study identifies social psychological mechanisms by which mutual aid acts on participant’s subjective well-being, and it has important implications for community governance. |
| format | Article |
| id | doaj-art-74c2e96990f249028b32ac940b10ab55 |
| institution | Kabale University |
| issn | 2050-7283 |
| language | English |
| publishDate | 2025-01-01 |
| publisher | BMC |
| record_format | Article |
| series | BMC Psychology |
| spelling | doaj-art-74c2e96990f249028b32ac940b10ab552025-01-19T12:43:50ZengBMCBMC Psychology2050-72832025-01-0113111210.1186/s40359-025-02360-5The effect and mechanism of mutual aid on the subjective well-being of participants under the COVID-19 pandemicAiping Xu0Yiwei Zhang1School of Economics and Management, Shanghai Polytechnic UniversitySchool of Management, Shanghai Sanda UniversityAbstract The outbreak of COVID-19 led to the emergence of various forms of mutual aid. While prior research has demonstrated that mutual aid can contribute to participants’ subjective well-being, the majority of these studies are qualitative and lack clear understanding of the underlying mechanisms. Using a questionnaire survey and structural equation modeling, this study finds that mutual aid significantly enhances the subjective well-being of participants in China. Bootstrap chained mediation analysis shows that this is mainly because mutual aid not only provides material resources to participants but also helps to expand their social networks, thereby enhancing their self-esteem and self-efficacy, and ultimately improving their subjective well-being. In the chain mediation mechanism, the total effect of social network is significantly higher than that of material resources. Our study identifies social psychological mechanisms by which mutual aid acts on participant’s subjective well-being, and it has important implications for community governance.https://doi.org/10.1186/s40359-025-02360-5Subjective well-beingMutual aidMaterial resourcesSocial networkCOVID-19 |
| spellingShingle | Aiping Xu Yiwei Zhang The effect and mechanism of mutual aid on the subjective well-being of participants under the COVID-19 pandemic BMC Psychology Subjective well-being Mutual aid Material resources Social network COVID-19 |
| title | The effect and mechanism of mutual aid on the subjective well-being of participants under the COVID-19 pandemic |
| title_full | The effect and mechanism of mutual aid on the subjective well-being of participants under the COVID-19 pandemic |
| title_fullStr | The effect and mechanism of mutual aid on the subjective well-being of participants under the COVID-19 pandemic |
| title_full_unstemmed | The effect and mechanism of mutual aid on the subjective well-being of participants under the COVID-19 pandemic |
| title_short | The effect and mechanism of mutual aid on the subjective well-being of participants under the COVID-19 pandemic |
| title_sort | effect and mechanism of mutual aid on the subjective well being of participants under the covid 19 pandemic |
| topic | Subjective well-being Mutual aid Material resources Social network COVID-19 |
| url | https://doi.org/10.1186/s40359-025-02360-5 |
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