Mediating Power of Place Attachment for Urban Residents’ Well-Being in Community Cohesion
Abstract
1. Introduction
2. Literature Review and Hypothesis Development
2.1. Neighborhood Social Cohesion and Life Satisfaction
2.2. The Mediating Role of Place Attachment
2.3. Research Models and Hypotheses
3. Methods
3.1. Participants
3.2. Instrument
3.3. Procedure
3.4. Data Analysis
4. Results
4.1. Results of the Measurement Model
4.2. Result of the Structural Model
4.2.1. Assessing the Model’s Explanatory Ability
4.2.2. Path Coefficient Assessment
4.2.3. Assessing the Mediating Roles of Place Identity and Place Dependence
4.2.4. Testing Overall Mediating Effect of Place Attachment
4.3. Subgroup Analysis Results
5. Discussion
5.1. Interpretation of the Results
5.2. Variations Across Subgroups
5.3. Implications for Research
5.4. Implications for Practice
6. Conclusions
7. Limitations and Future Research
Author Contributions
Funding
Institutional Review Board Statement
Informed Consent Statement
Data Availability Statement
Conflicts of Interest
Appendix A
Construct | Item | |
---|---|---|
Neighbourhood cohesion, NC [17,18] | ||
Neighbourliness | NEI1 | I visit with my neighbours in their homes. |
NEI2 | The friendships l have with people in my neighbourhood mean a lot. | |
NEI3 | If l need advice, l could go to someone in my neighbourhood. | |
NEI4 | I borrow things and exchange favours with my neighbours. | |
Sense of community | SOC1 | I believe my neighbours would help me in an emergency. |
SOC2 | I feel loyal to people in my neighbourhood. | |
SOC3 | I’d be willing to work with others to improve my neighbourhood. | |
SOC4 | I think of myself as similar to people who live in this neighbourhood. | |
SOC5 | A feeling of fellowship runs deep in this neighbourhood. | |
SOC6 | I regularly stop to talk with people in my neighbourhood. | |
SOC7 | Living in this neighbourhood gives me a sense of community. | |
Attraction to neighbourhood | ATTR1 | Overall, l am very attracted to living in this neighbourhood. |
ATTR2 | I feel like l belong to this neighbourhood. | |
ATTR3 | I plan to remain a resident of this neighbourhood for a number of years. | |
Place attachment, PA [34,52] | ||
Place identity | PI1 | I feel the community where I currently is a part of me. |
PI2 | The community where I currently is very special to me. | |
PI3 | I identify strongly with the community where I currently. | |
PI4 | I am very attached to the community where I currently. | |
PI5 | Visiting the community where I currently says a lot about who l am. | |
PI6 | The community where I currently means a lot to me. | |
Place dependence | PD1 | The community where I currently, is the best place for what I like to do. |
PD2 | No other place can compare to the community where I currently. | |
PD3 | I get more satisfaction out of visiting the community where I currently than any other. | |
PD4 | Doing what I do at the community where I currently is more important to me than doing it in any other place. | |
PD5 | I wouldn’t substitute any other area for doing the types of things I do at the community where I currently. | |
Life satisfaction, LS [13,54] | ||
LS1 | In most ways my life is close to my ideal. | |
LS2 | The conditions of my life are excellent. | |
LS3 | I am satisfied with my life. | |
LS4 | So far I have gotten the important things I want in life. | |
LS5 | If I could live my life over, I would change almost nothing. |
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Items | Number | Percentage (%) | |
---|---|---|---|
Gender | Male | 96 | 31.89 |
Female | 205 | 68.10 | |
Age | 18–25 years old | 246 | 81.73 |
26–35 years old | 42 | 13.95 | |
36–45 years old | 4 | 1.32 | |
46–60 years old | 9 | 2.99 | |
Education Level | High school and vocational senior high school or below | 18 | 5.98 |
College diploma or undergraduates | 205 | 68.11 | |
Postgraduate research or above | 78 | 25.91 | |
Marital Status | Unmarried | 275 | 91.36 |
Married | 26 | 8.64 | |
Duration of residence | 3 months or below | 30 | 9.97 |
3–6 months | 28 | 9.30 | |
6–12 months | 37 | 12.29 | |
12 months or above | 206 | 68.44 | |
Status of Residence | Local residents | 124 | 41.20 |
Remote residents | 177 | 58.80 | |
City of Residence | Guangdong | 193 | 64.12 |
Beijing | 10 | 3.32 | |
Fujian | 9 | 2.99 | |
Hunan | 8 | 2.66 | |
Tianjin | 8 | 2.66 | |
Hubei | 7 | 2.33 | |
Jiangsu | 7 | 2.33 | |
Henan | 6 | 1.99 | |
Hebei | 6 | 1.99 | |
Zhejiang | 6 | 1.99 | |
Chongqing | 5 | 1.66 | |
Heilongjiang | 4 | 1.33 | |
Shandong | 4 | 1.33 | |
Jiangxi | 4 | 1.33 | |
Shanxi | 4 | 1.33 | |
Shanghai | 4 | 1.33 | |
Sichuan | 4 | 1.33 | |
Guangxi | 3 | 1.00 | |
Guizhou | 2 | 0.66 | |
Hong Kong | 1 | 0.33 | |
Xinjiang | 1 | 0.33 | |
Yunnan | 1 | 0.33 | |
Anhui | 1 | 0.33 | |
Jilin | 1 | 0.33 | |
Liaoning | 1 | 0.33 | |
Neimenggu | 1 | 0.33 |
Constructs | Items | Loadings | rho_A | CR | AVE | |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Neighborhood cohesion (NC) | Neighborliness | NEI1 | 0.792 | 0.869 | 0.903 | 0.700 |
NEI2 | 0.858 | |||||
NEI3 | 0.845 | |||||
NEI4 | 0.850 | |||||
Sense of community | SOC1 | 0.768 | 0.913 | 0.926 | 0.644 | |
SOC2 | 0.840 | |||||
SOC3 | 0.731 | |||||
SOC4 | 0.785 | |||||
SOC5 | 0.857 | |||||
SOC6 | 0.785 | |||||
SOC7 | 0.841 | |||||
Attraction to neighborhood | ATTR1 | 0.889 | 0.846 | 0.902 | 0.754 | |
ATTR2 | 0.905 | |||||
ATTR3 | 0.808 | |||||
Place attachment (PA) | Place identity | PI1 | 0.848 | 0.929 | 0.944 | 0.736 |
PI2 | 0.865 | |||||
PI3 | 0.900 | |||||
PI4 | 0.872 | |||||
PI5 | 0.830 | |||||
PI6 | 0.831 | |||||
Place dependence | PD1 | 0.790 | 0.908 | 0.931 | 0.730 | |
PD2 | 0.875 | |||||
PD3 | 0.891 | |||||
PD4 | 0.876 | |||||
PD5 | 0.836 | |||||
Life satisfaction | Life satisfaction | LS1 | 0.861 | 0.899 | 0.923 | 0.704 |
LS2 | 0.811 | |||||
LS3 | 0.860 | |||||
LS4 | 0.835 | |||||
LS5 | 0.828 |
Constructs | PD | PI | LS | SOC | NEI | ATTR |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
PD | 0.854 | |||||
PI | 0.834 | 0.858 | ||||
LS | 0.722 | 0.672 | 0.839 | |||
SOC | 0.734 | 0.782 | 0.619 | 0.802 | ||
NEI | 0.635 | 0.638 | 0.504 | 0.802 | 0.837 | |
ATTR | 0.746 | 0.801 | 0.664 | 0.791 | 0.625 | 0.868 |
Constructs | NC | PA | LS |
---|---|---|---|
NC | |||
PA | 0.867 | ||
LS | 0.695 | 0.783 |
Constructs | R2 | Q2 |
---|---|---|
PI | 0.701 | 0.506 |
PD | 0.619 | 0.444 |
LS | 0.560 | 0.384 |
Hypothesis | Standard β | T Statistics | 95% Bias-Corrected Confidence Interval | Supported |
---|---|---|---|---|
H1a: NEI→LS | −0.035 | 0.462 | [−0.184, 0.108] | NO |
H1b: SOC→LS | 0.071 | 0.792 | [−0.107, 0.249] | NO |
H1c: ATTR→LS | 0.229 | 2.892 ** | [0.070, 0.376] | YES |
H2a: NEI→PI | 0.043 | 0.758 | [−0.069, 0.153] | NO |
H2b: NEI→PD | 0.140 | 2.153 * | [0.017, 0.275] | YES |
H2c: SOC→PI | 0.361 | 5.173 *** | [0.219, 0.493] | YES |
H2d: SOC→PD | 0.272 | 3.433 *** | [0.112, 0.422] | YES |
H2e: ATTR→PI | 0.488 | 8.679 *** | [0.376, 0.598] | YES |
H2f: ATTR→PD | 0.443 | 7.106 *** | [0.316, 0.563] | YES |
H3a: PI→LS | 0.068 | 0.814 | [−0.095, 0.230] | NO |
H3b: PD→LS | 0.465 | 5.293 *** | [0.294, 0.639] | YES |
Relation of Path | The Point Estimate | T-Value | 95% Bias-Corrected Confidence Interval |
---|---|---|---|
NEI→PI→LS | 0.003 | 0.401 | [−0.004, 0.029] |
SOC→PI→LS | 0.024 | 0.792 | [−0.032, 0.089] |
ATTR→PI→LS | 0.033 | 0.807 | [−0.047, 0.116] |
NEI→PD→LS | 0.065 | 1.887 * | [0.009, 0.147] |
SOC→PD→LS | 0.126 | 3.130 ** | [0.058, 0.220] |
ATTR→PD→LS | 0.206 | 3.952 *** | [0.120, 0.321] |
Place Attachment | Life Satisfaction | |||||
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
b | se | t | b | se | t | |
constant | 0.441 | 0.110 | 4.014 *** | 0.778 | 0.136 | 5.733 *** |
Neighborhood cohesion | 0.846 | 0.034 | 24,712 *** | 0.136 | 0.072 | 1.892 |
Place attachment | 0.618 | 0.070 | 8.868 *** | |||
R2 | 0.671 | 0.528 | ||||
F | 610,691 | 166,874 |
Effect | Boot SE | Boot LLCI | Boot ULCI | Mediation Effect | |
---|---|---|---|---|---|
Total effect | 0.659 | 0.046 | 0.567 | 0.750 | |
Direct effect | 0.136 | 0.072 | −0.005 | 0.278 | 20.637% |
Indirect effect | 0.522 | 0.065 | 0.394 | 0.651 | 79.211% |
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Liu, T.; Shen, X.; Xia, T. Mediating Power of Place Attachment for Urban Residents’ Well-Being in Community Cohesion. Sustainability 2025, 17, 6756. https://doi.org/10.3390/su17156756
Liu T, Shen X, Xia T. Mediating Power of Place Attachment for Urban Residents’ Well-Being in Community Cohesion. Sustainability. 2025; 17(15):6756. https://doi.org/10.3390/su17156756
Chicago/Turabian StyleLiu, Tingting, Xiaoqi Shen, and Tiansheng Xia. 2025. "Mediating Power of Place Attachment for Urban Residents’ Well-Being in Community Cohesion" Sustainability 17, no. 15: 6756. https://doi.org/10.3390/su17156756
APA StyleLiu, T., Shen, X., & Xia, T. (2025). Mediating Power of Place Attachment for Urban Residents’ Well-Being in Community Cohesion. Sustainability, 17(15), 6756. https://doi.org/10.3390/su17156756