Perceived Marriage Squeeze and Subjective Well-Being Among Unmarried Rural Men in China: The Mediating Role of Sense of Coherence

Abstract

The marriage-squeeze unmarried rural men perceive during their daily life is one of the main stressors severely affecting their subjective well-being under the universal marriage culture. The mechanism of this relationship is still unknown. Based on the Stress Process Model, using data from the “Survey on Rural Family Martial Status,” this study examines the relationship between perceived marriage squeeze (PMS) and subjective well-being (SWB) and the mediating effect of sense of coherence (SOC). A sample of 417 Chinese unmarried rural men with an average age of 28.88 years was enrolled in this cross-sectional. Ordinary least square regressions and Bootstrap-mediated effect analysis methods were used to examine the association between PMS, SWB, and SOC. The results show that PMS has significant negative effects on both SWB and SOC of unmarried rural men, and SOC has a significant positive impact on SWB; the more perceived marriage squeeze they have, the lower SWB and SOC they have. The mediated analysis shows that SOC plays a mediating role in the influence of PMS on the SWB of unmarried rural men. This is to say, SOC can mitigate PMS’s negative effects on the SWB of unmarried rural men. Our findings highlight the importance of SOC in protecting the SWB of unmarried rural men. Considering the propounding influence of the marriage squeeze, policies that enhance the level of SOC should be implemented to relieve the influence of PMS on vulnerable unmarried rural men’s SWB.

Keywords

perceived marriage squeeze subjective well-being sense of coherence unmarried rural men

Well-being has been an essential issue for thinkers since ancient times, reflected in many Greek philosophical works. Ng (1996) noted that Subjective Well-Being (SWB) was a critical manifestation of human well-being and was often considered one of the ultimate goals of human life. In the past 20 years, worldwide, SWB has increasingly become a crucial supplement to basic and applied research in the fields of mental health, human well-being, and human development. Its related research has also made considerable progress (Diener et al., 2018; Keyes, 2006). The relationship between SWB and marriage has attracted the attention of researchers and has been widely discussed in the scholarly literature (DeMaris & Oates, 2022; Diener et al., 2000; Wadsworth, 2016).

Over the past four decades, marriage squeeze has been a particular issue in some Asian countries such as China, Korea, and India (Himawan et al., 2018; Jones & Yeung, 2014). The marriage squeeze is a graphic demographic term to describe the disproportions between the sexes at the prime ages of marriage (Akers, 1967). More specifically, marriage squeeze denotes the phenomenon of tension, difficulties, and failure to find a spouse in the marriage market for both males and females resulting from the imbalance in the numbers of marriageable males and marriageable females at the same ages or close ages (Huang, 2014). The unique situation of China, as the world’s largest developing country, deserves mention here. Since the 1980s, China has been an abnormally higher sex ratio of birth (SRB) than the normal range of SRB (without interventions, the natural sex ratio is 105:100 and the normal interval of the UN standard is 102-107:100); until 2020, the SRB was still higher, up to 111.3. With the long duration of abnormal higher SRB, large influence areas and enormous influence number of persons, unparalleled in other countries with an unbalanced SRB, it was represented as an alarming issue in China (Eklund & Attané, 2017; Jiang & Zhang, 2021; X. Yang et al., 2012). This has resulted in a growing female deficit, the male marriage squeeze, and a substantial number of surplus men in China (Das Gupta & Li, 1999; Z. G. Guo & Deng, 2000; Jiang et al., 2016; Poston et al., 2011). Due to the abnormal and ongoing overrepresentation of boys over girls at birth in China, it is a particularly serious issue that will likely worsen matters in the coming years (Attané, 2021). With the male group born in the 1980s, under a higher sex ratio at birth, entering the marriage market gradually, the problem of male marriage squeeze has become more prominent in China (S. Z. Li & Guo, 2013). According to the data of the seventh national population census in China, there are 17.52 million more marriageable men aged 20 to 40 than women. It is estimated that the number of marriageable men who cannot find a female partner will reach 33 million in 2028 and 41.41 million in 2043 (Huang, 2014), the total number of never married men will increase rapidly in 2011–2060, and never married men in rural areas is significantly more than that in cities and towns (X. C. Guo, 2021). According to China marriage tradition, women prefer men of greater socioeconomic status, and men often choose women who are lower in socioeconomic status than themselves, both in rural and in urban areas (Liang et al., 2018). Consequently, under women’s increasing participation in rural–urban migration, rural men in relatively remote regions from families with disadvantaged socioeconomic status end up being the marriage-squeezed men (S. Z. Li et al., 2010; Y. Li & Li, 2008; X. Yang et al., 2012). Studies have identified that the marriage-squeezed men are mainly at the bottom of society and reside in impoverished, remote, and undeveloped rural areas (Peng, 2004; Zhang & Zhong, 2005). The marriage-squeezed men are generally older, in poverty, low in education, relatively lacking in social capital and social resources, and more disadvantaged with respect to the overall quality of life (Attané et al., 2019; Jin et al., 2010; S. Z. Li et al., 2010).

In China, marriage is associated with adulthood, “a man should get married on coming of age, and a girl should get married upon reaching womanhood” (Y. H. Li & Feng, 1991). For parents, the psychological expectation of “the earlier their children get married, the earlier they will have peace of mind” comes from this (Song, 2017). Affected by the marriage squeeze in rural areas, parents have been worried about their son’s marriage since their sons came of age 18 or earlier. Parents urge their sons to be engaged or get married earlier to prevent their sons from falling into a lifelong situation of forced bachelor. Some scholars have reported that the marriage age of rural youth is basically maintained at about 20 years old (S. Liu, 2014; Yin, 2012). A field study of the marriage and family situation in rural areas of Henan, Jiangxi, Sichuan, and Guizhou provinces noted that the current early marriage and childbearing within rural areas are widespread, and early marriage is more pronounced in men than in women (Wu, 2020). A typical child in China starts school at the age of 6 and stays in school for 9 years (junior high school) or 12 years (high school) before entering the labor market or furthering his or her education. This means that for children who have only 9 or 12 years of education, the age for finding true love in the marriage market starts at the age of 15 or 18 (C. Chen, 2020). In rural areas, teenagers have graduated from junior high school or have not yet graduated, and they tend to “hang out” for 2 to 3 years after school, before getting engaged at the age of 17 to 18 and getting married between the ages of 18 and 20 (Song, 2017). So, it makes sense that adult rural unmarried men could feel the marriage squeeze.

Many studies have discussed the potential risks that unmarried rural men bring to families, communities, and society (Jiang & Li, 2011; Jin et al., 2010; Meng et al., 2021; B. Yang & Li, 2018); however, their well-being and development have been less discussed. A few studies on the relationship between unmarried rural men’s subjective well-being, marriage, and marriage squeeze have reached different findings. Some studies have indicated that the marriage-squeezed men have lower psychological welfare, subjective welfare, SWB, and lower quality of life compared with married men (Y. Li et al., 2009; Lu et al., 2019; L. Wang, 2012; S. Wang et al., 2021; X. Y. Yang et al., 2017). Other studies have revealed that unmarried status has no significant impact on the SWB of rural men (Ma, 2017). Some qualitative studies have reported that some marriage-squeezed men had a positive attitude toward life and maintained a good psychological state (Y. Li & Li, 2008; H. J. Liu & Gou, 2018). This shows that there is no direct influencing relationship between marriage squeeze and SWB. Some mediating factors may have a corresponding impact on the relationship between them. These mediating factors are the key to determining the mechanism of marriage squeeze on SWB; however, they have often been ignored in previous studies.

The Stress Process Model emphasizes that the stressor not only exerts a direct effect on individual well-being and health but also exerts an indirect effect through mediating resources at the individual or social level (Pearlin, 1989; Pearlin et al., 1981). Nevertheless, previous studies have not determined which mediating resources can alleviate the negative impact of marriage squeeze on unmarried rural men’s SWB. As an essential psychological coping resource of individuals, the sense of coherence (SOC) reflects an individual’s ability to cope with stressful situations and life events. The SOC is the individual’s comprehensive perception of the stress from the internal and external environment, resources of dealing with the stress, and the meaning of life. It can play a role in maintaining individual well-being when facing various stressors (Antonovsky, 1987, 1993). People with a high level of SOC can deal with stressful life events and problems more effectively to reduce the perception of pain and maintain better physical and mental health (Antonovsky, 1987). The SOC does not only directly affect individual SWB but also acts as a mediating resource to alleviate the impact of stressors on an individual’s well-being (Antonovsky, 1987). However, it needs to be further investigated whether SOC can buffer against the impact of the perceived marriage squeeze (PMS) on the SWB of unmarried rural men as a mediator resource in the Chinese cultural setting.

Based on the Stress Process Model, this article focused on unmarried rural men, explored the effects of PMS and SOC on the SWB of unmarried rural men, and determined the relationship between them. This study also attempted to explain the possible mechanism of the impact of PMS on the SWB of unmarried rural men from a psychological perspective.

Theoretical Perspective and Literature Review

The Stress Process Model (SPM model) is one of the classic models of stress and health. The SPM model has served as the primary theoretical framework for sociological study to explain how stressors exert their inimical effects on mental health and well-being. The view and understanding of the SPM model are derived from analyzing the impact of involuntary unemployment on depression (Pearlin et al., 1981). As a negative life event, involuntary unemployment leads to the chronic economic stress of unemployed workers, further reducing individual self-esteem and self-efficacy. This change in self-concept will eventually be related to an elevation in depression. The SPM model integrated the various elements involved in the effects of social stress on individuals into a unified theoretical paradigm named the Stress Process Model, including three main conceptual factors: the sources of stress, mediating resources, and the manifestations of stress (Pearlin et al., 1981). The SPM model focuses on how stressors such as life events or chronic stress affect the manifestations of stress through mediating resources such as psychological resources or social support (Pearlin, 1989). Research employing the SPM model discussed the impact path and mechanism of specific stressors, as well as the moderation and mediation role of varying mediating resources, which allows the government and relevant departments to take effective measures to reduce or alleviate the negative outcomes of specific stressors.

Various stressors may lead to negative health outcomes or manifestations of stress (Pearlin et al., 1981). The SPM model not only pays attention to discrete events such as job loss but is also attuned to how the larger social environment shapes exposure to mental health and well-being outcomes associated with stress (Pearlin, 1989). The contemporary China rural society exposes gender imbalance, and frequent female population migration means that the anticipatory stressor of marriage squeeze may increase, potentially intensifying the negative consequence associated with SWB of unmarried rural men. Under the framework of the SPM model, this article investigated the impact effect and effect mechanism of marriage squeeze on unmarried rural men’s SWB.

The Sources of Stress

The sources of stress refer to the challenging or baffling external environment. Thus, it negatively impacts emotion, cognition, behavior, physiological function, and well-being (Pearlin & Bierman, 2013). Previous studies have focused on the stressors that appear in two general forms: life events and chronic or repeated strains such as divorce, crime, violence, and economic hardships (Pearlin et al., 1981). Over time, researchers have increasingly paid more attention to those anticipated or apprehended stressors. Unlike the negative events and strains that have a current and active presence in people’s lives, perceived stressors may not exist as realities but are viewed as having the potential to occur (Pearlin & Bierman, 2013). Perceived stressors can be considered as constant friction among an individual’s goals, hopes, and achievements (Wheaton, 1994). Perceived stressors can more easily be recognized as the products of structured disjuncture between socially valued goals and opportunities for people to gain achievements. Perceived stressors may be aroused in various circumstances. Several findings suggest that when others face difficulties, individuals may increasingly anticipate that their own lives may be affected by the same threatening circumstances (Agnew, 2002; Pearlin & Bierman, 2013).

In rural China, with a solid universal marriage culture, it is expected that everyone should get married (X. Yang et al., 2012). Marriage reflects the individual’s social responsibility. Men who fail to get married at a suitable age are often looked down upon as “losers” because they fail to live up to the expectation of their parents and take the responsibility of bearing offspring. Compared with Western societies, being single results in more negative evaluations in China (H. J. Liu et al., 2013). Due to the long-term gender imbalance, a severe marriage squeeze on males in China will persist for a long time, obstructing the marriage path of many men and resulting in being alone for a lifetime and dying without a partner. X. Y. Yang et al. (2017) used social cognitive theory to shift this concept from the macro-level to the individual level and proposed that marriage squeeze at the individual level should be termed “perceived marriage squeeze.” PMS represents the disconnection between the limited marriage opportunities of unmarried men in rural areas and the cultural norms of universal social marriage. We argue that PMS can be regarded as an anticipated or apprehended stressor. It has been well established that those directly exposed to the marriage squeeze can suffer deleterious consequences (Lu et al., 2019; Lu & Zhao, 2018; X. Zhou et al., 2013). For example, X. Yang et al. (2022) noted the PMS positively related to suicidal ideation among unmarried rural men and increased the suicidal ideation incidence among unmarried rural men. In a marriage market with gender imbalance, the marriage squeeze is structural and objective. No matter the age of the person anticipating marriage, he faces the marriage squeeze if he lacks the opportunity in finding a spouse (W. Li et al., 2019). According to the SPM model, the anticipated or apprehended stressor can result in anxiety and apprehension among those who have not directly experienced such a stressor. Therefore, PMS can harm the well-being of all unmarried rural men, not just the older ones.

Mediating Resources

Mediating resources refer to individuals’ resources when dealing with stress. These resources can prevent, buffer, control, or regulate the impact of stressors on the manifestations of stress (Pearlin et al., 1981). Generally, mediating resources are classified as individual, social, and coping resources. Specifically, they include coping styles, social support, self-esteem, and a sense of control (Pearlin, 1999). Over time, the connotation of mediating resources has further expanded, and the role of belief systems, values, and meaning in the process of stress has gradually become a topic of interest for researchers (Pearlin & Bierman, 2013). Some studies have focused on the mediating or moderating role of psychological resources, such as a sense of belonging, job insecurity, and resilience in the process of stress (Ertl et al., 2019; Minnotte & Yucel, 2018; Nurius et al., 2015).

SOC is often used as a critical mediating factor in the relationship between stress events and well-being. As a global orientation, SOC expresses one has a pervasive, enduring though dynamic feeling of confidence, reflecting an individual’s ability to cope with stressful situations and life events (Antonovsky, 1987). Antonovsky noted that SOC is essential to stress coping and a protective psychological resource for personal well-being. It could activate individuals’ available resources when facing stressful situations, thus enabling them to successfully maintain mental and physical well-being (Antonovsky, 1987). Mittelmark and Bauer (2017) pointed out that a higher level of SOC helped people mobilize resources to cope with stressors and manage tension successfully. Many studies have substantiated that SOC was positively correlated with SWB but negatively correlated with depression and anxiety (Calandri et al., 2018; Moksnes et al., 2013; Wiesmann & Hannich, 2013). A follow-up survey of American community residents identified that the higher the individuals’ SOC is, the higher the life satisfaction and SWB one has (Langeland et al., 2007).

Antonovsky (1993) pointed out that negative life events and stressors can lead to a series of psychological problems by reducing an individual’s SOC. Eriksson and Lindstrom (2007) proclaimed that SOC can serve as a buffer to stressors, playing a mediating role between the stressor and individual physical and mental well-being and helping individuals adjust their psychological state to deal with various crises or stressful situations efficiently. Several studies have proved the mediating role of SOC in the relationship between stress events and subjective well-being. For example, a study on adolescents noted that SOC played an important mediating role between stressful events and SWB, which could buffer the negative effect of the stressful event on SWB (Y. Zhou et al., 2010). Some studies have further identified that SOC was a mediating variable between perceived stress and manifestations of stress, such as depression and life satisfaction. It could alleviate the influence of perceived stress on stress manifestations (L. N. Guo et al., 2018; Y. Guo et al., 2021; Wilson & Darling, 2017). Whether this relationship also exists in unmarried rural men who have been affected by the marriage squeeze needs to be further studied.

The Manifestations of Stress

The manifestation of stress refers to the aggregation of stressors and mediating resources, usually involving individual mental health and well-being (Pearlin & Bierman, 2013). In the empirical research using the SPM, depression is the most common manifestation of stress as an essential indicator of mental health (Aneshensel & Mitchell, 2014). The SPM model emphasizes that stressful life events and stressors harm individual subjective well-being (Pearlin, 1989). Subjective well-being refers to an individual’s overall evaluation of his or her current life quality according to self-defined standards. It is a comprehensive assessment of current life status and an essential and comprehensive psychological indicator to measure an individual’s life quality (Diener, 1984).

The marriage squeeze is a major life stress event for men in rural areas in China (Q. J. Guo & Jin, 2016). It was reported that compared with married men, unmarried men have lower SWB (Lu & Zhao, 2018; X. Zhou et al., 2013). Based on the investigation of older rural unmarried men in six counties (cities) of Guizhou Province, Lu et al. (2019) announced that the marriage squeeze had substantial negative effects on the SWB of older unmarried men. X. Y. Yang et al. (2017) used data collected in the rural Hanbin district of Ankang City (Shaanxi, China) to analyze the relationship between the marriage squeeze and the quality of life among rural men. The study identified that older unmarried men’s quality of life was significantly lower than that of married men due to the stronger PMS. Under the framework of the counterfactual concept, Ma (2017) used CGSS 2010 survey data to analyze the effects of singlehood of the rural male above the average marriage age on their SWB. The study noted that unmarried status had no significant negative impact on the SWB of rural men. Based on the interview data in YC District, LH City, Henan Province, Li and Li (2008) analyzed the pressure and how older unmarried rural men coped with it in China and disclosed that some older unmarried men had an optimistic attitude toward life and were full of confidence in life. H. J. Liu and Gou (2018) concluded from the qualitative interview data of 15 villages in A city, Shaanxi Province, while experiencing psychological pressure and self-psychological imbalance, some older unmarried men could still maintain a good psychological state faced with marriage squeeze. These findings show that the relationship between marriage squeeze and SWB is not a simple direct influencing relationship. There may be other factors that have a corresponding impact on its connection.

The SPM model noted that the effects mechanism of stressors on well-being and health might be multiple, which several mediating resources might moderate. The negative correlation between stressors and an individual’s well-being may be alleviated by the resources the individual has or uses (Pearlin, 1989; Pearlin & Bierman, 2013). In the mediation process, mediating resources may be diminished or increased by exposure to stressors and exert a corresponding influence on manifestations of stress (Pearlin & Bierman, 2013). Mediators are related to both the stressors and the manifestations of stress. In an empirical study of unmarried migrant workers, W. D. Li and Hu (2012) pointed out that the marriage squeeze did not have a significant direct impact on the mental anomie of unmarried male migrant workers, and the marriage squeeze needed to exert an effect on the psychological mechanism to affect the psychological state of unmarried migrant workers. Previous studies have not further explored the mediating factors that may play a role in the relationship between marriage squeeze and unmarried rural men’s subjective well-being.

Current Study

According to the previous studies above, the existing literature contains some conflicting findings on the relationship between marriage squeeze and SWB of unmarried rural men. Inconsistent findings mean that we cannot confirm the relationship between the PMS and SWB. Previous studies have been limited to demonstrating the direct relationship between the marriage squeeze and SWB of unmarried rural men. They have not explored whether a mediating variable in the relationship existed between them. Nevertheless, the SPM model assumes that mediating resources play an important buffering role between stressors and the manifestation of stress. As one of the most important personal psychological resources related to health and well-being, SOC has mostly been studied as a protective factor in coping with stressors and adversity (Duong et al., 2022; L. N. Guo et al., 2018; Super et al., 2014). The role of SOC in enabling individuals to promote health and well-being draws great attention from researchers. Research suggests that SOC is significantly and positively related to individual’s SWB (Bouclaous et al., 2022; Calandri et al., 2018; H. Chen et al., 2019; von Humboldt et al., 2015). A strong sense of coherence helps the individual to mobilize resources to cope with stressors and manage tension successfully with the help of the identification and use of generalized and specific resistance resources (Moksnes, 2021). However, the existing studies about SOC were mainly conducted under Western cultural backgrounds. Given the differences in cultures between Western and Eastern, under the individualism of Western culture, SOC is an important protective factor for individual health and welfare, whereas, under the collectivism background, such as China, the function of SOC is still less concerned. Therefore, the effect of SOC in different cultures is a significant topic that needs to be explored. In addition, no studies investigated the mediating role of SOC in the relationship between the PMS and SWB in the Chinese cultural setting. This study contributes to the literature since it was conducted in China, an eastern country with collectivistic culture, and explores and focuses on the function of SOC to SWB of specific in-groups from the view of positive health and well-being development. The purpose of this article is (a) to examine the effects of the PMS and SOC on the SWB of unmarried rural men and (b) to explore whether SOC can act as a mediator factor in the relationship between the PMS and SWB of unmarried rural men. Accordingly, based on the conceptual framework of the SPM model and previous literature, we proposed the following three hypotheses:

Hypothesis 1: The PMS is directly and negatively associated with unmarried rural men’s SWB.

Hypothesis 2: The SOC is directly and positively associated with unmarried rural men’s SWB.

Hypothesis 3: The association between PMS and unmarried rural men’s SWB is moderated by SOC.

Figure 1 illustrates the hypothesized mediation model whereby perceived marriage squeeze affected subjective well-being via SOC.

Figure 1.

Schematic Model of SOC as a Mediator Between PMS and SWB

Data and Method

Data and Survey Procedure

The data used in this article were taken from the “Survey on Rural Family Marital Status” survey about Marriage Anxiety in Rural Families. The questionnaire covered personal background information, marital status, social support, and other aspects. This survey was organized by Xi’an Polytechnic University, from July to September 2020 and 133 undergraduates who came from rural villages in Shaanxi, Shanxi, Henan, and other provinces were recruited because they speak the local dialect. The selected undergraduates were trained as interviewers to conduct the survey during the summer break of 2020. This study was approved by the Institutional Review Board of Xi’an Polytechnic University (Approval number: No.2020-01). All participants provided written informed consent prior to enrollment in the study.

In this survey, a nonprobabilistic convenience sampling method was used. The interviewers contacted people willing to answer the questionnaires in their villages and gave the respondents 20 yuan as a reward. Owing to some of our respondents with lower educational levels or without smartphones, the survey was conducted in two ways: one way was conducted on the Questionnaire Star platform, an online survey platform in China, and the other was the traditional paper version of the questionnaire; respondents could choose any of the ways according to their situation. Criteria for selecting the participants were as follows: (a) aged 18 and above (b) with rural household registration (hukou, in Chinese). And we ensure the same person can only complete one questionnaire by setting IP address restrictions (the IP address of each device was restricted to answering the questionnaire only once) and making data encoding of the paper version and digital version questionnaire in different ways. A total of 1,600 questionnaires were issued, covering 61 villages in 30 provinces, cities, and autonomous regions, including Shaanxi, Henan, Gansu, and Yunnan. Finally, we obtained 1,300 respondents. The effective return rate was 81.25%.

The respondents included unmarried men and women, and married men and women. Of the total respondents, the number of unmarried rural men is 424. This article aims to explore the effects of the PMS and SOC on the SWB of unmarried rural men in the context of gender imbalance. In the gender-imbalanced marriage market, any adult man who gets into the marriage market is likely to perceive the marriage squeeze regardless of age. We chose unmarried rural men aged 18 and above as our object in the present study. We excluded seven cases for missing values in key variables. Ultimately, a total of 417 samples were included in this study to conduct the analysis.

Measurement

Dependent Variables

In this article, the Satisfaction with Life Scale developed by Diener et al. (1985) was used to measure SWB. The scale consists of five items, and the options of each item are scored at five levels, ranging from 1 (completely disagree) to 5 (completely agree). The total score ranges from 5 to 25, with a higher total score reflecting a higher SWB (Diener et al., 1985). Many studies have demonstrated that this scale has higher reliability and validity in China and internationally (Bai et al., 2011; Diener et al., 1999). In this article, the Cronbach’s alpha of the scale was .906.

Independent Variables

Perceived Marriage Squeeze

This article adopted seven items to measure the PMS of unmarried rural men, including “Are you disappointed for being unmarried until now?” “Do you care about being unmarried until now?” “Are you worried that you might not get married in the future?” “Have you ever been humiliated (or looked down upon) for being single?” “Are you satisfied with your current unmarried status?” “Are you worried that you couldn’t find a spouse?” and “If it is difficult to find a suitable spouse in the future, are you willing to lower their mate selection criteria for marriage?” The answers to each item were given on a 5-point scale ranging from 1 (not at all) to 5 (very often). The exploratory factor analysis method was used to analyze the scale. The correlation coefficient between each component and the potential factor was above 0.591, with a characteristic root reaching 4.11. The variance explanation rate of the potential factor reached 59.50%, indicating that the seven components were the dominant manifestation of the potential factor. Among them, there was a reverse question. After forward processing of the reverse question, the sum was carried out. The higher total score represented a stronger feeling of PMS. In this article, the Cronbach’s alpha of these items was .885 and the KMO was 0.901, indicating that this scale had good reliability and validity. The detail of this scale is presented in the appendix.

Sense of Coherence

The Chinese version of the SOC-13 scale was used to measure SOC. Antonovsky compiled the original SOC-13 scale. It was translated and readjusted with the dimension of the items under Chinese culture by Domestic scholars (Bao & Liu, 2005). The options of each item were scored at seven levels, ranging from 1 (not at all) to 7 (very frequent), among which there were five reverse items. After the forward processing of the reverse questions, the total score ranged from 13 to 91. A higher score indicated a higher level of SOC. The total score could be further divided into three groups, 13 to 63 as low level, 64 to 79 as medium level, and 80 to 91 as high level. The reliability and validity of the SOC-13 scale have been widely confirmed in adult and adolescent samples and cross-cultural studies (Moksnes et al., 2013; Xi et al., 2014). The Chinese version of the SOC-13 scale had higher reliability, validity, and item differentiation (Bao & Liu, 2005). In this article, the Cronbach’s alpha of the scale was .833.

Control Variables

Based on the existing research results (Lu & Zhao, 2018; Ren & Ye, 2006), this paper included the factors that may affect the SWB of unmarried rural men as the control variable. The factors at the individual level included age, personal annual income, education, whether the parents are alive, migration experience, self-rated health, and interpersonal relationships. Family level factors included family economic self-assessment and family support. Table 1 presents the details of these variables.

Table 1.

Descriptive Statistics of Variables

Variables	Details and code of variables	M	SD
Subjective well-being	The total score ranges from 5 to 25.	14.359	4.629
Perceived marriage squeeze	The total score ranges from 7 to 35.	18.271	5.895
Sense of coherence	The total score ranges from 13 to 91.	55.751	11.155
Age	The respondent’s ages, ranged from 18 to 60.	28.88	5.892
Education	The respondent’s education level, “below junior high school” = 0 and “junior high school or above” = 1.	0.688	0.464
Personal annual income	The respondent’s annual income last year, “less than 40,000 yuan” =0 and “40,000 yuan or above” = 1.	0.393	0.489
Migration experience	The respondent’s migration experience, 0= “no” and 1= “yes”.	0.847	0.361
Interpersonal relationships	Four questions about unmarried men’s relationships with parents, relatives, friends, and others in the village. The answers were: 1 = very bad, 2 = not very good, 3 = fair, 4 = good, 5= very good. The total score ranged from 5 to 20. A higher score indicates better interpersonal relationships.	15.074	2.443
Self-rated health	The respondent’s health self-assessment, “poor or fair” = 0, “good” = 1, and “very good” = 2.	1.199	0.677
Parents alive	The respondent’s parent alive condition. “both alive” = 1 and “other” = 0.	0.851	0.356
Family economic self-assessment	The respondent’s family economic self-assessment. “bad” = 0, “fair” = 1, and “good” = 2.	0.782	0.645
Family support	Three questions were used to measure how much support and care respondents received from parents, siblings, and other family members. The answers were: 1 = none, 2 = little, 3 = fair, 4 = more, 5 = very much. The score from 3 to 9 is defined as “low family support” and set to 0, and the score from 10 to 15 is defined as “high family support” and set to 1.	0.892	0.311

Data Analysis

SPSS 25.0 was used for all statistical analyses. This article first adopted descriptive statistical analysis to describe the basic situation of the main variables and analyze the relationships between PMS, SOC, and SWB. Next, five linear regression models were constructed to test the effects of the PMS and SOC on unmarried rural men’s SWB. Model 1 was applied to test the rough effect of PMS on SWB of unmarried rural men. Model 2 included the PMS and control variables to estimate the net effect of the PMS on the SWB. Model 3 was applied to test the rough effect of SOC on SWB of unmarried rural men. Model 4 included the SOC and control variables to estimate the net effect of the SOC on the SWB. Model 5 included the PMS, SOC, and control variables to analyze the co-effect of the PMS and SOC on the SWB. To further explore the mediation effect of SOC on the relationship between the PMS and SWB, using Macro PROCESS 3.3 in SPSS, this study adopted a bias-corrected percentile bootstrap method to test the mediating valid and robust effect of SOC by setting Model 6-8.

Results

The Description Statistics

Table 1 presents the descriptive analysis results. The investigated unmarried rural men’s average score of SWB was 14.359. The average score of PMS was 18.271, whereas the average score of SOC was 55.751. According to the classifications of SOC, the score of SOC of unmarried rural men was at a low level. Besides, the standard deviation of SWB, PMS, and SOC was relatively large, indicating the imbalanced distribution of unmarried rural men with substantial individual differences. In addition, the investigated unmarried rural men’s age, personal annual income, education, migration experience, interpersonal relationships, self-rated health, whether the parents are alive, family economic self-assessment, and family support are presented in Table 1.

The Correlation Analysis

Bivariate correlations (Table 2) describe significant associations between subjective well-being and perceived marriage squeeze and sense of coherence. PMS was negatively correlated with SWB (r = −.34, p < .001), and SOC was positively correlated with SWB (r = .42, p < .001).

Table 2.

Correlations of Perceived Marriage Squeeze, Sense of Coherence, and Subjective Well-Being

Variable	PMS	SOC	SWB
Perceived marriage squeeze (PMS)	1
Sense of coherence (SOC)	−0.51***	1
Subjective well-being (SWB)	−0.34***	0.42***	1

***

p < .001.

The Regression Analysis

Table 3 gives information about the effects of the PMS, SOC, and the control variables on the SWB of unmarried rural men.

Table 3.

Multiple Regressions of Perceived Marriage Squeeze on Subjective Well-Being

Variable	Model 1	Model 2	Model 3	Model 4	Model 5
Perceived marriage squeeze	−0.388*** (0.036)	−0.261*** (0.036)			−0.179**(0.041)
Sense of coherence			0.432*** (0.018)	0.266*** (0.020)	0.181**(0.022)
Age		0.071(0.036)		0.007(0.034)	0.059(0.036)
Education (Ref. Below junior high school)
Junior high school or above		−0.035(0.434)		−0.014(0.431)	−0.034(0.429)
Personal annual income (Ref. Less than ¥40,000)
¥40,000 or above		−0.076(0.399)		−0.082(0.401)	−0.089(0.396)
Migration experience(Ref. No)
Yes		0.112**(0.525)		0.120**(0.526)	0.117**(0.519)
Interpersonal relationships		0.295*** (0.081)		0.226*** (0.086)	0.241*** (0.085)
Self-rated health(Ref. Poor or fair)
Good		0.103(0.562)		0.093(0.562)	0.095(0.555)
Very Good		0.234*** (0.608)		0.186**(0.619)	0.194**(0.611)
Parents alive (Ref. Other)
Both alive		−0.044(0.555)		−0.021(0.559)	−0.027(0.552)
Family economic self-assessment (Ref. Bad)
Fair		0.226*** (0.433)		0.232*** (0.432)	0.215*** (0.428)
Good		0.231*** (0.653)		0.242*** (0.650)	0.227*** (0.645)
Family support (Ref. Low) High		0.066(0.608)		0.050(0.608)	0.057(0.601)
R ²	0.115	0.344	0.187	0.343	0.362
Adjust R ²	0.112	0.324	0.185	0.324	0.341
F	53.697***	17.619***	95.267***	17.580***	17.592***

Note. Standard errors are in parentheses. Ref. = Reference Group; ¥ = China Yuan.

***

p < .001. **p < .01.

Model 1 illustrates that without considering the control variables, PMS was significantly negatively related to the SWB of unmarried rural men (b = −0.388, p < .001). Specifically, unmarried rural men with a stronger PMS had lower SWB. Model 2 shows that PMS still had a significant negative relation with SWB after considering the control variables (b = −0.261, p < .001). Hypothesis 1 was confirmed.

Model 3 analyzed the effect of SOC on SWB without considering the control variables. The result shows that SOC was significantly positively related to the SWB of unmarried rural men (b = 0.432, p < .001). Specifically, unmarried rural men with a higher level of SOC had higher SWB. Model 4 included SOC and control variables, and SOC still had a significant positive relation with the SWB of unmarried rural men (b = 0.266, p < .001). Hypothesis 2 was supported by these results.

Model 5 included PMS, SOC, and control variables. The results show that the effects of PMS and SOC on SWB of unmarried rural men were still statistically significant with the control variables considered. However, the absolute values of their coefficients decreased. The coefficient of PMS decreased from −0.261 to −0.179. The coefficient of SOC decreased from 0.266 to 0.181.

According to Model 5, some control variables also significantly affected SWB. For example, unmarried rural men with migration experience, better interpersonal relationships, better self-rated health, and family economic self-assessment had a higher score of SWB.

The Mediation Effect Analysis

The analyses above revealed that the PMS was negatively and significantly associated with the SWB of unmarried rural men. At the same time, SOC was positively and significantly associated with the SWB of unmarried rural men. To further test whether SOC had a mediating effect on the relationship between PMS and SWB of unmarried rural men, this article used Model 4 in SPSS Macro PROCESS 3.3 developed by Hayes (2015) to carry out the test. Owing to the significant effects of migration experience, self-rated health, interpersonal relationships, and family economic self-assessment on unmarried rural men’s SWB, these variables were included in the analysis as control variables to control their possible effects. The results (Table 4) represent that PMS had negative and significant effects on both SWB (b = −0.208, p < .001) and SOC (b = −0.426, p < .001). The direct effect of PMS on SWB was still significant after the addition of mediating variable (b = −0.128, p < .01), but the absolute value of the coefficient became lower. SOC had a significant positive effect on SWB (b = 0.189, p < .001). It indicated that SOC played a partial mediating role in the relationship between PMS and SWB. It could mitigate the negative impact of PMS on SWB to a certain extent.

Table 4.

Regression Analysis of the Mediating Model of Sense of Coherence

Variable	Model 6 Subjective well-being		Model 7 Sense of coherence		Model 8 Subjective well-being
	β	t	β	t	β	t
Perceived marriage squeeze	−0.208(0.033)	−4.896***	−0.426(0.075)	−10.717***	−0.128(0.037)	−2.698^**
Sense of coherence					0.189(0.022)	3.613***
Control variables	YES		YES		YES
R ²	0.323		0.411		0.344
F	27.922***		40.703***		26.783***

Note. Standard errors are in parentheses.

***

p < .001. **p < .01.

To further obtain the mediating effect of SOC, this article used the bootstrap method (repeated sampling 5000 times, confidence interval 95%) to calculate the confidence interval of the total effect, direct effect, mediating effect, and proportion of the mediating effect. The results are presented in Table 5. This manifests that the Bootstrap 95% confidence interval of the direct effect of PMS on SWB and the mediating effect of SOC did not contain 0. It further indicated that the mediating impact of SOC was significant. The PMS could directly affect the SWB of unmarried rural men. It could affect the SWB of unmarried rural men through the mediating effect of SOC indirectly. More precisely, the PMS reduced or lowered the SWB of unmarried rural men by lowering their level of SOC. By calculation, in the relationship between PMS and unmarried rural men’s SWB, SOC could explain 38.4% of the total variance change. Thus, Hypothesis 3 was confirmed.

Table 5.

Table of the Total Effect, Direct Effect, and Mediating Effect

Effect types	Effect	Boot SD error	Boot CI Top	Boot CI Bottom	Relative effect proportion (%)
Total effect	−0.164	0.033	−0.098	−0.229
Direct effect	−0.101	0.037	−0.027	−0.174	61.6
Mediating effect of sense of coherence	−0.063	0.018	−0.030	−0.098	38.4

Note. Boot = Bootstrap.

Discussion

Using the data from “Survey on Rural Family Marital Status,” this study tested the effects of PMS and SOC on unmarried rural men’s SWB and further tested whether SOC moderates the association between PMS and unmarried rural men’s SWB in the Chinese cultural setting. Our study revealed that the PMS had a significant negative impact on the SWB of unmarried rural men, which verified Hypothesis 1. A study on the male youth (aged 28–40) in rural areas of Guizhou Province has a similar finding; Lu et al. (2019) pointed out the SWB of male youth was negatively impacted by the PMS; the stronger feeling of PMS unmarried rural men experienced, the lower their SWB was. This finding is consistent with the Stress Process Model (SPM model), which states that the different levels of stressors contribute to varying levels of negative outcomes (Pearlin & Bierman, 2013). Being married is viewed as a desired social accomplishment in many Asian countries, including Indonesia and India, which makes unmarried adults vulnerable to derogation and considerably impacts the well-being of unmarried adults (Himawan et al., 2018; Vishwakarma et al., 2019). A possible explanation is that, in the universal marriage culture society, being married is regarded as a crucial “cultural norm”; the positive association between SWB and marital status is that married individuals feel they have successfully met these cultural expectations (Wadsworth, 2016). In China, voluntary singlehood will remain rare, and heterosexual marriage and childbearing are still a goal sought by most young adults and society (Yu, 2021). In most rural areas in China, the traditional marriage culture of “everyone should get married” is deeply rooted. Being married and bearing offspring are crucial to an individual’s self-identity and SWB (Pimentel, 2002). Unmarried rural men who fail to marry at the marriageable age and bear offspring due to marriage squeeze do not meet local cultural expectations and would be perceived as losers in the marriage culture. A prolonged period of singlehood, especially permanent singlehood, implies social marginalization (Jones & Yeung, 2014). Unmarried rural men not only bear the psychological stress from marriage failure but also suffer from the stress in all aspects of family and society, resulting in lower SWB of unmarried rural men. Over time, it may cause serious psychological obstacles and personality distortion. It is necessary for us to pay more attention to the well-being of unmarried rural men.

Our results suggest a positive relationship between SOC and SWB of unmarried rural men. The results showed that unmarried rural men with a higher level of SOC enjoyed a higher level of SWB, which supports Hypothesis 2. Some studies on SOC against other populations reported similar results. A study on Chinese rural older adults identified that SOC has a significant positive impact on their SWB (X. Li & Yang, 2013), whereas the positive correlation persists in Chinese middle school students (Y. Zhou et al., 2010). Furthermore, the present study demonstrated that the positive effect of SOC on SWB also exists in unmarried rural men, which broadened our knowledge about the impact of SOC on different populations of people. Unmarried rural men with a strong SOC seem to perceive life pressure as more benign and improvable, thus feeling less depressed and passive, and use some practical and feasible strategies to cope with PMS appropriately. People with a higher level of SOC can have a clearer understanding of the essence of the problem from cognitional and emotional perspectives, facing the problem actively and reducing their perception of pain. They tend to regard difficulties and setbacks as challenges and opportunities for growth and deal with them using their own and environmental resources actively, which is beneficial to improving their SWB. When evaluating the impact of marriage squeeze on themselves, unmarried rural men will comprehensively analyze various resources that can be used to deal with the effects of marriage squeeze. When they understand the problem of marriage squeeze more clearly, they can adopt a more positive attitude and strive to find resources to solve the problem of marriage squeeze, thus improving their SWB.

We demonstrated that SOC partially mediated the relationship between PMS and unmarried rural men’s SWB. More precisely, SOC can alleviate the negative impact of PMS on unmarried rural men’s SWB to a certain extent. To our knowledge, this was one of only a few studies that pay attention to how the PMS affects the SWB of unmarried rural men in China, which supports Hypothesis 3. The current research results provide conclusive evidence for previous results suggesting that SOC buffers stress, raising positive well-being (H. Chen et al., 2019; Heiman, 2004). As an essential individual psychological resource, SOC plays a role in relieving stress. However, with an increase in stress, it is also greatly affected, in line with the SPM model. In the influencing process of stressors, mediating resources may be diminished or increased by exposure to stressors and exert a commensurate influence on manifestations of stress (Pearlin & Bierman, 2013). Mc Gee et al. (2018) noted that SOC could explain the relationship between stress or adversity and SWB. To some extent, this article verified the potential influencing mechanism and path of PMS on the SWB of unmarried rural men; PMS has a directly negative impact on the SWB of unmarried rural men, and SOC slows down the negative effects of PMS on the SWB of unmarried rural men through its positive impact on SWB. This also supports that those who think their lives are more meaningful and can manage stress can cope with various stress and stay well-being successfully (Eriksson & Lindstrom, 2007). This finding of this study extended our knowledge that the SOC plays an important role in easing the negative effect of PMS on SWB of unmarried rural men in China. This means that appropriate intervention strategies to strengthen SOC may help protect against PMS and weaken the negative effect on well-being through this path.

This study disclosed that self-rated health, interpersonal relationships, and family economic status significantly affect the SWB of unmarried rural men. Self-rated health could reflect individuals’ confidence and expectation of their health status to a certain extent (Xu et al., 2015). Therefore, unmarried rural men with better self-rated health status will have higher SWB. Those with better interpersonal relationships enjoy a higher quality of social capital and SWB (Bian & Xiao, 2014). However, as they get older, their “anti-traditional cultural behavior” is inconsistent with the general environment and damages their interpersonal relationships, which leads to personal interaction difficulties (H. J. Liu & Gou, 2018). It is of great importance to maintain interpersonal relationships. The better family economic condition unmarried rural men have, the higher SWB they have, confirming that the family protective mechanism is conducive to improving individual SWB (Mo &Yang, 2021). This article found that the experience of being migrant workers could significantly improve the SWB of unmarried rural men. As a meaningful way for older unmarried men to put their hopes and escape the pressure of being unmarried, being migrant workers become a common choice for these unmarried rural men, especially the younger ones (H. J. Liu, 2017). Besides, under the background of male marriage squeeze, migrant workers working out of the home can expand the intermarriage circle and increase the “quality” and “quantity” of potential female potential spouses. On one hand, the individual’s experience of being migrant workers can expand the range of their social networks and provide them with more opportunities to meet with females outside the local marriage market. This expands their intermarriage circle and improves the possibility of cross-regional intermarriage. On the other hand, it can also increase their knowledge, broaden their horizon, improve their family’s economic status, thus raise their personal and family social capital, and enhance the possibility of their marriage, enhancing their SWB indirectly.

Limitations and Implications

Despite some research findings, this article has some limitations. First, this article relies on a cross-sectional design, so it is impossible to accurately predict the final marital status of unmarried rural men affected by the marriage squeeze. It is difficult to assess whether the mediating effect of SOC will develop and change over time. In the future, researchers could collect longitudinal data at different points and conduct comparative studies to demonstrate the causal relationship between marriage squeeze and SWB and the change in the impact of SOC over time. Besides, this article only selected some important sociodemographic variables as control variables owing to the limited sample size. Other essential variables affecting SWB may not be included in the model; thus, more possible influencing factors should be considered in future studies.

Based on the above findings, this study suggests that governments and relevant departments at all levels can improve the SWB of rural unmarried men in the following ways. First, relevant departments can strengthen the publicity of the “new culture of marriage and childbirth” policy in rural areas to create a more pluralistic and embracing marriage cultural atmosphere in which a better living space could be provided for rural unmarried men, with less social prejudice against them, further helping them to build good interpersonal relationships and alleviating their level of perceived marriage squeeze. Second, social work intervention and other methods can enhance the SOC of rural unmarried men and improve their ability to cope with stress and their cognition of the promising life to enhance their SWB. For example, psychodramatic techniques, including creative expression through writing, music, and art, as well as muscular relaxation and visualization exercises, enhance unmarried rural mens’ sense of coherence. In addition, the free discussions will provide the unmarried rural men with a sense of security and belonging on a collective level, creating an atmosphere that will allow them to express their personal feelings, rousing their inner world so that they keep reasonable confidence about the future, which will enhance their SOC and SWB. Third, the relevant departments should take measures to improve rural unmarried men’s workability through vocational skills training and provide more opportunities for them to work in urban areas. Only in this way can they step out of the village, appreciate an expansive world, expand the range of personal social circles, and improve their family’s economic status with their SWB improved indirectly.

Conclusion

This study has explored the relationship between PMS and SWB and the SOC’s mediating effect on unmarried rural men in China. The results confirmed that the PMS harmed the SWB and the SOC of unmarried rural men. In addition, this study demonstrated the significant mediating role of SOC in the relationship between PMS and SWB. Although PMS reduces the SWB of unmarried rural men and undermines their SOC, SOC still plays a vital role in mitigating the PMS’s negative influence on the SWB of unmarried rural men. Those findings generally support the SPM model, which suggests that psychological resources could alleviate the negative impact of the stressor (Pearlin & Bierman, 2013). The SOC acting as a critical psychological resource could mitigate PMS’s negative influence on the SWB. Our findings highlight the importance of improving the level of SOC of unmarried rural men to alleviate the negative impact of the PMS on their SWB. This study significantly deepens our understanding of SOC in the Chinese cultural setting because it demonstrated the positive effect of SOC on SWB in unmarried rural men, revealed the possible mechanism of impact of PMS on SWB of unmarried men from a psychological perspective, and emphasized the critical mediating effect of SOC. Overall, our findings shed light on a moderation model to understand the influence of PMS on unmarried rural men’s SWB. This mediation model has the potential to develop targeted prevention and intervention programs to enhance unmarried rural unmarried men’s SWB in the face of marriage squeeze.

Footnotes

Appendix

Acknowledgements

We would like to thank Editage () for English language editing.

Author Contributions

All authors contributed to the study conception and design. Material preparation, data collection, and analysis were performed by Qunlin Zhang and Zhibin Li. The first draft of the manuscript was written by Zhibin Li and all authors commented on previous versions of the manuscript. All authors read and approved the final manuscript.

Declaration of Conflicting Interests

The author(s) declared no potential conflicts of interest with respect to the research, authorship, and/or publication of this article.

Funding

The author(s) disclosed receipt of the following financial support for the research, authorship, and/or publication of this article: This work was supported by the China National Social Science Foundation (Grant number: 19XRK003).

Ethics Approval and Consent to Participate

The study was approved by the Institutional Review Board of Xi’an Polytechnic University (Approval number: No.2020-01). All procedures of the study were conducted in accordance with the Declaration of Helsinki. All participants provided written informed consent prior to enrolment in the study. The participants reserved the right to withdraw from the study without consequences.

Consent for Publication

All authors approved the manuscript and agreed to publish it.

ORCID iD

Zhibin Li

Data Availability

Not applicable. All data were calculated using SPSS 25 installed in the computer in the Lab of School of Management of Xi’an Polytechnic University.

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