Subjective Well-Being of Chinese Landless Peasants in Relatively Developed Regions: Measurement Using PANAS and SWLS

Abstract

The government of China expropriated the lands of peasants for urban development. Though some landless peasants have become the urban residents in the household registration system, they still recognize themselves as traditional peasants in the psychological cultural aspects. And they do not enjoy the same social security as urban citizens. This study explores the subjective well-being (SWB) of Chinese landless peasants using two scales, namely, the positive and negative affect schedule (PANAS) and the satisfaction with life scale (SWLS). A total of 1,236 landless peasants from three relatively developed cities (Nanjing, Yangzhou, and Hangzhou) were included in the sample. Results indicated that 60 % of the respondents got NA scores above the midpoint of scale (30) and 64.64 % of the respondents reported PA scores below the midpoint of scale (30). And 64.56 % of the respondents got SWLS scores below the midpoint of scale (20). SWLS is positively related to PA and negatively related to NA. Therefore, as landless peasants possess more or stronger negative emotions, their SWB decreases. Unfair or unreasonable land compensation and resettlement policy are supposed to lead to negative emotions, while incomplete social security system leads to low life satisfaction among landless peasants.