Air pollution perception bias and its influence on well-being: a multilevel analysis of micro and macro influences in China

Air pollution perception bias and its influence on well-being: a multilevel analysis of micro and macro influences in China | Research Square window.SnipcartSettings = { analytics: { enabled: false } }; (function() { var accessVector = localStorage.getItem('access_vector') || ''; window.dataLayer = window.dataLayer || []; if (accessVector) { window.dataLayer.push({ user: { profile: { profileInfo: { snid: accessVector } } } }); } })(); (function(w,d,s,l,i){w[l]=w[l]||[];w[l].push({'gtm.start':new Date().getTime(),event:'gtm.js'});var f=d.getElementsByTagName(s)[0],j=d.createElement(s),dl=l!='dataLayer'?'&l='+l:'';j.async=true;j.src='https://www.googletagmanager.com/gtm.js?id='+i+dl;f.parentNode.insertBefore(j,f);})(window,document,'script','dataLayer','GTM-K279D39R'); Browse Preprints In Review Journals COVID-19 Preprints AJE Video Bytes Research Tools Research Promotion AJE Professional Editing AJE Rubriq About Preprint Platform In Review Editorial Policies Our Team Advisory Board Help Center Sign In Submit a Preprint Cite Share Download PDF Article Air pollution perception bias and its influence on well-being: a multilevel analysis of micro and macro influences in China Chunyu YANG, Xiaolong Wen, Shaobo SONG, Mutong HUANG, Junfeng WANG This is a preprint; it has not been peer reviewed by a journal. https://doi.org/ 10.21203/rs.3.rs-7681484/v1 This work is licensed under a CC BY 4.0 License Status: Posted Version 1 posted You are reading this latest preprint version Abstract Previous research has highlighted a notable connection between perceived air quality and well-being. However, the impact of biases in air quality perception on well-being has been insufficiently examined. This study combines subjective air pollution (SP) data from the 2021 China General Social Survey (CGSS) and China Social Survey (CSS) with objective air pollution (OP) measurements at the provincial level, specifically PM 2.5 and PM 10, to calculate the air quality perception bias (AQPB). We further explore the relationship between AQPB and well-being, considering both individual and broader factors across 5054 Chinese adults. A range of models, including Ordered Probit (O-Probit), Ordered Logit (Ologit), and Ordinary Least Squares (OLS), are employed to test the consistency of the results, with Instrumental Variable Ordered Probit (IV-OPROBIT) models used for robustness checks. The results show that 70.1% of participants underestimate the severity of air pollution, where SP is more favorable than OP. Significant demographic differences in AQPB and well-being were identified. Moreover, AQPB is negatively related to well-being, indicating that larger discrepancies between perceived and actual air quality are linked to lower levels of reported well-being. The analysis incorporates both macro and micro factors. These findings offer valuable insights for policymakers focused on reducing AQPB and enhancing public well-being. Earth and environmental sciences/Environmental sciences Earth and environmental sciences/Environmental social sciences Air quality perception bias Subjective air quality Objective air quality Well-being Full Text Additional Declarations No competing interests reported. Cite Share Download PDF Status: Posted Version 1 posted You are reading this latest preprint version Research Square lets you share your work early, gain feedback from the community, and start making changes to your manuscript prior to peer review in a journal. As a division of Research Square Company, we’re committed to making research communication faster, fairer, and more useful. We do this by developing innovative software and high quality services for the global research community. Our growing team is made up of researchers and industry professionals working together to solve the most critical problems facing scientific publishing. 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China","fulltext":[],"fulltextSource":"","fullText":"","funders":[],"hasAdminPriorityOnWorkflow":false,"hasManuscriptDocX":false,"hasOptedInToPreprint":true,"hasPassedJournalQc":"","hasAnyPriority":false,"hideJournal":true,"highlight":"","institution":"","isAcceptedByJournal":false,"isAuthorSuppliedPdf":true,"isDeskRejected":"","isHiddenFromSearch":false,"isInQc":false,"isInWorkflow":false,"isPdf":true,"isPdfUpToDate":true,"isWithdrawnOrRetracted":false,"journal":{"display":true,"email":"[email protected]","identity":"researchsquare","isNatureJournal":false,"hasQc":true,"allowDirectSubmit":true,"externalIdentity":"","sideBox":"","snPcode":"","submissionUrl":"/submission","title":"Research Square","twitterHandle":"researchsquare","acdcEnabled":true,"dfaEnabled":false,"editorialSystem":"","reportingPortfolio":"","inReviewEnabled":false,"inReviewRevisionsEnabled":true},"keywords":"Air quality perception bias, Subjective air quality, Objective air quality, Well-being","lastPublishedDoi":"10.21203/rs.3.rs-7681484/v1","lastPublishedDoiUrl":"https://doi.org/10.21203/rs.3.rs-7681484/v1","license":{"name":"CC BY 4.0","url":"https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/"},"manuscriptAbstract":"\u003cp\u003ePrevious research has highlighted a notable connection between perceived air quality and well-being. However, the impact of biases in air quality perception on well-being has been insufficiently examined. This study combines subjective air pollution (SP) data from the 2021 China General Social Survey (CGSS) and China Social Survey (CSS) with objective air pollution (OP) measurements at the provincial level, specifically PM\u003csub\u003e2.5\u003c/sub\u003e and PM\u003csub\u003e10,\u003c/sub\u003e to calculate the air quality perception bias (AQPB). We further explore the relationship between AQPB and well-being, considering both individual and broader factors across 5054 Chinese adults. A range of models, including Ordered Probit (O-Probit), Ordered Logit (Ologit), and Ordinary Least Squares (OLS), are employed to test the consistency of the results, with Instrumental Variable Ordered Probit (IV-OPROBIT) models used for robustness checks. The results show that 70.1% of participants underestimate the severity of air pollution, where SP is more favorable than OP. Significant demographic differences in AQPB and well-being were identified. Moreover, AQPB is negatively related to well-being, indicating that larger discrepancies between perceived and actual air quality are linked to lower levels of reported well-being. The analysis incorporates both macro and micro factors. These findings offer valuable insights for policymakers focused on reducing AQPB and enhancing public well-being.\u003c/p\u003e","manuscriptTitle":"Air pollution perception bias and its influence on well-being: a multilevel analysis of micro and macro influences in China","msid":"","msnumber":"","nonDraftVersions":[{"code":1,"date":"2025-11-10 06:58:21","doi":"10.21203/rs.3.rs-7681484/v1","editorialEvents":[{"type":"communityComments","content":0}],"status":"published","journal":{"display":true,"email":"[email protected]","identity":"researchsquare","isNatureJournal":false,"hasQc":true,"allowDirectSubmit":true,"externalIdentity":"","sideBox":"","snPcode":"","submissionUrl":"/submission","title":"Research Square","twitterHandle":"researchsquare","acdcEnabled":true,"dfaEnabled":false,"editorialSystem":"","reportingPortfolio":"","inReviewEnabled":false,"inReviewRevisionsEnabled":true}}],"origin":"","ownerIdentity":"09c908ec-0b66-43b6-967b-fbb1fb5ab74b","owner":[],"postedDate":"November 10th, 2025","published":true,"recentEditorialEvents":[],"rejectedJournal":[],"revision":"","amendment":"","status":"posted","subjectAreas":[{"id":57291746,"name":"Earth and environmental sciences/Environmental sciences"},{"id":57291747,"name":"Earth and environmental sciences/Environmental social sciences"}],"tags":[],"updatedAt":"2026-02-06T18:10:30+00:00","versionOfRecord":[],"versionCreatedAt":"2025-11-10 06:58:21","video":"","vorDoi":"","vorDoiUrl":"","workflowStages":[]},"version":"v1","identity":"rs-7681484","journalConfig":"researchsquare"},"__N_SSP":true},"page":"/article/[identity]/[[...version]]","query":{"redirect":"/article/rs-7681484","identity":"rs-7681484","version":["v1"]},"buildId":"8U1c8b4HqxoKbykW_rLl7","isFallback":false,"isExperimentalCompile":false,"dynamicIds":[84888],"gssp":true,"scriptLoader":[]}