The Direct and Indirect Impact of Household Income on Urban Residents' Sports Consumption: An Empirical Analysis Based on Data from Chinese Urban Residents

The Direct and Indirect Impact of Household Income on Urban Residents' Sports Consumption: An Empirical Analysis Based on Data from Chinese Urban Residents | 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 Research Article The Direct and Indirect Impact of Household Income on Urban Residents' Sports Consumption: An Empirical Analysis Based on Data from Chinese Urban Residents Yulan Mou, Wang Ping, Can Ao This is a preprint; it has not been peer reviewed by a journal. https://doi.org/ 10.21203/rs.3.rs-8387443/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 Objective This study examines how household income influences urban residents' sports consumption, focusing on the psychological benefits of sports participation, such as stress relief and improved emotional well-being. It explores both direct and indirect effects, considering mediating factors like psychological health, lifestyle, and consumption patterns. Methods Using data from the China Family Panel Studies (CFPS), this research employs the Tobit model to handle censored data (zero sports consumption), along with Bootstrap and endogeneity tests to ensure robust and statistically significant results. Mediation analysis is used to explore indirect pathways, particularly through psychological well-being. Results The study finds a positive relationship between household income and sports consumption. As income rises, so does spending on sports-related activities, with income indirectly promoting sports consumption by increasing overall leisure spending. Sports participation significantly improves psychological health by reducing stress, anxiety, and depression. However, the "crowding-out effect" of longer working hours limits sports participation, reducing its psychological benefits. Conclusions Household income both directly and indirectly influences sports consumption, with psychological well-being acting as a key mediator. Policymakers should focus on balancing work and leisure to enhance the psychological and physical benefits of sports, while addressing regional disparities in sports opportunities to promote inclusive participation. Other Public Policy Household income sports consumption indirect effects endogeneity test robustness test Full Text Additional Declarations The authors declare no competing interests. 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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of Household Income on Urban Residents' Sports Consumption: An Empirical Analysis Based on Data from Chinese Urban Residents\u003c/strong\u003e\u003c/p\u003e","fulltext":[],"fulltextSource":"","fullText":"","funders":[],"hasAdminPriorityOnWorkflow":false,"hasManuscriptDocX":false,"hasOptedInToPreprint":true,"hasPassedJournalQc":"","hasAnyPriority":true,"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 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It explores both direct and indirect effects, considering mediating factors like psychological health, lifestyle, and consumption patterns.\u003c/p\u003e\u003ch2\u003eMethods\u003c/h2\u003e \u003cp\u003eUsing data from the China Family Panel Studies (CFPS), this research employs the Tobit model to handle censored data (zero sports consumption), along with Bootstrap and endogeneity tests to ensure robust and statistically significant results. Mediation analysis is used to explore indirect pathways, particularly through psychological well-being.\u003c/p\u003e\u003ch2\u003eResults\u003c/h2\u003e \u003cp\u003eThe study finds a positive relationship between household income and sports consumption. As income rises, so does spending on sports-related activities, with income indirectly promoting sports consumption by increasing overall leisure spending. Sports participation significantly improves psychological health by reducing stress, anxiety, and depression. 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Policymakers should focus on balancing work and leisure to enhance the psychological and physical benefits of sports, while addressing regional disparities in sports opportunities to promote inclusive participation.\u003c/p\u003e","manuscriptTitle":"The Direct and Indirect Impact of Household Income on Urban Residents' Sports Consumption: An Empirical Analysis Based on Data from Chinese Urban Residents","msid":"","msnumber":"","nonDraftVersions":[{"code":1,"date":"2025-12-18 11:58:17","doi":"10.21203/rs.3.rs-8387443/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":"20c93398-abbd-43d2-9ebd-a61b34aa5cd8","owner":[],"postedDate":"December 18th, 2025","published":true,"recentEditorialEvents":[],"rejectedJournal":[],"revision":"","amendment":"","status":"posted","subjectAreas":[{"id":59833189,"name":"Other Public Policy"}],"tags":[],"updatedAt":"2026-01-08T03:08:57+00:00","versionOfRecord":[],"versionCreatedAt":"2025-12-18 11:58:17","video":"","vorDoi":"","vorDoiUrl":"","workflowStages":[]},"version":"v1","identity":"rs-8387443","journalConfig":"researchsquare"},"__N_SSP":true},"page":"/article/[identity]/[[...version]]","query":{"redirect":"/article/rs-8387443","identity":"rs-8387443","version":["v1"]},"buildId":"8U1c8b4HqxoKbykW_rLl7","isFallback":false,"isExperimentalCompile":false,"dynamicIds":[84888],"gssp":true,"scriptLoader":[]}