Chuntian Lu

1. China, the world’s largest emitter, generated roughly one-third of global emissions as of 2022 (Li et al., 2024). Its domestic climate policies thus have global significance and are pivotal to r...

Differences in physical activity levels partly reflect structural inequalities in access to health opportunities. According to the socio-ecological model t

Background: With rapid urbanization, mental health challenges such as depression and emotional distress are becoming increasingly common. Contact with natural environments has been shown to improve mental health, yet most studies focus on direct associations between environmental exposure and mental health. The behavioral mechanisms underlying these benefits remain underexplored. This study aims to investigate whether outdoor activity frequency mediates the relationship between individuals’ intention to engage in outdoor activities and depressive mood. Methods: We used data from the 2021 Chinese General Social Survey (CGSS). Drawing on the Theory of Planned Behavior (TPB) and supported by Stress Recovery Theory (SRT) and Attention Restoration Theory (ART), we constructed a mediation model. Ordinary Least Squares regression, ordered logistic regression, and mediation analysis were applied to assess the relationships among outdoor activity intention, activity frequency, and depressive mood. Results: The analyses revealed three main findings. First, outdoor activity intention alone did not directly reduce depressive mood. Second, outdoor activity frequency significantly alleviated depressive mood, suggesting that actual behavioral engagement with nature is critical. Third, the effect of outdoor activity intention on depressive mood was fully mediated by activity frequency. Conclusions: The results demonstrate that the mental health benefits of natural environments are not automatically derived from intention or preference but require active and frequent engagement. These findings provide empirical support for behavior-based interventions in urban mental health strategies and establish a theoretical foundation for future research on the pathways linking nature and mental health.

Background: In China, a paradox has emerged: while the digital access gap narrows, a pronounced digital gradient—a sequential decline in outcomes from urban to county to township students—persists in innovation and entrepreneurship. This study investigates the hidden, cognitive mechanisms behind this enduring gradient inequality. Methods: Analyzing a national survey of 31,779 students, we employed statistical models designed to trace sequential pathways and account for institutional influences. Results: We found a clear urban > county > township gradient in students’ digital literacy, information perception, and innovation capabilities. The disparity is primarily driven by a cognitive mediation chain: rural students’ lower digital literacy inhibits their ability to perceive and evaluate information effectively, which in turn suppresses their innovation and entrepreneurial potential. This “digital literacy → information perception” pathway explains over 80% of the gap in entrepreneurial intention and one-third of the gap in innovation capacity. Crucially, elite “Double First-Class” universities mitigate this gradient; their robust offline support systems compensate for deficits in students’ digital literacy, reducing its necessity for entrepreneurial success. Conclusions: The contemporary digital divide is fundamentally a cognitive gradient. Moving forward, policy must look beyond infrastructure to foster a cognitive capacity to transform digital access into innovation capability, rather than merely expanding digital access. Our findings affirm that universities can act as powerful institutional compensators. A dual strategy that combines cognitive empowerment with targeted institutional support is essential to bridge the digital gradient and close the innovation gap across urban, county, and township student populations.

As the digital access divide narrows, disparities in university students’ innovation capacity and entrepreneurial intention continue to widen. To move beyond the binary of technological versus structural determinism, we advance a technology–cognition–institution framework to illuminate less visible pathways that reproduce urban–rural inequality. Drawing on a national survey of 31,779 Chinese university students, we estimate multilevel mixed-effects models and a theory-ordered structural equation model. Three patterns emerge. (1) We observe pronounced gradient differences across digital literacy, information perception, innovation capacity, and entrepreneurial intention (urban > county > township), including a medium effect size for digital literacy (Cohen’s d = 0.428). (2) The sequential pathway “digital literacy → information perception” statistically operates as the core channel, accounting for roughly one-third of the modeled total association in innovation capacity and more than four-fifths in entrepreneurial intention. (3) University institutional resources exhibit compensatory features: Double First-Class universities both partially substitute for deficits in digital literacy through offline support (interaction β = −0.039, p < .05) and attenuate the cognition-formation link by reshaping the “digital literacy → information perception” pathway (β = −0.021, p < .05). Taken together, the findings are consistent with the view that digital habitus—conceived as a new form of cultural capital—sustains inequality via cognitive mechanisms. County regions, with their transitional position, emerge as pivotal nodes for policy targeting. We propose an integrated governance approach of stepwise intervention, institutional compensation, and dual-track strategies to support inclusive digital transformation.

Social stratification is a classic topic in sociology. Some studies have focused on class variations in pro-environmental behaviors (PEBs), with existing research yielding inconsistent results. This inconsistency may be due to the varying measurements of PEBs, as well as the complexity of class definitions. In this article, we focus on four types of PEBs (domestic recycling, green purchase behavior, good citizen behavior, and environmental activism) and comprehensively examine differences in these behaviors across objective classes, subjective classes, and class discordance. Using CGSS2021 data, this study finds that individuals in the lower objective class are more likely to participate in domestic recycling than those in the middle and upper classes, whereas individuals in the higher objective and subjective classes exhibit more green purchase behavior and engage in more good citizen behavior. The middle objective and subjective classes are found to be the most active group in environmental activism. Additionally, this study pioneers the exploration of the relationship between class discordance and PEBs. The results reveal that the underestimation of one’s own objective class significantly hinders participation in domestic recycling and green purchase behavior. This study highlights the importance of considering not only the different types of PEBs but also the complexity of class measurement.

Gender and willingness to pay for environmental protection (WTP) have long been pivotal topics in environmental sociology. However, studies investigating the impact of gender on WTP have reported divergent findings between China and Western countries. To address this discrepancy, we introduce gender equality awareness as a mediating concept to explore the effect of gender on WTP. Our hypothesis proposes that gender equality awareness influences individuals’ attitudes toward WTP. This study utilizes data from the 2021 Chinese General Social Survey (CGSS) and applies multiple linear regression models to analyze the relationships among gender, gender equality awareness, and WTP. Furthermore, gender equality awareness is incorporated into the model as a mediating variable. The findings reveal that (1) women in China demonstrate significantly higher WTP than men; (2) greater gender equality awareness is positively correlated with stronger WTP; and (3) gender equality awareness partially mediates the relationship between gender and WTP. Notably, men tend to exhibit higher levels of gender equality awareness, which attenuates the positive effect of gender on WTP, thereby narrowing women’s advantage in this domain.

Air pollution has become an important environmental and public health problem in China; improving air quality has become one of the most important tasks of the Chinese central government in recent years. In all aspects of environmental governance, the public’s pro-environmental behavior is crucial to comprehensively improve air quality. This study used data provided by the 2021 China General Social Survey (CGSS) to explore the relationship between air pollution perception, environmental knowledge, and pro-environmental behavior. The results of the study indicated that: (1) Residents’ subjective perception of air pollution has a significant positive impact on residents’ pro-environmental behaviors. The more serious the air pollution in the surrounding area is, the more likely residents are to adopt more pro-environmental behaviors; (2) Environmental knowledge also has a positive impact on residents’ pro-environmental behaviors and individuals with higher environmental knowledge are more likely to adopt more pro-environment behaviors; and (3) Environmental knowledge plays a positive regulating role in the relationship between air pollution perception and pro-environmental behavior. Individuals with higher environmental knowledge are more willing to engage in more pro-environmental behaviors when they perceive air pollution. To promote the residents’ pro-environmental behaviors, we should further strengthen the education of environmental knowledge and strengthen the disclosure of environmental information. This study provides valuable insights for China to formulate environmental governance policies, enrich the research on pro-environmental behavior to a certain extent, and provide lessons for other developing countries and high-polluting countries to find environmental governance methods.