Understanding low-carbon living behaviors in rural China: The perspective of social capital and policy cognition

Under the “dual-carbon” strategic framework, fostering low-carbon living behaviors among rural residents serves as a crucial approach to implementing green development principles and facilitating harmonious human-nature coexistence. Using research data from four regions in Hainan Province, this study employs ordered logit and mediation effect models to analyze the influence of social capital on rural residents' low-carbon living behaviors and the mediating role of policy cognition. Results indicate that: (1) Social capital dimensions—social trust, social norms, and social networks—collectively demonstrate significant positive effects on rural residents' low-carbon living behaviors; (2) policy cognition serves as a partial mediator in the social capital–low-carbon living behaviors relationship; and (3) the influence of social capital exhibits notable heterogeneity across demographic groups, particularly varying by age cohorts and individual risk preferences. Building on these findings, this study proposes a dual-pathway intervention strategy: (1) cultivating social capital through establishing digital mutual-aid platforms, implementing diversified capacity-building programs, and mobilizing community leaders, including village sages, intellectuals, and party members to enhance endogenous motivation and (2) developing spatially targeted and demographically customized environmental policy education initiatives to improve rural residents' policy cognition.