A study on the driving path of farmers' participation in physical activity and its impact on happiness

Based on the theoretical framework of socioecology, this study systematically examines the antecedent grouping patterns of farmers' participation in physical activity and their effects on well-being in 19 provinces of China using fuzzy set qualitative comparative analysis (fsQCA) and benchmark regression methods. The results of the study indicate that the motivation to promote the participation of farmers in physical activity is not driven by a single factor but instead relies on the synergistic effect of multiple factors. There are seven different groupings that drive farmers to participate in physical activity, which can be categorized into three types of driving pathways: individual-led dominant, ecological interdependence, and multiple synergistic linkages. Under these three types of driving paths, the well-being of farmers significantly improves, with the multiple synergistic linkage path having a better effect than the ecological interdependence type and the individual-led path.