A causal relationship model of urban environmental factors affecting the subjective well-being of Japanese immigrant workers in Thailand

Abstract

This study aims to evaluate the subjective well-being (SWB) of Japanese immigrant workers residing in Bangkok, Thailand, and to demonstrate how the SWB is affected by urban environments via health-related factors and social support by analyzing a causal relationship model of urban environmental factors affecting SWB. The study used a cross-sectional method based on questionnaire surveys of 389 Japanese residing in Bangkok, Thailand. The surveys were conducted during 15 July-15 August 2024. SWB was divided into two types: 1) cognitive well-being (CWB) measured by the Satisfaction with Life Scale (SWLS), and 2) affective well-being (AWB) measured by the Domain of Affective Well-Being (D-FAW). A measurement model was first tested to examine how much of each indicator’s variance could be explained by its construct and to test the correlation among constructs. The constructs in the model included 1) perceived quality of natural environments (QNE), 2) social neighborhood environmental perception (NEP), 3) access to green spaces (AGS), 4) perceived stress (PS), 5) sleep quality (SQ), 6) social support (SS), and 7) job satisfaction (JS). Subsequently, a partial least squares structural equation modeling (PLS-SEM) was applied to test the causal relationships among constructs to predict CWB and AWB. The results of PLS-SEM revealed that NEP directly and significantly affected AWB, and AGS directly and significantly affected CWB. QNE had indirect effects on CWB and AWB via JS. AGS indirectly affected both SWB via PHS and SS. NEP indirectly affected AWB via SQ and PS. The results point to urban environmental factors as important factors which could affect health-related factors and social factors, and finally constitute to the SWB of Japanese workers residing in Bangkok city, Thailand. Notably, immigrants may construct emotion comparisons regarding urban environments in their current place and in their home country, and these comparisons potentially affect SWB. The workers should be provided with supportive urban environments to improve SWB or trained on how to adjust their living to certain conditions of urban environments to avoid mental challenges.