Explore factors influencing residents' green lifestyle: evidence from the Chinese General Social Survey data

Introduction: This paper explores the multifaceted dynamics and various determinants impacting residents' green lifestyles in China, focusing on drop-off recycling, low-carbon purchasing, and civic advocating. Methods: Using data from the 2021 Chinese General Social Survey and the Chinese Statistical Yearbook, we provide an integrated paradigm to position green lifestyles in a hierarchical framework, explore the individual-level mediating mechanisms nested within macro influences, and elucidate the relative strengths of determinants. Results and discussion: Firstly, the random coefficient regression models show that environmental knowledge and environmental protection intention significantly positively affect green lifestyles. Adopting traditional media could enhance civic advocating, and using new media may bolster low-carbon purchasing tendencies. A higher per capita GDP, increased public expenditure on environmental protection, and a reduced proportion of secondary industry are significant factors that promote drop-off recycling and low-carbon purchasing. Secondly, the multilevel mediational effects identify that people's environmental protection intention is a salient mediating variable within the control of regional macro factors. Additionally, the sheaf coefficient clustering models underscore the prominence of ecological awareness and macro-level factors in shaping drop-off recycling and civic advocating.