Impact of sports participation on life satisfaction among internal migrants in China: The chain mediating effect of social interaction and self-efficacy

Objective: To investigate the influence of sports participation on the life satisfaction of internal migrants and its internal mechanism. Methods: A total of 579 valid samples were obtained from the 2017 Chinese General Social Survey data. The correlations among physical exercise, watching games (live), social interaction, self-efficacy, and life satisfaction were examined using Pearson correlation analyses. A chain mediating model was tested utilizing the PROCESS macro for IBM SPSS Statistics. Results: (a) Two forms of sports participation, physical exercise and watching games (live), are shown to impact the life satisfaction of internal migrants in China, though different mechanisms drive these effects; (b) the chain mediating effects of social interaction and self-efficacy in the relationship between sports participation and life satisfaction are established; and (c) self-efficacy is shown to be a mediator between physical exercise and life satisfaction but does not play a mediating role in the case of watching games (live). Conclusion: This research indicates that sports participation can significantly influence the life satisfaction of internal migrants in China through the sequential mediation of social interaction and self-efficacy.