Interpersonal Sensitivity and Subjective Well-Being of Migrant Workers’ Accompanying Children: Role of Perception of Exclusion and Peer Support

Introduction: To investigate the impact of interpersonal sensitivity on the subjective well-being of accompanying children of migrant workers and the role of perception of exclusion and peer support in the process.
Methods: A questionnaire survey was conducted among 304 migrant workers’ accompanying children and 501 urban children in grades 4– 9 in seven schools in Jiangxi Province, China. Hierarchical regression and bootstrap analysis were used.
Results: Interpersonal sensitivity not only had a significant direct negative effect on the subjective well-being of migrant workers’ accompanying children (β= − 0.27, 95% CI = [− 0.37, − 0.17]), but also had an indirect effect through perception of exclusion (β= − 0.06, 95% CI = [− 0.11, − 0.03]). Peer support negatively moderated the relationship between interpersonal sensitivity and perception of exclusion (β= − 0.18, 95% CI = [− 0.28, − 0.08]) and the mediating effect of perceptions of exclusion between interpersonal sensitivity and subjective well-being (β = 0.06, CI = [0.02, 0.11]).
Conclusion: The subjective well-being of migrant children is indeed lower than that of urban children, and one of the most important reasons is their higher interpersonal sensitivity. Interpersonal sensitivity not only directly reduces their subjective well-being, but also reduces it by triggering their perception of exclusion, while peer support can effectively mitigate this negative effect. Therefore, one way to improve the subjective well-being of these children is to reduce their excessive interpersonal sensitivity. Their parents should help them to adapt to urban life, to develop correct professional values and to deal correctly with “occupational stigma”, to overcome feelings of inferiority, while communities can create specialized activity centers to provide more social opportunities and psychological counseling services for these children.

Keywords: migrant workers’ accompanying children, interpersonal sensitivity, perception of exclusion, peer support, subjective well-being