According to the World Happiness Report 2023 [1], China has a happiness index of 5.818, ranking it 64th out of nearly 140 countries and regions surveyed. The 14th National Five-Year Plan and 2035 Vision Goal emphasizes continuously enhancing people’s happiness in China. A responsible government should ensure that its citizens enjoy the benefits brought by economic growth. China has achieved tremendous success in economic development, and the material living standards of the people have significantly improved. However, China has also paid a heavy price through environmental degradation. The ecological environment, as a living space, is naturally relied upon for safety and emotional support. The destruction of the living environment has caused everyone to face the cost of environmental pollution [2]. Air pollution is particularly severe compared to other forms of pollution and is more easily perceived by residents [3], thus receiving widespread attention from all sectors of society. Given the close dependence between humans and the atmospheric environment, pollution governance is deemed highly urgent.

Since the 1950s, there has been an increasing discussion on the factors influencing the happiness of the residents. Scholars have used interdisciplinary research methods, including psychology, sociology, and economics, to study the determinants of residents’ happiness. The existing research has shown that individual characteristics, family characteristics, and public policies can all affect the happiness of residents. In recent years, with the growing prominence of ecological environmental issues, the impact of environmental pollution, including pollution of the air, on residents’ happiness has also attracted attention from scholars. The existing literature has made valuable contributions, but there are still some gaps in the research. (1) Some studies suggest that air pollution negatively affects the happiness of the residents through various mechanisms such as sensory stimulation, health risks, increased healthcare costs, and daily life inconveniences [4,5,6,7,8]. Air pollution is considered a key factor leading to differences in happiness levels among countries [9]. However, the existing research has mainly focused on developed countries. On the other hand, there are also studies indicating that air pollution can promote happiness through economic growth in developing countries. There is limited research on this topic, specifically in the context of China, and the findings are inconsistent [10,11]. (2) Different studies employ different methods to measure air pollution, including subjective evaluations and objective measurements. While most analyses focus on the impact of objectively measured air pollution on residents’ happiness, the influence of their subjective perception of air pollution is often overlooked. Generally, when both subjective and objective measures of air pollution exposure are considered, subjective pollution has a more significant impact on happiness than objective pollution exposure itself [12,13,14]. Overall, there is a complex relationship when it comes to happiness and air pollution. Such pollution and pollution governance seem to be two sides of the same coin.

Theoretical research on happiness primarily focuses on two levels of research areas. The first is the macro-level study of national happiness. The Gross National Happiness (GNH) index in Bhutan is a typical representative of this theory and practice. The GNH index is a social development concept that emphasizes the overall well-being of the nation, with a focus on balanced development in both material and spiritual aspects [15,16,17]. The second is the micro-level study of happiness, which is the main focus of this research. It describes the happiness of residents based on the individual’s subjective well-being and experiences. The research on happiness emerged in the US in the 1950s and has since been extensively studied by scholars from various disciplines [18,19]. For example, the combination of happiness and economics has formed the field of happiness economics. The factors influencing happiness have always been a focus of research in order to explore the ultimate secret to achieving happiness from a multidisciplinary perspective. There is a considerable amount of literature on happiness. Scholars, such as Alesina et al. [20], have divided the research on happiness into two aspects: individual characteristics and social characteristics. In terms of macro-social factors, economic conditions are considered an important aspect. Based on data analysis, American economist Easterlin [21] proposed that, from a cross-sectional study perspective, wealthier individuals are happier than poorer individuals; however, from a time series perspective, economic growth does not necessarily improve national happiness. This inconsistency between cross-sectional and time series conclusions is referred to as the “happiness paradox” or Easterlin paradox. Subsequently, many studies have attempted to explain this phenomenon from the perspective of omitted variables, among others [22,23,24].

Air pollution, as a major environmental risk, is gradually becoming a heated topic in international research. Numerous studies conducted by researchers such as Welsch [25], Luechinger [26], and Smyth et al. [27] have shown that air pollution significantly damages the happiness of local residents. Therefore, many scholars believe that air pollution, as an important non-economic factor influencing individual happiness, can provide a good explanation for the Easterlin paradox [17]. The existing literature mainly comes from developed countries and has repeatedly confirmed the negative relationship between air pollution and residents’ happiness [28]. However, research on the impact of air pollution on residents’ happiness in China started relatively late, and there are relatively few research findings, and the findings are not consistent. Zhang et al. [29] used China Family Panel Studies (CFPS) data and found that after controlling for factors such as weather, air pollution significantly reduced residents’ short-term hedonic happiness. Based on the CGSS2017 data, Liu et al. [30] found a significant negative influence of polluted air on the happiness of residents. The deterioration of air quality partly explained the existence of the Easterlin paradox in China. However, some scholars also argue that air pollution has brought about faster economic growth and has promoted the happiness of the residents through the transmission of the economy. Some studies have found a positive correlation between subjective happiness and haze pollution [31]. This may lead to confusing findings regarding the impact of air pollution on happiness.

Most previous studies did not distinguish between objective air pollution and subjective air pollution. Most scholars usually discuss the impact of objectively existing air pollution factors such as SO₂ and PM on the happiness of the residents but rarely analyze the influence of residents’ perception of air pollution on their happiness. Subjective air pollution refers to the subjective judgment and evaluation of the existing air pollution made by individuals, which is a combination of objective air pollution and the psychological experiences of the residents [32]. In fact, compared to objective air pollution, the impact of subjective perception on happiness among residents may be more worthy of attention. As a result, some scholars have explored this line of thinking and obtained two significantly different conclusions. First, most studies believe that subjective pollution has a significant negative impact on the happiness of the residents and may even be more important than actual pollution levels. Mackerron et al. [33] found that both existing air pollution levels and subjectively perceived air pollution significantly reduce the happiness of the residents. Second, a minority of studies believe that subjective pollution has no impact on the happiness of residents [27].

Overall, although there is extensive research on polluted air’s impact on residents’ happiness, gaps remain for further investigation. Given China’s polluted air context, data analyses, including experiences specific to China, are called for. How applicable are the research findings from developed countries to present-day China? In China, there is limited research on subjective air pollution. It would be of great practical significance to examine the influences of both subjective and objective air pollution levels on residents’ happiness. Since the beginning of the 21st century, with the implementation of large-scale comprehensive social surveys, the academic community has started to focus on the relationship between macro-social factors and happiness. From these studies, we can observe that most macro-social factors are related to government public management, reflecting the increasing emphasis on public policy in happiness research. However, there is relatively limited research from an environmental governance perspective on the impact of pollution governance on happiness. Currently, the focus is mainly on environmental governance measures such as environmental taxes and carbon emission taxes [34,35]. Ambrey et al.’s study [36], which utilized the Household, Income, and Labour Dynamics in Australia (HILDA) survey and Geographic Information System (GIS) data, demonstrated that a comfortable environment significantly enhances residents’ life satisfaction. Cunado et al. [37] also confirmed the positive influence of reducing air pollution on improving residents’ happiness. In the past decade, the Chinese government has prioritized pollution governance and environmental protection as major projects for public welfare and people’s livelihoods. In fact, it is urgently needed to clarify the inherent connection and logical relationship between pollution governance and the happiness of the residents. This will provide insights into the relationship between air pollution and happiness from another perspective and, to some extent, address the limitations of the existing research. This also contributes to obtaining more robust empirical evidence regarding the effectiveness of China’s pollution governance policies. Corresponding to objective pollution and subjective pollution, this research selected objective improvements in air quality and subjective evaluations of pollution governance as two aspects to measure pollution governance and investigate its impact on happiness.

This research also considered other factors. Bulent [38] pointed out that demographic factors, including gender, marital status, number of children, education level, and health status, significantly influence individuals’ happiness. Other scholars have proposed that happiness is significantly positively correlated with physical health, and individuals who rate their health as poor tend to have lower levels of happiness [39]. Additionally, the issue of imbalanced and insufficient economic and social development in China is still prominent, leading to widespread differences among the population. Therefore, exploring the relationship between demographic characteristics, socioeconomic factors, and happiness can provide insights for the government to promote pollution governance and design policies to enhance the happiness of the residents in an orderly manner.