Empowerment for civic engagement and well-being in emerging adulthood: Evidence from cross-regional and cross-lagged analyses
Abstract
Being an empowered and contributing citizen has been increasingly advocated in contemporary democratic societies. Despite its benefits on community flourishing, little is known about whether and how developing an active and engaged citizenship contributes to the well-being of the individuals, especially those in less democratic societies. Grounded on the empowerment theory, the present study aimed to examine (1) the empowering processes through which sociopolitical control motivates civic engagement, and (2) the empowerment outcomes on emotional, psychological, and social well-being among emerging adults in Hong Kong and mainland China. Study 1 consists of two emerging adult samples from Hong Kong (N = 268) and mainland China (N = 252). Results of multi-sample structural equation modeling found that sociopolitical control were positively related to civic engagement, which was in turn associated with better psychological and social well-being, but not emotional well-being. Differential mediating effects of civic engagement were observed between emerging adults in Hong Kong and mainland China. Study 2 used three-wave data from a sample of emerging adults in Hong Kong (N = 535) to determine the directionality of the associations found in Study 1. Results of cross-lagged path analysis corroborated the findings of Study 1 and showed that civic engagement mediated the effect of sociopolitical control on social well-being across time, after controlling for autoregressive effects and basic demographics. The findings suggest that empowering emerging adults to gain control over social and political system can foster their participation in civic affairs. Through positive involvement in the community, emerging adults can build a positive relationship with society and actualize their potential for social betterment.
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Social engagement did not predict psychological well-being in a longitudinal study of Hong Kong college students.
“A longitudinal study on college students from Hong Kong by Chan and Mak ( 2020 ) showed that social engagement did not predict psychological well-being.”
From The Effect of Civic Engagement on Different Dimensions of Well-Being in Youth: A Scoping Review (2025) · cites this paper as Chan & Mak, 2020
Social well-being was the only dimension positively affected by prosocial activities in Chan and Mak's longitudinal study.
“This was also corroborated by Chan and Mak's (2020 ) longitudinal study, in which social well-being was the only dimension positively affected by prosocial activi -ties.”
From The Effect of Civic Engagement on Different Dimensions of Well-Being in Youth: A Scoping Review (2025) · cites this paper as Chan & Mak, 2020
The positive effect of social engagement on social well-being can be considered robust, supported by both cross-sectional and longitudinal research.
“In sum, the positive effect of social engagement on social well-being can be considered robust, supported by both cross-sectional (Albanesi et al., 2007 ; Cicognani et al., 2008 ; Cicognani et al., 2015 ; Chan & Mak, 2020 ; Pavlova & Lühr, 2023) and longitudinal (Chan & Mak, 2020) research.”
From The Effect of Civic Engagement on Different Dimensions of Well-Being in Youth: A Scoping Review (2025) · cites this paper as Chan & Mak, 2020
Helping activities such as volunteering, donating to charities, or organizing events have primarily beneficial effects on social well-being among youth from Italy, Hong Kong, and various European countries.
“Regarding social engagement, existing literature showed that helping activities such as volunteering, donating to char -ities, or organizing events have primarily beneficial effects on social well-being among the youth from Italy (Albanesi et al., 2007 ; Cicognani et al., 2008 ), Hong Kong (Chan & Mak, 2020 ), and various European countries (Pavlova & Lühr, 2023).”
From The Effect of Civic Engagement on Different Dimensions of Well-Being in Youth: A Scoping Review (2025) · cites this paper as Chan & Mak, 2020
Social engagement was not related to emotional well-being among Hong Kong youth, Canadian youth, and Malaysian youth.
“Regarding other forms of civic engagement, some stud -ies showed no relation between social engagement and emo -tional well-being among Hong Kong youth (Chan & Mak, 2020 ), Canadian youth (Fang et al., 2017 ), and Malaysian youth (Zaremohzzabieh et al., 2019 ).”
From The Effect of Civic Engagement on Different Dimensions of Well-Being in Youth: A Scoping Review (2025) · cites this paper as Chan & Mak, 2020
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References 94 · Cited by 67
- Authors
- Chan, R. C. H., & Mak, W. W. S.
- Affiliations
- Education University of Hong Kong (HK)
- Chinese University of Hong Kong (HK)
- Corresponding author
- Mak, Winnie W.S.
- Venue
- Social Science & Medicine
- Publisher
- Elsevier BV
- Published
- 2020-01
- Volume
- 244
- Pages
- 112703
- ISSN
- 0277-9536 (ISSN-L)
- OpenAlex
- W2989648474
- Cited by
- 67
- References
- 94
- Citations by year
- 2026: 11 · 2025: 13 · 2024: 12 · 2023: 7 · 2022: 11 · 2021: 12 · 2020: 1
- FWCI
- 7.54
- Type
- journal article
- Language
- en
- Open access
- closed
- Locations
- Social Science & Medicine (publishedVersion)
- PubMed (publishedVersion)
- RePEc: Research Papers in Economics (submittedVersion)
- Funders
- Chinese University of Hong Kong
- Topics
- Social Sciences › Psychology › Social Psychology › Psychological Well-being and Life Satisfaction
- Social Sciences › Safety Research › Youth Development and Social Support
- Social Sciences › Business, Management and Accounting › Organizational Behavior and Human Resource Management › Job Satisfaction and Organizational Behavior
- Keywords
- citizen participation, empowerment theory, sociopolitical control, emerging adulthood, well-being, social well-being, psychological well-being, emotional well-being, citizenship, Hong Kong, mainland China, regional comparison, mediation
- MeSH terms
- Empowerment, Adolescent, Adult, China, Community Participation, Female, Hong Kong, Humans, Male, Social Responsibility, Social Values, Young Adult
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