Podcast Listening, Perceived Social Presence, Perceived Social Support, and Subjective Well-Being Among Chinese Young Adults: Sequential Explanatory Mixed Methods Study.

backgroundPodcasts have emerged as a prominent audio medium in the everyday lives of young adults. Despite their growing popularity, the relationship between podcast listening and subjective well-being, along with the psychological mechanisms underlying this association, remains underexplored. This study investigates the relationship between podcast listening and subjective well-being among Chinese young adults and examines the serial mediating effects of perceived social presence and perceived social support. In doing so, it seeks to clarify how immediate media-related experiences are translated into more stable psychological resources that promote mental health.

methodsA sequential explanatory mixed-methods approach was employed. The quantitative phase involved a questionnaire-based survey of 357 participants, measuring podcast listening behavior, perceived social presence, perceived social support, and subjective well-being. Serial mediation analysis was conducted to test the hypothesized indirect pathways. The qualitative phase comprised semi-structured interviews with 20 participants, and thematic analysis was used to complement and contextualize the quantitative results by exploring young listeners' subjective psychological experiences during podcast engagement.

resultsQuantitative findings revealed a significant positive association between podcast listening and subjective well-being among young adults. Both perceived social presence and perceived social support were found to mediate this relationship, constituting a statistically significant serial mediation pathway. Consistent with these results, the qualitative analysis indicated that auditory immersion in podcast listening is associated with a stronger sense of perceived social presence, characterized by feelings of companionship and parasocial interaction. This heightened sense may be internalized as perceived social support at both informational and emotional levels, and is linked to higher subjective well-being.

conclusionsThe findings demonstrate that podcasts are not merely channels for information dissemination but function as audio media with meaningful psychosocial value. By identifying the serial mediating roles of perceived social presence and perceived social support, this study extends existing theoretical frameworks to the context of audio media and offers novel empirical evidence regarding the links between digital media experiences and subjective well-being among young adults.