How does rural tourism affect farmers' subjective well-being? The mediating role of farmers' livelihoods

Rural tourism plays an important role in promoting high-quality development of rural industries and improving farmers' subjective well-being. This study incorporates psychological theory into the Sustainable Livelihoods Framework (SLF) to construct a theoretical model of the impact of rural tourism on farmers' subjective well-being. The study used farmers' livelihood capital and strategies as mediating variables and applied PLS-SEM to analyze the impact pathways and degrees of rural tourism on farmers' subjective well-being. The findings indicate: (1) Rural tourism has a significant positive impact on farmers' subjective well-being, with a direct effect of 0.307 and a total effect of 0.544. This indicates that rural tourism is highly effective in enhancing farmers' psychological satisfaction and overall sense of well-being. (2) In terms of indirect effects, the development of rural tourism stimulates the transformation of farmers' psychological resources and drives the multi-dimensional positive adjustment of farmers' livelihood strategies by building economic security through physical and financial capital, enhancing self-efficacy through human and social capital, and strengthening identity recognition through cultural capital. This dynamic process, based on resource integration and capacity restructuring, not only meets farmers' basic needs such as physiological and safety needs, but also satisfies higher-level needs such as belonging and love, respect, and self-actualization, thereby promoting the improvement of farmers' subjective well-being. These research findings provide psychological theoretical support for policymakers, assisting them in designing rural tourism development strategies that better align with farmers' psychological needs and behavioral patterns, thereby promoting the sustainable improvement of farmers' subjective well-being.