Income, psychological security, and subjective well-being in urban China: a machine learning analysis with SHAP interpretation

Psychological security is the most stable and core factor influencing subjective well-being, and the synergistic effect between income and psychological security is significant. Machine learning models outperform traditional methods in capturing complex nonlinear relationships, and SHAP analysis provides an interpretable quantitative basis for understanding the formation mechanisms of subjective well-being. The findings offer targeted recommendations for optimizing well-being enhancement policies, emphasizing the need for differentiated intervention strategies based on the resource-matching characteristics of different subjective well-being groups.