Mobilities, social ties, and quality of life in the digital society: A configurational approach

Introduction: Communications and transport are increasingly integrated through the widespread application of information and communication technologies (ICTs). Digital platforms serve both as support for transport practices and as partial substitutes for them, transforming the ways in which social ties are organised and reshaping individuals’ pathways towards good quality of life (QoL). Methods: Using a configurational approach to compare the roles of digital and transport networks, this paper presents an analytical framework for revealing the complexity of individual-level configurational relationships between mobilities, social ties, and wellbeing outcomes. We use socio-technical regime evolution theory to construct a deployable framework for a series of fuzzy-set qualitative comparative analyses (fsQCA) (N = 729). The framework enables us to explore the interactive relationships between individuals’ perceptions of mobility, perceived norms of mobility use, and the social ties that support mobility access. Findings: Social-tie–mobility set-theoretic causal pathways that are sufficient for membership in the good health-related QoL outcome set, measured using EQ-5D-5L, are identified and discussed for younger, middle-aged, and senior populations. The analysis provides a better understanding of how physical and digital mobilities, social ties, and mobility norms are configured in relation to quality of life in digital societies.