Negotiating Identity in Transition: How Family Identity Bundles Shape Chinese Emerging Adults’ Family Travel Decision-Making and Subjective Well-Being

Prior research often isolates collective, relational, and individual identities in family travel, neglecting their interplay within Confucian cultural contexts. This mixed-methods study, guided by Epp and Price’s family identity interplay framework, examines how identity bundles shape Chinese emerging adults’ travel decision-making and post-trip subjective well-being. Phase 1 involved 30 qualitative interviews to contextualize three culturally specific dimensions: family identification, filial commitment, and information literacy self-efficacy. Phase 2 surveyed 305 emerging adults, confirming that these identities are positively associated with family travel decision-making behavior and post-trip subjective well-being, with decision making acting as a mediator of these relationships. Theoretical implications include a culturally adaptive three-path identity model, the novel emphasis on information literacy enabling individual agency, and the position of decision making as a mechanism balancing tradition and modernity. Practically, this study offers actionable insights into tourism strategies that enhance intergenerational harmony and emerging adults’ well-being in transitional societies.