Background: Social support (SS) is an important factor influencing subjective well-being (SWB) in older adults. This is especially true for the special group of widowed older adults (WOA). Widowhood means that older adults have lost their most important SS, and therefore, the search for a guardian from outside the spouse becomes a central issue in ensuring the SWB of WOA.Methods: The data for this paper were obtained from CGSS 2021, a large national social survey in China. We operationalized SWB as an individual’s overall perception of his or her experience of happiness using ‘affective well-being’ (i.e., emphasizing an individual’s positive affective experiences), and scores were calculated using a Likert scale. This study used linear regression modeling to examine the impact of SS on the SWB of WOA (aged 60 and above).Results: It was found that, first, this study presents the role of different circles of SS on the SWB of WOA, fully highlighting the importance of social context. Specifically, daughters, neighbors, and relatives constitute the guardians of the SWB for WOA in rural, whereas daughters and friends constitute the guardians of the SWB for WOA in rural. Second, the protective resources provided by the guardians not only serve as a buffer for WOA in distress but also reduce the likelihood of negative events occurring, thereby increasing WOA’s SWB.Discussion: This paper partially corroborates the findings of established studies on the topic of SS and SWB among older adults and the above findings not only help us to further explain the relationship between SS and SWB theoretically but also help us to rationalize the construction of SS for WOA practically.

Many scholars focus on China’s booming economy and its social impacts, while there is little attention regarding subjective well-being, especially after considering income and social capital. Therefore, the purpose of this paper was to examine the correlations between income, social capital and subjective well-being of western Chinese residents, basing on a representative comprehensive social survey. Several meaningful conclusions are shown below: (1) Western residents in China retain a relatively high degree of subjective well-being on average, and the mean value of subjective well-being for urban residents is slightly higher than that for rural residents; (2) there are regional and group differences in the influence of income and social capital on residents’ subjective well-being; and (3), although economic factors play a primary role in subjective well-being, the potential influence of non-economic factors cannot be ignored. This paper attempts to fill the gap in perspective regarding potential correlations between income, social capital, and subjective well-being.