Revitalizing Idle Rural Homesteads: Configurational Paths of Farmer Differentiation and Cognition Synergistically Driving Revitalization Intentions

Against the intensifying mismatch between urban and rural land resources, activating farmers’ intentions to revitalize their idle homesteads is a key issue in optimizing land resource allocation and promoting urban–rural integrated development. However, existing studies mostly focus on the marginal effect of a single factor and ignore the synergistic effect of multiple factors, making it difficult to reveal the complex causal logic of farmers’ decision-making. This study aims to explain the causal asymmetry and equivalent path problem in farmers’ revitalized decision-making by capturing the multidimensional interaction mechanism of “external stimulus–mental cognition”. This study integrates the social stratification theory, the theory of planned behavior, and the Stimulus–Organism–Response framework to systematically explore how the interactive configuration of farmer differentiation and cognition from a multidimensional perspective drives the formation of farmers’ willingness to engage in high inventory activities, based on the 881 farmer research data in Shaanxi Province, using fuzzy-set qualitative comparative analysis (fsQCA) methodology. This study found that (1) a single condition cannot independently explain the intentions of farmers to revitalize, and its formation needs to rely on the synergistic linkage of multiple conditions; (2) the configuration of farmers’ high intentions to revitalize includes “wealth capital differentiation–dual cognitive-driven type”, “single cognitive-driven type”, “reputation capital differentiation–single cognitive-driven type”, “wealth capital differentiation–single cognitive-driven type”, which wealth capital differentiation is the common core condition triggering high intention; and (3) the formation of farmers’ low revitalization intentions stems from the insufficient differentiation of farmers and the lack of cognitive elements. Therefore, policymakers should take a holistic perspective in enhancing farmers’ revitalization intentions, focusing on the rational allocation between farmer differentiation and farmers’ cognition.