Does Occupational Identity Weaken the Effect of Stigma? Empirical Evidence of the Impact of Occupational Stigma on China’s Gig Economy

Jianling Zhang and Gukseong Lee

SAGE Open, 2025, vol. 15, issue 3, 21582440251367156

Abstract: Existing literature has focused on the impact of occupational stigma in traditional industries; however, limited research investigates how occupational stigma and identity affect employee performance within the gig economy. Thus, this study examines the causes of stigma and the barriers faced by workers in the gig economy. Using a survey of 400 food delivery workers in China, this study investigates how occupational stigma affects employee performance and turnover intentions. It also examines the roles that workplace well-being and professional identity play in this process. Using structural equation modeling, the findings indicate that participants’ higher perceived stigma is associated with reduced workplace well-being, which in turn leads to decreased performance and increased turnover intentions. The results also show that the effect of occupational identity is contingent on its level, with a more pronounced impact observed at lower levels under certain boundary conditions. Furthermore, the relationship between stigma and turnover intentions is weaker for those with stronger occupational identity. This study presents a novel theoretical framework from an Eastern perspective to enhance the understanding of occupational stigma. Its findings can contribute to the development of strategies for mitigating it.

Keywords: occupational stigma; workplace well-being; occupational identity; consistency theory; gig economy (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2025
References: Add references at CitEc
Citations:

Downloads: (external link)
https://journals.sagepub.com/doi/10.1177/21582440251367156 (text/html)

Related works:
This item may be available elsewhere in EconPapers: Search for items with the same title.

Export reference: BibTeX RIS (EndNote, ProCite, RefMan) HTML/Text

Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:sae:sagope:v:15:y:2025:i:3:p:21582440251367156

DOI: 10.1177/21582440251367156

Access Statistics for this article

More articles in SAGE Open
Bibliographic data for series maintained by SAGE Publications ().