As a core concept in career development and applied psychology, professional identity represents how strongly a person aligns with and feels connected to their professional role (van der Cingel & Brouwer, 2021). It is defined as the ability to competently and appropriately fulfill responsibilities within a workplace setting, demonstrated by the understanding, comprehension, and assimilation of professional standards and values, and is sustained throughout one’s career (Tomlinson & Jackson, 2021). Research has indicated that a clear and stable professional identity promotes individual career growth and enhances organizational commitment and occupational well-being (Sun et al., 2022). Therefore, exploring its influencing factors and formation mechanisms holds significant theoretical and practical implications for promoting individual career development and mental health.

 

Variables concerning individual differences, such as perceived social status, have garnered significant attention as key sociopsychological factors influencing individuals’ self-perception and career orientation (Thompson & Dahling, 2012). Perceived social status denotes how a person perceives their social class status and is closely related to psychological structures such as self-concept, career motivation, and expectations (Goodman et al., 2001). Indeed, higher perceived social status may promote the construction of career self-concept and identification with career roles (Thompson & Dahling, 2012; Wan et al., 2014). Nevertheless, existing research has not systematically explored the psychological mechanisms through which perceived social status influences an individual’s professional identity.

 

Prior research has identified a significant linkage between perceived social status and self-efficacy (Thompson & Dahling, 2012). Self-efficacy, commonly described as a person’s belief in their ability to handle challenges and overcome obstacles, has been shown to directly affect professional identity (Cai et al., 2022; Mei et al., 2022). Yet, studies exploring how self-efficacy mediates the link between perceived social status and professional identity remain scarce. In addition, resilience, which refers to an individual’s psychological ability to effectively manage and recover from adversity (Rabiul et al., 2022), has been widely recognized as a moderator in the nexus between psychological or social factors and individual outcomes (Khahan et al., 2024; Rabiul et al., 2022). Nevertheless, the potential moderating role of resilience in the association between perceived social status and professional identity has yet to be fully explored.

 

This research proposed a moderated mediation model integrating social identity theory and conservation of resources theory (see Figure 1). We focused on Chinese women who were painters because gender inequality has long existed in the art field, and women artists, especially painters, face more prominent challenges in terms of social status and professional identity (Provansal, 2024). Some studies have also shown that women’s social acceptance and opportunities for career advancement in the art profession are generally lower than those of men (LeBlanc & Sheppard, 2022).

 

In addition, the art profession itself is characterized by high subjective evaluation and market uncertainty, and women working as painters are more susceptible to both gender bias and industry uncertainty in this environment (Miller, 2016), which may further exacerbate the role of social status perceptions on their professional identity. Therefore, we anticipated that focusing on Chinese female painters would not only provide a unique and ideal context for examining the relationship between perceived social status and professional identity, but also offer a new perspective for the development of related theories.

Research has indicated that individuals’ perception of social status can influence their identification with their professional role (Jia et al., 2024). In particular, individuals with high social status tend to have stronger self-esteem, self-confidence, and a greater sense of belonging than do those with low social status. Hence, they may dedicate more effort and time to fulfilling their job duties and demonstrate a stronger acceptance of the norms and expectations associated with their profession (Huang et al., 2021). These qualities, in turn, may enhance their professional identity.

 

According to social identity theory, individuals construct their self-concept based on their perceived position in the social structure and incorporate the values of the group to which they belong (e.g., occupational group) into their self-identity system (Caricati & Sollami, 2018; van Knippenberg, 2023). Thus, when individuals perceive their social status as high, they may project positive social evaluations and a favorable self-image onto their occupation, thereby strengthening their identification with their occupational role and enhancing identity integration. Thus, we advanced the following hypothesis:

Hypothesis 1: Perceived social status will positively predict professional identity.

 

Perceived social status, as a subjective psychological experience, can influence the formation and development of self-efficacy by affecting how individuals are socially evaluated and how they view themselves (van Knippenberg, 2023). Thompson and Dahling (2012) found that individuals’ perception of social status affects their opportunities to access career-related resources and social support, which are important sources for building self-efficacy. In particular, high (vs. low) social status enables individuals to access more abundant career-development opportunities and social network resources, thus enhancing their confidence and ability to assess their capacity to cope with career challenges (Thompson & Dahling, 2012). In turn, the enhancement of self-efficacy facilitates the achievement of professional objectives and motivates people to actively take on corresponding career responsibilities (Tomlinson & Jackson, 2021).

From the perspective of social identity theory, how a person perceives their status within the social structure influences their self-evaluation and sense of belonging (van Knippenberg, 2023), and this social cognitive process is normally manifested through enhanced self-efficacy (Tomlinson & Jackson, 2021). In other words, receiving positive social feedback and self-affirmation can improve individuals’ optimistic assessment of their abilities, making them regard their profession as an important part of their self-identity, and ultimately enhancing their professional identity (Cai et al., 2022; Mei et al., 2022; Thompson & Dahling, 2012). However, no prior research has specifically examined the mediating role of self-efficacy in the relationship between perceived social status and professional identity. Thus, we proposed the following hypothesis:

Hypothesis 2: Self-efficacy will mediate the link between perceived social status and professional identity.

 

Conservation of resources theory posits that individuals possess and effectively utilize psychological resources, which are crucial for coping with external stressors and minimizing resource loss (Hobfoll et al., 2018). Individuals with robust psychological resources (e.g., resilience) can better adapt to environmental changes, actively respond to challenges, and recover from stressful situations (Anasori et al., 2023). Thus, resilience may help individuals proactively mobilize emotional and cognitive resources, enhancing their ability to recover and pursue goals under adversity.

 

Resilience helps individuals offset the resource loss resulting from unfavorable perceptions of social status and encourages them to actively utilize available resources, supporting psychological well-being and career development (Li et al., 2025). When individuals possess high levels of resilience, they are more capable of adjusting to shifts in the social context and coping with professional difficulties through strategies such as cognitive reappraisal and emotion regulation (Madan et al., 2025; Trent & Allen, 2019). As such, these individuals will likely convert favorable social feedback and emotional experiences into identification with and commitment to their professional role. Research has indicated that resilient individuals exhibit greater positivity in identity formation and career commitment (Sang et al., 2022; Yi et al., 2024), while those with low resilience often lack sufficient psychological resources for self-regulation and identity integration (Artuch-Garde et al., 2017). Thus, we proposed the following hypothesis:

Hypothesis 3: Resilience will positively moderate the association between perceived social status and professional identity, such that this association will be stronger when resilience is higher (vs. lower).

 

In addition, more (vs. less) resilient people are better at turning the positive aspects of their social status (e.g., social recognition and respect) into positive thoughts about their abilities, which helps them understand and identify with their job role (Yi et al., 2024). Previous studies have shown that individuals with high (vs. low) resilience are more effective at drawing upon their cognitive and emotional resources when faced with different situations, further internalizing external support and encouraging responses into self-assurance and a sense of capability (Li et al., 2025; Liu et al., 2023; Mubarak et al., 2022), and ultimately integrating these experiences into the core of their professional self-concept (Sang et al., 2022).

 

In contrast, individuals with low resilience hold insufficient psychological resource reserves (Madan et al., 2025). Even when experiencing social status elevation or receiving positive social evaluations, they may still experience stress due to concerns about being unable to perform adequately or maintain this status. Thus, they may prioritize using valuable resources such as energy for self-defense and emotional regulation (e.g., self-doubt and avoidance of challenges). In this case, the lack of psychological resources may prevent individuals from fully leveraging the positive social feedback from their perceived social status to enhance their self-efficacy, thereby weakening their professional identity. Thus, we proposed the following hypothesis:

Hypothesis 4: Resilience will positively moderate the indirect association between perceived social status and professional identity via self-efficacy, such that this association will be stronger when resilience is higher (vs. lower).

This study gathered data from women working as artistic painters in China. We employed a snowball sampling method, distributing survey invitations through online art communities and professional associations, and asking initial respondents to recommend other women who were painters to participate. We informed all respondents about the research procedure and assured them that participation was voluntary and that their personal information would remain confidential.

 

We followed established procedures to minimize common method variance and collected three-wave data with 1-month intervals between each wave (Kaya & Karatepe, 2020). At Time 1, we collected demographic data and assessed perceived social status and resilience. At Time 2, participants reported their self-efficacy. At Time 3, we assessed their professional identity. Out of 792 questionnaires distributed, we collected 476 usable responses, resulting in an effective response rate of 60.1%. This calculation excluded questionnaires that could not be matched and those with missing data. The high number of dropouts may be due to the lengthy survey period and participants’ scheduling conflicts. To evaluate potential differences between participants who dropped out and those who completed the survey, we compared demographic variables, perceived social status, and resilience levels. No significant differences were found, indicating the final sample was demographically representative of the initial sample. The participants were aged between 22 and 50 years (M = 33.92, SD = 5.31), with a mean professional experience tenure of 4.79 years (SD = 3.01). Regarding education level, 27 (5.67%) had completed high school or below, 128 (26.89%) had a college diploma, 174 (36.55%) had a bachelor’s degree, 127 (26.68%) had a master's degree, and 20 (4.20%) had a doctoral degree. In addition, 337 were single (70.80%) and 139 were married (29.20%).

 

We chose well-established scales validated in prior research and used back-translation to create Chinese versions (Handoyo et al., 2021; Pu et al., 2022; Wan et al., 2014; Wang et al., 2022). A fluent bilingual expert experienced in academic translation translated the English scales into Chinese, and another expert converted them back into English. We measured all items on a 7-point Likert-type scale (1 = strongly disagree, 7 = strongly agree). Following prior studies (e.g., Yu et al., 2015), age, work tenure, educational level, and marital status were included as control variables.

We measured perceived social status using six items from Wan et al. (2014). The items were adapted from a tourism and hospitality sector focus to an arts industry focus and we confirmed the applicability of the adapted scale with a pretest. A sample item is “My family is proud of my job in the industry.” Cronbach’s alpha was .99, indicating the scale is reliable.

We measured self-efficacy using eight items from Chen et al. (2001). A sample item is “I will be able to achieve most of the goals that I have set for myself.” Cronbach’s alpha was .99, indicating the scale is reliable.

 

We measured resilience with a 20-item scale from Taormina (2015). A sample item is “I can recover from any type of problem.” Cronbach’s alpha was .99, indicating the scale is reliable.

 

We assessed professional identity using five items from Pu et al. (2022). A sample item is “As long as my financial situation is not tight, I will still pursue my current career.” Cronbach’s alpha was .96, indicating the scale is reliable.

We assessed the measures’ discriminant validity using Mplus 8.3, with the results demonstrating an adequate fit of the data to the proposed four-factor model (perceived social status, resilience, self-efficacy, and professional identity), χ²/df = 1.858, comparative fit index = .979, Tucker–Lewis index = .977, root-mean-square error of approximation = .042, standardized root-mean-square residual = .020, which was better than that of the alternative models, supporting the four-factor model’s discriminant validity. Factor loadings ranged from .831 to .971. Convergent validity was further confirmed by the average variance extracted values for each variable, which ranged from .769 to .925 and exceeded the recommended cutoff of .50 suggested by Hu and Bentler (1999). Table 1 illustrates the reliability coefficients and correlations for all study variables. We conducted structural equation modeling in Mplus 8.3 to evaluate the proposed hypotheses.

As indicated in Table 2, perceived social status showed a significant positive association with professional identity (Model 3), thus supporting Hypothesis 1. To examine Hypothesis 2, in which we posited self-efficacy would play a mediating role, we assessed the direct effect of perceived social status on self-efficacy and the subsequent effect of self-efficacy on professional identity. Results showed that perceived social status did not significantly predict self-efficacy (Model 1), but self-efficacy demonstrated a significant positive link to professional identity (Model 4). A bootstrapping analysis with 5,000 resamples yielded a significant indirect effect, .031, 95% confidence interval (CI) [–0.008, 0.081], thus failing to support the mediating role of self-efficacy as proposed in Hypothesis 2.

We also examined the moderating effect of resilience. As indicated in Table 2, the interaction between perceived social status and resilience significantly predicted professional identity (Model 5). To further clarify this interaction effect, we performed a simple slope analysis at high (M + 1 SD) and low (M − 1 SD) levels of resilience. As shown in Figure 2, perceived social status was a significant predictor of professional identity only when resilience was high, simple slope = .361, p < .001, whereas the effect was not significant at low resilience levels, simple slope = .085, p > .05. Thus, Hypothesis 3 was supported.

We used a bootstrapping analysis with 5,000 resamples to assess the conditional indirect effects. The indirect effect of perceived social status on professional identity via self-efficacy was greater at higher levels of resilience, β = .062, 95% CI [0.015, 0.130], than at lower levels of resilience, β = –.013, 95% CI [−0.052, 0.024]. As shown in Figure 3, perceived social status predicted self-efficacy only when resilience was high, simple slope = .223, p < .001, and not when resilience was low, simple slope = –.049, p > .05. These results provided support for Hypothesis 4.

In line with our expectations, we found that perceived social status was related to professional identity among women working as artists, and this link was stronger when their resilience was high rather than low. Moreover, the indirect effect of perceived social status on professional identity via self-efficacy was also moderated by resilience, such that the mediating effect was significant only among participants who reported high (vs. low) resilience. However, contrary to our expectations, the mediating role of self-efficacy (Hypothesis 2) was not supported.

First, our results deepen insight into the antecedents of professional identity. While previous research primarily examined how personal traits affect professional identity (Sang et al., 2022; Wu et al., 2024), few scholars have examined the impact of perceived social status in forming professional identity. Our findings indicated that individuals with a high social status may internalize positive external social evaluations into their cognition, enhancing their sense of identity with their professional role. By highlighting the positive impact of perceived social status on professional identity, this research has broadened the application of social identity theory to the career-development context, providing a new theoretical perspective for understanding how external social evaluations contribute to forming individuals’ professional self-concept. In addition, by focusing on Chinese women working as painters, this study provides empirical support for the applicability of related theories in artistic professions.

 

Second, the current findings challenge the widely accepted view in the existing literature that self-efficacy is a key mediating variable in the social cognition process (Guan & So, 2016; Murad et al., 2022). However, the mediating effect of self-efficacy was observed only among those with high, not low, resilience. This suggests that there may be other pathways (e.g., social support or sense of belonging) through which perceived social status influences professional identity among Chinese women who are painters. This finding provides important evidence for the applicability of social identity theory in the field of art and in the Chinese cultural context, suggesting that in collectivist cultures and artistic professions, professional identity may be directly influenced by social evaluation rather than through the cognitive evaluation process of self-efficacy. Thus, we have provided a novel theoretical lens through which to understand the diverse paths of professional identity formation across different cultural contexts and professional fields.

 

Finally, this study found support for the key moderating role of resilience in the influence of perceived social status on professional identity and its mechanism, and has expanded the application of conservation of resources theory in the context of artistic professions. The results showed that high resilience enhanced the direct and indirect effects of perceived social status on professional identity, indicating that resilience, as a core psychological resource (Anasori et al., 2023; Mubarak et al., 2022), can help individuals more effectively transform external social evaluations and status resources into positive self-perceptions and professional identities. This finding enriches theoretical perspectives on the positive role of resilience in career development and introduces a novel conceptual framework for examining how individual psychological resources foster the development of professional identity.

Our findings constitute a basis for initiatives aimed at promoting career growth among women who are painters, and serve as a broader framework for understanding the professional development of this and related groups of artists. In particular, our results demonstrate that perceived social status can greatly boost professional identity, indicating that managers and relevant organizations ought to increase social affirmation (e.g., by providing positive feedback and public acknowledgment, and entrusting important responsibilities) and promote self-worth development among women working as artists, especially painters. In addition, given that resilience can enhance the direct and indirect effects of perceived social status on professional identity, it is recommended that managers organize training sessions focused on managing emotions and stress, and self-empowerment, particularly focusing on the psychological growth of low-resilience groups. Notably, the measures should be applied and tailored based on each group’s unique industry features and actual circumstances.

This study has several limitations. First, we collected data only from women who are painters. Although this offers a comprehensive insight into one specific group, the findings may not readily apply to men working as painters or other categories of artists. Subsequent studies are encouraged to broaden the participant pool by including men who are artists, other types of artists, or groups from different countries and cultural backgrounds to test the generalizability of the findings. Second, all variables were measured using self-report scales. Although the results indicated that common method variance was not a serious problem, we recommend that follow-up studies combine multiple data sources or longitudinal tracking designs to further reduce the impact of common method variance. Third, this study did not include other potential mediating variables, such as job satisfaction and work engagement, or other possible moderating variables, such as organizational support and psychological capital. Future studies could introduce these factors to systematically reveal the other psychological mechanisms and boundary conditions between perceived social status and professional identity. Last, this study used a snowball sampling method for data collection, and the sample may not be representative, leading to some bias in the results. Future studies should employ more random and systematic sampling methods to achieve greater sample diversity and representativeness, thereby enhancing the persuasiveness of the research conclusions.

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