Cocoon breaking: A dual-path exploration of occupational stigma in China’s insurance industry using grounded theory and structural equation model verification

This study explores the formation mechanism of occupational stigma in China’s insurance industry and its impact on practitioners’ psychological state, particularly in terms of professional identity. Using qualitative research based on grounded theory, this study conducts in-depth interviews with 64 insurance practitioners to identify key influencing factors. Combined with a structural equation model (SEM), we analyze 427 questionnaires to construct a model of the impact mechanism of occupational stigma. The results of SEM analysis demonstrate that occupational stigma indirectly affects professional identity by reducing persuasion self-efficacy. Furthermore, perceived organizational support has a moderating influence on the relationship between occupational stigma and persuasion self-efficacy. High-level organizational support can effectively alleviate the negative impact of occupational stigma on persuasion self-efficacy, weakening the indirect damage of occupational stigma to professional identity. This study constructs a theoretical framework for understanding the occupational stigma of China’s insurance industry and its impact mechanism and provides strategic suggestions for the industry’s management practice.