From dirty work to safety performance: A mixed-methods study on chemical workers' safety compliance and participation...

BackgroundDespite advances in safety management, accidents in the chemical industry remain frequent, partly due to overlooked individual-level psychological factors.ObjectiveGrounded in the Job Demands-Resources (JD-R) model, this study introduces Occupational Stigma (OS) as a job demand impairing safety performance through Organizational Cynicism (OC), while identifying Perceived Organizational Support (POS) as a critical job resource for fostering high safety performance.MethodsUtilizing a hybrid analytical approach combining Structural Equation Modeling (SEM) and Fuzzy-set Qualitative Comparative Analysis (fsQCA) on 257 Chinese frontline chemical workers, we respectively capture variable-centered and configuration-centered relationships.ResultsSEM results show that higher occupational stigma is associated with greater organizational cynicism, which in turn is negatively related to safety performance. Specifically, cynicism fully mediates stigma's impact on safety compliance and partially mediates it on safety participation. Complementarily, fsQCA identifies specific configurations sufficient for high safety performance, establishing POS as a pivotal core condition.ConclusionsBy elucidating the stigma-induced psychological cascade and highlighting the protective function of perceived organizational support, these findings provide actionable recommendations for alleviating occupational stigma and improving safety in high-risk industries.