The Relationship between Police Job Crafting and Career Resilience: a Moderated Chain Mediation Mechanism

Career resilience represents a pivotal psychological resource for police officers navigating the demands of high-intensity work. Grounded in the Conservation of Resources Theory and Self-Identity Theory, this study examines the relationship between job crafting and career resilience among police officers. Hierarchical regression analysis and bootstrap sampling tests were employed based on survey data collected from 562 police officers. The findings indicate that: (1) police officers’ job crafting is significantly and positively associated with career resilience; (2) taking-charge role identity and career calling each mediate the relationship between police officers’ job crafting and career resilience; (3) job crafting indirectly predicts career resilience through a chain mediation pathway involving taking-charge role identity and career calling; (4) a dynamic work environment moderates the relationships between police officers’ job crafting and both taking-charge role identity and career calling; and (5) the dynamic work environment further moderates the mediating effects and chained mediating effects of police officers’ job crafting on career resilience. These findings suggest that future interventions could enhance police officers’ career resilience—and thereby bolster their ability to manage occupational stress—by promoting job crafting, strengthening taking-charge role identity, and fostering career calling.