The relationship between job crafting and professional identity among primary and secondary school physical education teachers: a chain mediation analysis

BackgroundJob crafting is a proactive behavior through which teachers adjust their work tasks, relationships, and cognitions, and is positively associated with professional identity. However, the psychological mechanism linking job crafting to professional identity remains unclear among primary and secondary school physical education (PE) teachers. This study investigated this relationship, focusing on the chain mediating roles of work stress and positive psychological capital.MethodsThe sample consisted of 850 primary and secondary school physical education teachers from 10 provinces in China (50% male, 50% female; mean age 34.75 ± 8.42 years). They completed measures of job crafting, professional identity, work stress, and positive psychological capital. Mediation analysis was conducted using SPSS 26.0 with the PROCESS macro (Model 6), applying 5,000 bootstrap resamples.ResultsJob crafting was significantly and positively correlated with professional identity (r = 0.433, p < 0.001). Regression results showed that job crafting positively predicted professional identity (β = 0.433, p < 0.001), negatively predicted work stress (β = −0.351, p < 0.001), and positively predicted positive psychological capital (β = 0.459, p < 0.001). Work stress negatively predicted professional identity (β = −0.453, p < 0.001), whereas positive psychological capital positively predicted it. More importantly, the indirect effects of job crafting on professional identity via work stress alone, via positive psychological capital alone, and via the sequential pathway of work stress followed by positive psychological capital were all significant (95% CI did not include zero). The total indirect effect accounted for 51.4% of the total effect.ConclusionJob crafting is positively associated with professional identity among primary and secondary school physical education teachers, with work stress and positive psychological capital serving both independent and chain mediating roles. These findings highlight that reducing work stress and boosting positive psychological capital form a key psychological pathway through which job crafting is associated with higher levels of professional identity, offering practical value for designing targeted teacher development interventions.