Abstract
“Dirty” work is often perceived as disgusting or degrading. Based on the stress as offense to self theory, we propose that the negative social evaluations of occupational stigma will impair employees’ self-concept, blurring self-concept clarity. To maintain internal consistency and stability of self-concept, employees bearing occupational stigma will reflect on themselves deeply and further explore the meaning and relevance of their career life, namely, career self-explore. In addition, for individuals with a high need for social approval, namely being sensitive to social evaluations, the aforementioned process will be stronger. A time-lagged field study with 178 full-time employees in China supported our hypotheses. Self-concept clarity mediates the positive relationship between occupational stigma and career exploration, which is strengthened by a high need for social approval. Theoretical and practical implications are also discussed.