Introduction: Participation in non-traditional work, including freelance and platform-based arrangements, is expanding globally (World Bank, 2023). Japan, despite enduring long-term employment traditions (Jung et al., 2023), has likewise experienced rapid growth in freelance work—defined as "charging fees for services and are independent of their clients in employment terms" (Fraser & Gold, 2001, p. 682)—fueled by side job deregulation, work-style reforms, and digitalization (Freelance White Paper, 2023). While freelancing affords autonomy and independence, it also generates "identity challenges" rooted in role ambiguity and the absence of organizational affiliation, which complicate the development of occupational identity (Caza et al., 2022). Yet, evidence on how occupational identity shapes freelancers' career remains limited (Stoyanova et al., 2025), and theorizing on calling as a buffer outside traditional employment is underdeveloped (Lysova et al., 2019).
Purpose & Method: Guided by career construction theory (Savickas, 2013), we examine (1) whether occupational identity achievement mediates the relationship between identity challenges and career outcomes, and (2) whether calling moderates this mechanism. A three-wave longitudinal survey of 1,177 Japanese freelancers measured identity challenges and calling at Time 1, occupational identity achievement at Time 2, and subjective career success and career growth at Time 3. We tested a moderated mediation model using path analysis in Mplus.
Results & Conclusions: Identity challenges significantly reduce occupational identity achievement, which in turn, mediates their negative effects on subjective career success and career growth. Perceived calling attenuated this indirect pathway, yielding a significant moderated mediation effect such that the adverse conditional indirect effects were weaker at higher level of calling. These findings expand career construction theory to non-traditional employment contexts by demonstrating that identity processes remain consequential outside organizations. The findings identify calling as a psychological resource that sustains career development under precarious conditions, informing interventions that cultivate identity clarity and purpose among freelancers.