Huan Zhang

This study investigates the role of career calling in shaping Chinese graduates’ professional match, with a focus on the mediating role of career loyalty and the moderating effect of industry income. Drawing on Conservation of Resources (COR) theory and person–environment (P–E) fit theory, we developed a three-wave, multi-source design with 2025 graduates across diverse industries. The results reveal that career calling significantly enhances professional match, and this relationship is fully mediated by career loyalty. Moreover, industry income strengthens the positive effect of calling, suggesting that external rewards amplify internal motivation in achieving sustainable career outcomes. Theoretically, the study extends calling research into the graduate labor market and integrates contextual economic factors into the COR and P–E fit frameworks. Practically, the findings highlight the importance of cultivating career calling through higher education, organizational practices, and policy initiatives to improve workforce alignment and long-term career sustainability.

This study investigates how demographic characteristics, severity of intimate partner violence (IPV), social support, gender equality awareness, and demographic factors (e.g., living with children at home) influence help-seeking behaviors among 2527 IPV-experienced women in Beijing, Shanghai, Guangzhou, and Shenzhen. Drawing on the help-seeking model and conservation of resource theory, the study distinguishes between formal (e.g., police, legal aid) and informal (e.g., family, friends) help-seeking. Logistic regression results reveal that greater violence severity, stronger perceived social support, and higher gender equality awareness significantly increase both formal and informal help-seeking. Notably, living with children is associated with a higher likelihood of seeking formal help, possibly due to increased concerns for children’s safety and the desire to change the abusive environment. While help-seeking behavior is on the rise overall, particularly among women with strong support networks and progressive gender attitudes, structural and cultural barriers remain. The findings underscore the need to improve public education, reduce stigma, and enhance accessibility of support systems. This study contributes to the growing literature on IPV in China and provides evidence for refining policy interventions and service delivery.

Transformational leadership (TFL) is often regarded as an ideal managerial approach, particularly in social work studies, where scholars have long examined its strong association with enhanced social workers’ performance. However, recent research suggests that the effect of TFL may be overstated. This study investigates the relative importance of vertical TFL and horizontal workplace social capital (WSC) in predicting two key employee performance outcomes: organizational citizenship behavior and professional discretion (PD). It is proposed that the effects of both vertical and horizontal workplace relationships on performance may be moderated by organizational learning (OL). Drawing on survey data from Chinese public sector social workers (N = 815), the findings reveal that while TFL and WSC significantly enhance performance outcomes, supportive team relationships exert a comparatively more substantial effect than leadership. Furthermore, the analysis reveals that OL moderates the relationship between WSC and PD. These findings offer meaningful implications for the management of social service organizations and provide practical insights into strategies for improving social worker performance in public service settings.

Enhancing the quality of services provided by child and adolescent social workers is crucial for promoting the healthy development of children and adolescents. However, limited research has integrated both organisational and individual factors into the examination of the influencing factors of social work service quality. This study uses the hierarchical linear model to study how organisational leadership can improve the service quality of child and adolescent social workers through the mediating influence of professional identity. The hypotheses were examined using data from 2,248 child and adolescent social workers in 157 social service organisations collected during the China Social Work Longitudinal Study in 2019. The findings reveal two critical insights: (i) there is a significant correlation between organisational leadership in social service organisations and the service quality provided by child and adolescent social workers and (ii) professional identity appears to play a fully mediating role in this relationship. These findings encourage the boards of social service organisations to implement appropriate measures for reinforcing internal governance, exporting effective leadership and nurturing the professional identity of child and adolescent social workers, thereby elevating the quality of their services.

China is a country that sadly experiences almost all kinds of disasters, and it often faces the frequent challenges of natural catastrophes. In response to catastrophes, several mechanisms have been developed in China, including decision-making, rescue, evacuation and relocation, mobilisation, etc. All these mechanisms played an important role in the police response to the 2008 Wenchuan earthquake. The police, especially the Armed Police, have a key role in China’s response to the catastrophes. This chapter will focus upon the Wenchuan earthquake and argue that the police response to the maintenance of social order within the disaster area was noteworthy. The Armed Police, working alongside the Chinese People’s Liberation Army, comprised the core response for relief and rescue during the disaster. The chapter will further argue that China’s experience in responding to the Wenchuan earthquake has important reference value for policing worldwide.

Aging in place with a suitable living environment is essential for the health and well-being of older adults. However, the willingness of older people to modify their housing to meet their needs is not strong. Using the Analytic Network Process (ANP) method, the study first explores the weights of factors, such as perceived behavioral control, policies, and market conditions that influence older adults’ behavioral intention. Then, a structural equation modeling (SEM) approach was used to dissect the psychological factors which account for the largest proportion. Using data from 560 people aged 70 or older from Beijing, results suggest that effectiveness perception, cost perception, and subjective norms can influence older people’s behavioral intention directly or indirectly through emotional attitudes. Risk perception can moderate the level of behavioral intention triggered by cost perceptions. This study provides new evidence for the impact of factors and interaction mechanism on older adults’ behavioral intentions toward age-friendly home modifications.