Year: 2026
Type: article
Abstract: BACKGROUND: Generosity is a critical yet understudied dimension of prosocial behavior in healthcare. Existing research has focused on individual traits or professional values, with limited attention to how generosity is shaped in everyday clinical contexts. This study examines how healthcare professionals in China understand and enact generosity in sexually transmitted infection (STI) services, and how it is shaped by relational and organizational conditions. METHODS: We conducted semi-structured interviews with 27 healthcare professionals and a focus group with four participants across five hospitals in Guangdong Province, China. Thematic analysis explored clinicians' understandings and experiences of generosity. Crisp-set Qualitative Comparative Analysis (csQCA) examined configurations of relational and organizational conditions associated with reported generous practices. Data were analyzed using NVivo 12 and csQCA 4.0. Given uniform outcome presence, findings are interpreted as descriptive configurational patterns rather than causal effects. RESULTS: Participants described generosity as discretionary practices beyond formal duties, including emotional support, flexible scheduling, and financial accommodations. These practices were associated with patient trust and collegial support, but also with emotional strain and boundary tensions in resource-constrained settings. Generosity was more often described in accounts involving clinicians' engagement with patients' broader social circumstances and experiences of supportive team environments. Overall, generosity appeared as a context-dependent practice shaped by interacting relational and organizational conditions. CONCLUSION: Generosity in STI care appears as a relationally embedded practice shaped by interactions among clinicians, patients, and organizational environments. It reflects the coupling of relational dynamics and institutional conditions that simultaneously enable and constrain discretionary care. Sustaining situated generosity therefore depends less on individual motivation than on organizational infrastructures that structure relational work in clinical settings.
Source: PLoS ONE
Authors: Ke Zhou, Dorian Ho, Suzanne Day, Thomas Fitzpatrick, Katherine T. Li, Takhona Grace Hlatshwako, Danyang Luo, Zhuoheng Yin, Gifty Marley, Ligang Yang, Weiming Tang, C. Micha Belden, Joseph D. Tucker, Ruby Congjiang Wang
Language: English
Subfield: Sociology and Political Science
Field: Social Sciences
Domain: Social Sciences
Open Access status: gold
Estimated APC paid: $2,382
Funders: Deanship of Scientific Research, King Khalid University, U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs, Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation, Gordon and Betty Moore Foundation, Pfizer, Alexander von Humboldt-Stiftung, Florida Education Fund, Garden Club of America, Sociedad Española de Cardiología, Wellcome Trust, Deutsches Zentrum für Herz-Kreislaufforschung, Sigma Theta Tau International, Comunidad de Madrid, Council of Ontario Universities, Ministerio de Ciencia, Innovación y Universidades, Shanghai Municipal Health Commission, Zhejiang Office of Philosophy and Social Science, National Institute for Health and Care Research, British Heart Foundation, Academy of Medical Sciences, Royal Commission for the Exhibition of 1851, University of Southampton, European Commission, University of Edinburgh, University of Birmingham, Deutsche Forschungsgemeinschaft, Agence Nationale de la Recherche, Schweizerischer Nationalfonds zur Förderung der Wissenschaftlichen Forschung, National Natural Science Foundation of China, Cathay General Hospital, Federación Española de Enfermedades Raras, Eusko Jaurlaritza, Fonds Wetenschappelijk Onderzoek, Ministero della Salute, Generalitat Valenciana, Mae Fah Luang University, Mahidol University, Max-Planck-Gesellschaft, Türkiye Bilimsel ve Teknolojik Araştırma Kurumu, Narodowym Centrum Nauki, Tehran University of Medical Sciences and Health Services, Universiti Sains Malaysia, Ministerio de Ciencia e Innovación, Österreichische Forschungsförderungsgesellschaft, Hyderabad Eye Research Foundation, Bundesministerium für Ernährung und Landwirtschaft, Natural Science Foundation of Shandong Province, Agria Djurförsäkring, Conseil Régional de La Réunion, Southern Medical University, European Society for Clinical Investigation, Trafikverket, Major Scientific and Technological Special Project of Guizhou Province, Cardio-Pulmonary Institute, Fundación Interhospitalaria para la Investigación Cardiovascular, National Institutes of Health, National Institute of Food and Agriculture, Horizon 2020 Framework Programme, Department of Internal Medicine, University of Utah, HORIZON EUROPE Framework Programme, Engineering and Physical Sciences Research Council, Fundação para a Ciência e a Tecnologia, Agència de Gestió d'Ajuts Universitaris i de Recerca, Instituto de Salud Carlos III, Facultad de Ciencias, Universidad de los Andes, Helse Sør-Øst RHF, European Regional Development Fund, Key Technologies Research and Development Program, Foundation for Distinguished Young Talents in Higher Education of Henan, Shenzhen Science and Technology Innovation Program, Henan Provincial Science and Technology Research Project, Science and Technology Program of Guizhou Province, NIHR Leicester Biomedical Research Centre, National Institute of General Medical Sciences, National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases, National Institute of Diabetes and Digestive and Kidney Diseases, National Institute of Neurological Disorders and Stroke, National Center for Advancing Translational Sciences, National Center for Complementary and Integrative Health, North Carolina Translational and Clinical Sciences Institute, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, H2020 European Research Council, Kennel Club Charitable Trust
OpenAlex ID: W7166131768