Effect of healthcare professionals' perceived occupational stigma on organizational citizenship behavior: a moral cleansing perspective.

Ganli Liao, Jianfeng Liu, Yi Li, Hongyi Ye, Jiayi Liang

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Article in BMC medical ethics, 2025. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 4 papers.

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4citing papers in PubMed

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1 · What the graph read from it

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3 · Its place in the literature

Who cites it

4 citing papers in PubMed.

The Mediating Role of Professional Affect Between Social Distance and Occupational Stigma Consciousness Among Preclinical Nursing Students: Empirical Research Quantitative.Nursing open · 2026
Article
Understanding the dynamics of occupational stigma and employee negligence: the role of ego depletion and emotional intelligence.BMC psychology · 2026
Article
The Impact of Stigma on Autonomous Motivation Among Psychiatric Hospital Staff in China: The Mediating Role of Turnover Intention.Journal of nursing management · 2026
Article
Negative workplace gossip and organizational citizenship behavior in the Chinese kindergarten teaching workforce: exploring interpersonal trust as a mediator.Frontiers in psychology · 2026
Article

4 · The record

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5 · Who and what money

Authors and funding

5 authors.

Ganli LiaoBusiness School, Beijing Information Science and Technology University, No. 55 Taihang Road, Changping District, Beijing, 102206, China. glliao@bistu.edu.cn.

Jianfeng LiuBusiness School, Beijing Information Science and Technology University, No. 55 Taihang Road, Changping District, Beijing, 102206, China.

Yi LiDevelopment and Planning Department, Capital Normal University, No. 105 Xisanhuan North Road, Haidian District, Beijing, 100089, China.

Hongyi YeBusiness School, Beijing Information Science and Technology University, No. 55 Taihang Road, Changping District, Beijing, 102206, China.

Jiayi LiangBusiness School, Beijing Information Science and Technology University, No. 55 Taihang Road, Changping District, Beijing, 102206, China.

Funding

National Social Science Fund of China No. 24CGL122

6 · The paper itself

Abstract

backgroundOccupational stigmatization in Chinese healthcare institutions has intensified due to negative public events (e.g., kickbacks, bribes, and patient conflicts). While previous studies have mainly focused on the negative effects of stigma on practitioners' physiological and psychological states of practitioners with low prestige, little attention has been given to the moral psychological mechanisms involved or the potential positive outcomes. This study aims to explore the moral mechanisms of healthcare professionals' perceived occupational stigma on organizational citizenship behavior (OCB), with a specific focus on the potential effects of moral credibility loss, moral sensitivity, and occupational prestige.

methodsThis study employed a hierarchical regression method to test the theoretical model, using data from 554 healthcare professionals (including 311 physicians and 243 nurses) from 7 hospitals in China. Confirmatory factor analysis, hierarchical regression, bootstrapping analysis (= 5000 times) and simple slope test using SPSS and AMOS were employed.

resultsThe empirical results demonstrate that healthcare professionals' occupational stigma enhances OCB by increasing moral credibility loss, with moral sensitivity playing a moderating role. Additionally, this study categorizes healthcare professionals into two groups based on occupational prestige: physicians (high occupational prestige) and nurses (relatively lower occupational prestige). The findings indicate that occupational prestige not only moderates the positive relationship between occupational stigma and moral credibility loss but also moderates the relationship between moral credibility loss and OCB.

conclusionsThis study comprehensively explores healthcare professionals' occupational stigma and reveals its positive moral effects, specifically in enhancing OCB through the moral cleansing perspective. These findings offer a novel understanding of occupational stigma, providing practical guidance for improving professional ethics and OCB.

Indexed as

Attitude of Health PersonnelHealth PersonnelMoralsNursesOrganizational CulturePhysiciansSocial BehaviorSocial StigmaAdultChinaFemaleHumansMaleMiddle AgedSurveys and QuestionnairesMoral credibility lossMoral sensitivityOccupational prestigeOrganizational citizenship behaviorPerceived occupational stigma

Identifiers

PMID39984970

DOI10.1186/s12910-025-01185-6

PMCPMC11844104

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LicenceCC BY-NC-ND

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Read under generation 80e0d062 · epoch 390. Bibliography from PubMed, PubMed Central and OpenAlex; grants from NIH RePORTER; trial links from ClinicalTrials.gov; estimates, votes and beliefs from the OpenQuestion graph.