Professional Identity

This chapter discusses the concepts of dual-loyalty and professional identity in detail and provides the theoretical background for the book. Identity, self-identification, and self-image affect cognition, emotion, and behaviour. They are important for determining one’s place in the world and one’s role in it. They are therefore important in role-perception and sense-making and decision-making processes. Professional identity, as a social identity, is related to specific professional norms, ethics, and emotions. It affects sense-making, decision-making, and conduct, taking responsibility, and justifying actions. Complicated in the case of military medical personnel is that they have two professional identities, potentially resulting in dual-loyalty and ethical dilemmas.