Transferring social-cognitive theories from individuals to healthcare professionals: a useful but simplified lens on clinical practice

TL;DR

This paper explores how theories about individual behavior can be applied to healthcare professionals, but warns that they may oversimplify the complexities of clinical work.

Contribution

The paper introduces an integrative approach combining social-cognitive theories with other frameworks to better understand clinical behavior.

Findings

Social-cognitive theories can explain intentional actions but may oversimplify healthcare professionals' behaviors.

Organizational and ethical factors significantly influence clinical behavior beyond individual cognition.

Alternative theories like workflow engineering and moral psychology offer better insights in complex clinical settings.

Abstract

This conceptual analysis examines the transferability of social-cognitive theories from individual health behaviours to healthcare professionals’ clinical behaviours. Although these theories provide a robust framework for explaining intentional and deliberative actions, their application to professional contexts risks oversimplifying the complex realities of healthcare work. Clinical behaviour is shaped not only by individual attitudes, beliefs, and perceived control but also by organizational hierarchies, procedural constraints, professional identity, and moral responsibility. Through analysis of empirical examples, the paper delineates the conditions under which social-cognitive theories retain explanatory power and those where alternative perspectives, such as workflow engineering, relational coordination, habit theory, and moral psychology, might offer greater insight. The paper argues for an integrative approach that situates individual cognition within environmental, organizational, and ethical contexts. By doing so, it refines understanding of when and how social-cognitive frameworks can inform implementation efforts, and where complementary theoretical lenses are needed to capture the realities of clinical practice.