Abstract
This study examined the cognitive process by which professional identity
affected nursing performance (defined in terms of professional skills and
engrossment) via proactivity (defined in terms of positive framing and building
supervisor relations). Four hundred and thirty-nine nurses participated
in the study. Using the structural equation modelling technique, we found:
1) professional identity was not directly related to either of the performance
measures; 2) the effect of professional identity on engrossment was
mediated through positive framing and supervisor relations; and 3) professional
identity was positively related to both of the performance indirectly
through supervisor relations, not via positive framing. Theoretical contributions
and practical implications of the study were discussed.
