Professional identity is a complex construct involving elements of personal, occupational and organisation identity. Professional identity also dictates the roles that professionals play and the activities they undertake. Role Identity Theory posits that these roles are interlinked with the role activities and likewise, activities and experiences underpin the perception of the role.
However, first responders regularly find that the actual activities they undertake are different from the expected activities that they or the community believe they should be undertaking. This is known as “Role Dissonance”. Role dissonance plays a part in mental health by creating an existential threat to the individual as they question the discontinuity between perceived and actual activities. This can accelerate burnout, compassion fatigue, poor job satisfaction and other negative perceptions and feelings. Likewise, role dissonance can create feelings of imposter syndrome and inadequacy especially when confronted by public perceptions of the role.

Role dissonance can be moderated through a range of approaches. The primary approach is to clearly support new entrants to the profession to fully understand the nature of the role and learn to value the many facets of the role. Training and induction should recognise the real skills and activities of the role. Likewise, building realistic and healthy frameworks for job satisfaction will help individuals feel value in roles. Finally, helping the community fully understand the professional role can be of value. Roles will change over time through natural evolution and to address community need, and as a result, building the capability to navigate changes in role activity and activity over time will also help individuals moderate the impact of role dissonance.