Disentangling the Clinical Environment from the Self-System: A Social Cognitive Theory Analysis of Radiologic Technology Student Performance
Ahmeda Ali, Ma. Victoria Patrimonio, Alinair Carim and Mark Alipio
Received: 11 June 2026; Revised: 15 August 2026; Accepted: 29 August 2026; Published: 30 August 2026
DOI: https://doi.org/10.66074/P1Z4B6G9
Abstract
Background: Clinical performance in radiologic technology develops inside a workplace that can either expand or restrict opportunities for students to act. Social Cognitive Theory offers a useful way to separate environmental influences from personal beliefs while preserving their reciprocal relation. Objective: This study examined how the clinical environment and the student self-system jointly shaped the performance of fourth-year Radiologic Technology students during clinical education at Iligan Medical Center College. Methods: A theory-informed longitudinal qualitative case study involved 21 fourth-year students from August 2024 to March 2025. Each participant completed two semistructured interviews. The guide addressed procedure access, supervision, feedback, confidence, emotional responses, self-regulation, autonomy, and perceived performance changes. Data were analyzed through abductive reflexive thematic analysis, with Social Cognitive Theory used as a sensitizing framework rather than a fixed coding template. Results: Six themes described three linked processes: environmental opportunity, self-system adaptation, and reciprocal performance. Case exposure and equipment access set practical limits on participation; supervision and psychological safety determined whether students could enter the performance space; mastery experiences produced more calibrated self-efficacy; self-regulation helped students convert anxiety into task focus; credible performance increased supervisor trust and autonomy; and student agency remained constrained when rare procedures or service pressures reduced access. Conclusion: Clinical performance was neither an environmental product nor an expression of confidence alone. It developed through repeated reciprocal exchanges among opportunity, feedback, self-efficacy, self-regulation, behavior, and earned autonomy. Programs should therefore pair equitable clinical exposure with structured feedback, graded independence, and simulation for experiences that clinical service cannot reliably provide.
Keywords: feedback, professional competence, self-efficacy, supervision, workplace learning
Author Information: Iligan Medical Center College, Philippines; mark.alipio@imcc.edu.ph
Volume 1, Issue 1, September 2026