"Role conflict is a conflict among the roles corresponding to two or more statuses." We experience role conflict when we find ourselves pulled in various directions as we try to respond to the many statuses we hold. Role conflict can be something that can be for either a short period of time, or a long period of time, and it can also be connected to situational experiences.
"An example of role conflict would be a husband and father who is also Chief of Police. If a tornado strikes the small town he is living in, the man has to decide if he should go home and be with his family and fulfill the role of being a good husband and father or remain and fulfill the duties of a "good" Chief of Police because the whole town needs his expertise."
Conflict among the roles begins because of the human desire to reach success, and because of the pressure put on an individual by two imposing and incompatible demands competing against each other. The effects of role conflict, as found through case-studies and nationwide surveys, are related to individual personality characteristics and interpersonal relations. Individual personality characteristic conflicts can arise within personality role conflict where "aspects of an individual's personality are in conflict with other aspects of that same individual's personality." (Truett 79) Interpersonal relations can cause conflict because they are by definition "having an association between two or more people that may range from fleeting to enduring, which can cause that conflict." (Wikipedia)
Example:"People in modern, high-income countries juggle many responsibilities demanded by their various statuses and roles. As most mothers can testify both parenting and working outside the home are physically and emotionally draining. Sociologists thus recognize role conflict as conflict among the roles corresponding to two or more statuses" (Macionis 90).
The discipline of group dynamics in Psychology recognizes role conflict within a group setting. Members of a group may feel that they are responsible for more than one role within this setting and that these roles may become disagreeable with each other. When the expectations of two or more roles are incompatible, role conflict exists. For example, a supervisor at a factory may feel strain due to his or her role as friend and mentor to the subordinate employees, while having to exhibit a stern and professional watchful eye over the employees.
Read more about Role Conflict: Work-Family Conflict, Religious Role Conflict, Social Factors Among Low-Income Adults Living, Homeless Men and Gender Role Conflict, Role Conflict in Prisons, Role Clarity, Role Conflict Within A Workplace, Role Conflict On Work Performance, Effect of Role Conflict On Men, Interpersonal Role Conflict, Intra-personal Role Conflict, Coping With Role Conflict, See Also
Famous quotes containing the words role and/or conflict:
“Whether or not you have children yourself, you are a parent to the next generation. If we can only stop thinking of children as individual property and think of them as the next generation, then we can realize we all have a role to play.”
—Charlotte Davis Kasl (20th century)
“Every man is in a state of conflict, owing to his attempt to reconcile himself and his relationship with life to his conception of harmony. This conflict makes his soul a battlefield, where the forces that wish this reconciliation fight those that do not and reject the alternative solutions they offer. Works of art are attempts to fight out this conflict in the imaginative world.”
—Rebecca West (1892–1983)