Role Conflict and Role Taking

 

Sociologists (and others outside the area) use the term "role" to define a set of expected behaviours and obligations that a person has based on his or her position in life and in relation to others. We all have a variety of roles and duties in our life, ranging from son or daughter, sister or brother, mother or father, spouse or partner, friend, professional, and community.

Roles define not just the goals to pursue, the tasks to complete, and how to act in a certain setting, but they also lay out a blueprint to guide conduct. According to role theory, people performing their parts, just like performers in the theatre, define a substantial portion of our outer day-to-day social conduct and interaction. Role theory, according to sociologists, can predict behaviour; if we understand the expectations for a specific role (for example, parent, baseball player, or teacher), we can predict a major chunk of the conduct of persons in that role. Roles influence our thoughts as well as our actions, according to the theory that people will adapt their views to fit their roles. Change in behaviour necessitates a shift in roles, according to role theory.

Role Conflict

When there are inconsistencies between the roles that a person takes on or plays in their daily life, it is called role conflict. Conflict arises when people disagree about what responsibilities for a particular role should be, whether in the personal or professional realms. In some cases, the conflict arises as a result of opposing obligations, resulting in a conflict of interest; in others, it arises when a person has roles with different statuses; and it also arises when people disagree about what responsibilities for a particular role should be, whether in the personal or professional realms.

Types of Role Conflict

Every person has a role to play in life, and each role comes with its own set of responsibilities and expectations. When analysing the role conflict definition, the focus is on instances in which the role holder is faced with conflicting obligations between roles (or within a single function).

There are two major categories:

Inter Role Conflict

Conflict between two or more roles is known as inter-role conflict. Inter-role conflict occurs when a single individual plays two or more parts, each with its own set of obligations, causing the person to struggle. Work-family inter-role conflict is the most common type of inter-role conflict. This form of conflict arises when a person's professional obligations conflict with his or her family's desires and/or responsibilities.

The following are some of the most common results of inter-role conflict in the workplace:

Dissatisfaction with one's job

Dissatisfaction with coworkers and bosses in general

Job participation is minimal or non-existent.

Inadequate job performance

a high rate of turnover (leaving job)

Inter-role conflicts frequently arise when a person's personal life and job responsibilities collide. This isn't always the case, though. Outside of work-related roles, inter-role conflict can develop. In the capacity of coaching her own child's sports team, for example, a person may face inter-role conflict. The position of parent and desire for game time for their child may conflict with the job of coach and the necessity to bring in the best players for the team's benefit.

Intra Role Conflict

Conflict arising from inconsistencies within a single role and the person's beliefs/attitudes is known as intra-role conflict. Intra-role conflict refers to a person's internal discourse, behaviours, values, and attitudes, and how they may or may not be consistent with a specific role. In intra-role conflict, just one role is involved, and the issue is an incompatibility between the person and that role rather than a contradiction between roles. Intra-role conflict is frequently referred to as person-role conflict because of this.

Workplace conflict can also be caused by intra-role disagreement. A teacher's desire to be liked by her students may drive her to assign no homework and administer few assessments. As a dedicated teacher, she understands how homework and assessments may help pupils practise ideas and build information that is important for successful progress throughout the school year.

When there is a lot of intra-role conflict, it can lead to:

Depression

Anxiety

Burnout

Other unpleasant bodily manifestations

These poor health symptoms are related to both inter-role and intra-role conflict.

Role Taking

The social-psychological notion of role taking proposes that one of the most essential components in promoting social cognition in children is the developing ability to understand others' feelings and viewpoints, which occurs as a function of general cognitive development.

Social perspective taking, often known as role-taking , is a social-psychological concept. When someone does role-taking, they examine their own role performance through the eyes of another person. They are able to see themselves as an object, as though from the outside, by adopting the perspective of another. Role-playing is one of the most significant components in children's social cognition. Manipulation is a natural part of role-playing and can be totally acceptable.

The concept of 'role-taking' has gained prominence in role analysis. Role-taking, or acting in someone else's shoes. means that a person responds by mentally or imaginatively placing himself in the shoes of the other person in order to control his own behaviour. He does this solely to meet the expectations of others, not necessarily in the direction of conformity. When discussing'social interaction,' sociologists coined the phrase 'role-taking,' which refers to when one actor initiates a behaviour and other actors react to it.

By playing and taking on the roles of other people, the kid develops into a social being. In role literature, the term'self' is frequently employed. The term "self" refers to ego's perception of himself as a person, or how he views himself.