Role Conflict and Role Strain

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Role Conflict and Role Strain
Most people occupy a number of statuses. each of which has
numerous role expectations attached. For example. Charles is a student
who attends morning classes at the university. and he is an employee at a
fast-food restaurant, where he works from 3;00 to 10;00 a.m He is also
Stephanie's boyfriend, and she would like to see him more often. On
December 7. Charles has a final exam at 7:00 a.m., when he is supposed
to be working. Meanwhile. Stephanie is pressuring him to take her to a
movie. To top it off. his mother calls. asking him to fly home because his
father is going to have emergency surgery. How can Charles be in all these
places at once? Such experiences of role conflict can be overwhelming.
Role conflict occurs when incompatible role demands are placed on a
person by two or more statuses held at the same lime. When role conflict
occurs, we may feed pulled in different directions. To deal with
this problem. we may prioritize our roles and first complete the one we
consider to be most important, or we may compartmentalize our lives and
Nlnsulate"our various roles (Merton, 1968). That is, we may perform the
activities linked to one role for part of the day and then engage in the
activities associated with another role in some other time period or
elsewhere. For example, under routine circumstances, Charles would fulfill
his student role for part of the day and his employee role for another part of
the day. In his current situation, however, he is unable to compartmentalize
his roles.
Role conflict may occur as a result of changing statuses and roles in
society. Research has found that women who engage in behavior that is
gender-typed as "masculine" tend to have higher rates of role con- Ilict than
those who engage in traditional 'feminine" behavior (Basow; 1992).
According to the sociologist Tracey Watson (1987), role conflict can
sometimes be attributed not to the roles themselves but to the
pressures people feel when they do not fit into culturally prescribed roles. In
her study of women athletes in college sports programs. Watson found role
conflict in the traditionally incongruent identities of being a woman and
being an athlete. Even though the women athletes in her study wore
makeup and presented a conventional image when they were not on the
basketball court. their peers in school still saw them as "female jocks;' thus
leading to role conflict. Whereas role conflict occurs between two or
more statuses (such as being homeless and being a temporary employee
of a social services agency). role strain takes place within one status. Role
strain occurs when incompatible demands are built into a single status
that a person occupies (Goode. 1960). For example. many women
experience role strain in the labor force because they hold jobs that are
WIesssatisfying and more stressful than men's 'jobs since they involve less
money. less prestige.
fewer job openings, more career roadblocks. and so forth- (Basow, 1992:
192). Similarly. married women may experience more role strain than
married men because of work overload, marital inequality with their spouse.
exclusive parenting responsibilities, unclear expectations and lack of
emotional support. Recent social changes may have increased role strain
in men. In the family. men's traditional position of dominance has eroded as
more women have entered the paid labor force and demanded more
assistance in child-rearing and homemaking responsibilities. Role strain
may occur. among African American men who have internalized North
American cultural norms
regarding masculinity yet find it very difficult (if not impossible) to attain
cultural norms of achievement. success. and power because of racism and
economic exploitation (Basow, 1992). Sexual orientation. age. and
occupation are frequently associated with role strain. Lesbians and gay
men often experience role strain because of the pressures associated with
having an identity heavily stigmatized by the dominant cultural
group (Basow. 1992). Women in their thirties may experience the highest
levels of role strain; they face a large amount of stress in terms of role
deroands and conflicting work and family expectations (Basow.
1992). Dentists, psychiatrists, and police officers have been found to
experience high levels of occupation-related role strain. which may result in
suidde.'lThe concepts of role expectation, role performance, role conflict,
and role strain are illustrated in Individuals frequently distance themselves
from a role they find extremely stressful or otherwise problematic.
Rok distancing occurs. when people consciously foster the impression of a
lack of commitment or attachment to a particular role and merely go
through the motions of role performance (Coffman, I961b). People use
distancing techniques when they do not want others to take them as the
"self" implied ill a particular role, especially if they think the role is "beneath
them:' While Charles is working in the fast-food restaurant, for example, he
does not want people to think of him as a "loser in a dead-end job." He
wants them to view him as a college student who is working there just to
"pick up a few bucks" until he graduates. When customers from
the university come in, Charles talks to them about what courses they are
taking, what they are majoring in, and what professors they have. He does
not discuss whether the bacon cheeseburger is better than the chili
burger. When Charles is really involved in role distancing, he tells his
friends that he "works there but wouldn't eat there, " Role Exit Role exit
occurs when people dise'ngage from social roles that have been central to
their self-identity (Ebaugh, 1988). Sociologist Helen Rose Fuchs Ebaugh
studied this process by interviewing exconvicts, ex-nuns, retirees, divorced
men and women, and others who had exited voluntarily from
Significant social roles. According to Ebaugh, role exit occurs in (our
stages. The first stage is doubt, in which people experience frustration or
burnout when they reflect on their existing roles. The second stage involves
a search for alternatives; here, people-nay take a leave of absence from
their work or temporarily separate from their marriage partner. The third
stage is the turning point, at which people realize that they must take some
final action, such as quitting their job or getting a divorce.The fourth
and final stage involves the creation of a new identity. Exiting the
"homeless" role is often very difficult.
The longer a person remains on the streets, the more  difficult it becomes
to exit this role. Personal resources diminish over time. Possessions are
often stolen, lost, sold, or pawned. Work experience and skills
become outdated, and physical disabilities that prevent individuals from
working are likely to develop. However, a number of homeless people are
able to exit this role.
Social Static and Social Dynamic

As in Biology, anatomy is separated from physiology in the same way “Auguste comte” made
distinction between social static and social dynamic, in sociology. Social static and social
dynamic are not two distinct fact but are the components of a theory. The prime focus of social
static is the study of, social order and structure of society. Whereas social dynamic focus on the
study of social progress and social change in society.
Social static comprehend the contemporary social structure of the society. Its emphasis on the
different parts of social system, its functions and the interrelation amongst the functioning parts
of society, which helps the society to function as whole. Comte was interested in determining the
interdependence and relationship amongst components or parts of society, which are universally
required for the being or existence of society i.e. family, Religion, language and division of
labor.
Social dynamic explains the change and progress in the society. His theory of social progress
was developed on the basis of “Law of three stages” theological stage, metaphysical stage and
positive stage. Auguste Comte view evolution of society progressive, as the society evolve the
cumulative intellectual level of individuals living in a society enhances.  Comte research on the
evolution of society was Western Europe centric. His objective was to build a natural science of
society, which describes past development of human society and forecast its future.

Characteristics of Social Static

• Social static studies the conditions of social order.
• It deals with the contemporary structure of the society.
• It is concerned with the study of social stability and social order
• It analyses the rules and regulation, contemporary laws and condition of society
• It examines the relationship between the different parts of social structure, that how one part
affects the other.
• It determines the effects of laws on the society.
• Family is considered as the basic unit of society.
Given below are the three factors of social static.
• Language; is the component which unify individuals in society and help in sustaining social
order.
• Religion; guide the individual, how to behave in a society, which is considered to be the core
component of social order.
• Division of labor; it is important for the prosperity of state because it create sense of
interdependence amongst individuals

Characteristics of Social Dynamic

• It is the study of the social change and progress
• Progress refer to the development of the order in society, therefore social static and social
dynamic are correlated.
• Social dynamic initiate, when function of society institution change.
• It explains the crucial and successive stages of individuals mind and society.
• Social change occurs in every aspect of society, moral, physical and intellectual
• All the institutions of society are integrated and interrelated, which work harmoniously and
contribute in the functioning of society as whole. 

Dialectical Materialism

Karl Marx” theory of “Dialectical materialism” was inspired from the concept of social thinker “Hegel”
dialectic. The literal meaning of dialectic is change or the process of change. According to “Hegel” change
occur in society, because of change in human mind, with the passage of time humans move towards
absolute consciousness, by absolute consciousness he meant that they become rational, moreover he
believed that, the rationality takes place, due to spiritual or theological force. Therefore, they move
towards freedom and progressive change. “Hegel” defined the process of dialect in three steps, thesis,
antithesis and synthesis.
Karl Marx and Engels believed that the social change does not occur due to an elevation of mind or
rationality, but it takes place because of, material. According to them, Object has an impact on the subject
rather than, the subject has the impact on the object. By material, they meant that, economic and
metaphysical conditions of societies. For example, Hegelians believe that, if a thunderstorm occurs it’s
because of some supernatural power, on the other hand, Marxists believe that, it occurred due to the
dashing of particles in the cloud. Let’s take another example of idealist and materialist, reason behind
poverty, idealist reason that an individual is poor because God made them poor. However, materialist
argues that it is because of bourgeoisies’ injustice and suppression of working class.
According to Marx, thesis is the contemporary condition of society or status quo. Moreover, in order to
change the contemporary social conditions, there ought to be an opposition that opposes the current
social conditions or mechanism, he described it as antithesis. The clash between the thesis and antithesis
results in the synthesis, to which he referred to as, social progress and social progressive change. The
Readers have to understand that, the dialectic is a continuous process once the process is completed; it
starts over again, the synthesis become thesis and there will be a new opposition synthesis, which will
result in another synthesis; social change or progress.