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CHAPTER
32

Relevant Conceptual
Framework of Role

ole is the position one occuples in a soclal

R
or
hunctions one performs In system, and Is delined by the
response to the expectations of the significant
members of a social system, and one's own expectations
office.
from that pos[tion
Role and office (or position) are separate concepts,
though two sides of the same
coin. According to Katz and Kahn (Office is essentlally a relatlonal concept,
each position in terms of its relationships to others and to the system as a delining
While office is a relational and power-related concept, role ls an obligational whole).
concept.
A role is not defined.without the expectations of the role senders, Including the
role occupant. The position of a personnel manager may be created In an' organisation,
but his role will be defined by the expectations (stated or unstated) that different
persons have from a personnel manager, and the expectations that he, in turn, has
fron the role. In this sense, the role gets defined in each system by the role senders,
including the role occupant.
The concept of role is vital for the Integration of the indivldual with an organisation.
The organisation has its own structure and goals. Simillarly, the individual has his
personality and needs (motivatlons). All these aspects Interact with each other and to
some extent get integrated into a role, Role s also a central concept In work motlvation
as it is only through this that the Indivldual and organlsation nteract with each other
An organisation can be defined as a system of roles. However, a role itsell ls á
system{ From the individual's polnt of view, there are two role systems: the system
of various roles that the individual carries and performs, and the system of varlous
roles of which his role is a part. The lirst, we will call role space and the second, a
role set.

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Training Instruments tor Human Resource Development

Each individual occuples and plays several
mother, a salesperson, a member of a club, a roles. A person can be a daughter, a
member of a voluntary
and so on. All these roles constitute the role organisation,
space
the role space is the selt. As the concept of role Is
of that person. At the centre of
So also the concept of sell is central to the severalcentral to that of an organisation,
roles of a person. The term sell
refers to the
structure thatnterpretations the person makes about the referent / It is a cognitive
from past experience with other persons and objects. Sell can
be defined as the experience of an ldentity arising from a
the external reality-things, persons and person's interaction with
systems.
A person pertor1ns various roles that are centred around the sell and are at
varying
distances trom the self (and from each other), These relationships define the role
space, which is then a dynamic interrelationship between the self and the various
roles an individual occupies.
Similarly, role set is a pattern of Interrelationships between one role
focal role) among many others. In a role set map, the focal role is in the(called the
centre.
The concept of role widens the meaning of work and the
with other significant persons in the system. The
relationship of the worker
in nature, while role includes more
concept of job is more prescriptive
discretionary part of work. A job assumes the
relationship of the worker with his supervisor. whereas the role emphasises his
relationship with all those who have expectations from him (as he has from them).
Recently,. much emphasis has been given to the development of roles and mak1ng
them more effective in an organisation.
To sum up.the concept of role goes beyond the individual job
a need to involve other significant persons in defining role holder, and indicates
on roles can be useful in planning organisational requirements. The focus
effectiveness,
Herzberg (1968) drew
attention to the need för humanlsing jobs and giving more dignity to
redesigning movement highlighted the need for involving job holders them. The work
in work-related
decisions and giving them more autonomy in work-related matters.'"

1. THE CONCEPT OF ROLE EFFICACY

The perlormance of a person working in an organisation depends on his own potential
elfectiveness, technical competence, managerial experience, etc, as well as on
design of the role that he performs in an organisation. It is the the
(the person and the role) that ensures a person's integration of the two
the requisite knowledge, technical effectiveness. Unless a person has
competence and skills required for the role, he
cannot be elfective. Equally Important is how the role,
which he occupies in the
organisation, Is designed. If the role does not allow the person
agd if he constantly feels Irustrated in the role, his to use his competence.
i The Integration of a person and a role comes efectiveness Is likely to be low
the needs of the individual, and about when the latter is able to futi
when the
the evolution of the roley The more we indlvidual in turn is able to contribute to
move from role taking to role making. the
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Development
Training Instruments for Human Resource
group, hls ellicacy is likely to be high. The
he does Is likely to be ol value to a larger to work lor superorlinates goals have
roles that give opportunites to role occupants and those
are those that serve large groups, motivatlon
the highest elficacy. Superordinate goals colaboratlve ellort. One major
which cannot be achieved without some opportunity to
tor people at the top to move tolikelypublic sector undertakings is the Many people
to help larger sections of society.
work for larger goals, which are In their salarles to move from the private to the
have voluntarily accepted cuts that
ofl this. Roles in which people leelhigher
public sector at the top level, mainly because
organisation in whlch they work, have
what they are doing is helpful to the
eficacy.
Role Efficacy and Effectiveness
seem to experience less role
Research shows that persons with high role efficacy their own strengths to cope
stress, anxiety and work-related tenslon. They rely on
behaviour, are active and interactive with people
with problems, use more purposeful by themselves), show growth
and the environment, persist In solving problems (mostly behaviour. Such persons
orientation, attitudinal commitment and positive and approach
in the organisatlon. This Is a
roles
feel satislied with life and with their jobs andtound
profile of effectlve managers. Role efficacy is to be related to the quality ol
place, nature of job, and
work life (measured by influence, amenities at the work supervisory behaviour
ylelded
supervisory behaviour). Step-wise mutliple regression
efficacy has also been found to be
as an important dimension in role efficacy. Role employment.
related to age, the type ol role, the locatlon of the work place and length ofthe employees
Regarding organisational aspects, a participative climate. in which climate promoting
get higher job satisfaction, contributes to role ellicacy. It seems that a also
concern for excellence, use of expertise, and concern for the larger issues by control
contributes to role efficacy. On the other hand, a climate characterised
and affiliation seems to lower employees' role eficacy. An innovatlon fostering climate
was lound to be a strong predictor of role efficacy.
Role efficacy has also been reported as a strong moderator or mediating variabie.
having a dramatic Influence of in predicting or enhancing organisational climate.
Details of the findings are given in the footnotes of Chapter 11 in Pareek, 1993.

2. ORGANISATIONAL ROLE STRESS

Modern lie is lull of stress.,As organisatlons become more complex, the potential for
stress Increases. Urbanisation, Industralisation and Increase in scale of operations
are some of the reasons for rising stress. Stress is an inevitable consequece of socio
economic complexlty and, to some extent, Its stimulant as well. People experience
stress as they can no longer have complete control over what happens in their lives.
The telephone goes out of order, power is shut down, the water supply is disrupted.

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Relevant Conceptual Framework of Role

an expected promotion is denled,
commodities chilcdren perlorm poorly at school, prices of e5entar
stressed.
Increase disproportionatety to income, ctc. We fecl frustrated, and ten
There being no escape from stress in
stress productively, and reducing modern lite, we need to find ways o ub
Several terms that are synonymousdystunctional stress.
with stress, or slmilar in meanlng, have Deen
Used. In order to avoid confusion we will use tlhe lollowing
that Induce stress; stress lor the affective terms: stressor tor shmo
(emotlonal) part in the expereee u
incongruence; symptoms tor the physiological, behavloural and conceptual responses
or changes: and coping lor any behaviour that deals with tlhe emotional component
in the experlence of incongruence ie, stress), The term stress will be used here to
reler to such terms and concepts as strain, pressure, etc.
Even as stress is inevitable in today's complex life, so is it necessary for human
progress. It Is like a musical instrunent, where an optimum stress is needed to
produce good music; loose wires (less stress) would not produce the notes, and too
much tautness (too much stress) might result In screeching. Adistinction has been
made between productive or functional stress (stress for creative work, entrepreneurial
actívities, olympic competitions, etc) and dysfunctional stress (stress of boredom,
unmanageable conflicts, overwork, etc). The former has been called eustress and the
latter distress.
As already stated, role can be detined as a set of functions, which an índividual
performs in response to the expectations of the significant members of a social
system, and his own expectations about the position that he occupies in it.The
Concept of role, and the two role systems (role space and role set) have a built-in
potentlal for conflict and stress.

Role Space Conflicts

As mentioned earlier, role space is the dynamlc relationship between the various
roles an individual occupies and his self. It has three nain variables: self, the role
under question, and the other roles he occupies. Any contlict among these are referred
to as role space conflict or stress. These conflicts may take several forms.
1. Self-Role distance This stress arises out of the conflict between the self-concept
and the expectations from the role, as perceived by the role occupant. If a person
occupies a role that he may subsequently find to be conllicting with the self-concept,
Inay
he feels stressed. For example, an introvert, who is fond of studylng and writing,
develop a sell-role distance if he accepts the role of a saiesman and comes to realise
and belng social. Such
that the expectatlons from the role include meeting peoplesevere.
conflicts are fairly common, although they may not be so
2. Intrarole confiict Since an individual learns to develop expectations as a result
of his socialising and identilication with signlicant others, it is quite ikely that he
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Trainlng Instruments for Human Resource

Development
sees a certain
Incompatlblllty between the different expectatlons ((unctions) of his
role. For example, a professor may see
teaching students and of doing research.Incompatibillty
These my not
between the expectations of
be Inherently conflicting. but
the individual may percelve these as
Incompatible.
3. Role stagnatlon As an lndividual grows older, he also
occuples in an organisation, With the individual's advancement,grows in the role that he
and with his change In role, the need for taking on a new role the role changes;
becomes crucial. This
problemof role grOwth becomes acute especially when an individual who has occupied
a role for a long time enters another role In whlch he feels less
secure. The new role
demands that an individual outgrow the previous one and
role effectively. This is bound to produce some stress. In take charge of the new
organisations that are fast
expanding, and which do not have any systematic strategy of human resource
development, managers are likely to experience this stress of role stagnation when
they are promoted.
4. Inter-role distance When an individual occupies more than one role
there are
bound be conflicts between them, For example, a lady executive often faces
to
conflict between her organisational role as an executive a
wife and mother.. The demands on her time by and her familial role as a
husband and children may be
incompatible with organisational demands. Such Inter-role conflicts are quite frequent
in a modern society, where an individual In
various organisations and groups. increasingly occupying multiple roles in
Role Set Conflicts
The role set consists of important persons who have varying expectations from the
role that an individual occupies.The conflicts which
among these expectations by the signiicant others (and arise as a result of incompatibility
referred to as role set contlicts These conlllcts take thebyformsthe individual himsel) are
mentioned below.
1. Role ambiguity When an
that people have from his roleindividual
is not clear about the various
he faces role ambiguity. expectations
Role ambigulty may be due
to lack of Inlormation avallable to a
cues available to hím. Role ambiguityrole occupant, or his lack of understanding of the
may be in relation to activities,
priorities, norms or general expectations. Generally, role responsibilities,
persons occupying roles that are newly created in ambigulty is experienced by
undergolng change, or process roles (with less clear and organisations, roles that are
less concrete activitles).
2. Role expectation
conflict When there are conflicting
different role senders (persons having expectatlons or
expectatlons from the role), the roledemands
by
experlences thls type of stress. The contllctlng
subordinates, peers or clents. expectations may be from occupant
the boss,
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Framework of Role
Relevant Conceptual
expectations
too many
3. Role overload Whena role Occuparnt feels
that there are overload, Role overload
role they can
Irom the significant others in his role set, he experlences
people's leelings on whether amount of
has been measured by asking questions about day and whether the occupants
finish work given to them during a modifled work done. Most executive role occupants
it is
work they do might Interlere with how well occur where role delegatlon
experience role overload. Role overload is more likely to when
there are large variations in the expected output, and
lack power, where
or assistance cannot procure more time.
would like to perlorm
that the functions he
4. Role erosion Arole oCcupant may feel
erosion is the individual's subjective Tees
roles
other role. Role are shared by othe
are beingdone byy some he has from a role
that sonme important
expectations that an organisation that
Jikely to be experienced in
erosion is several such
within the role set. Role creating new roles. Studies indicate that inorganisation, a
Is redelining its role
and one
stress ol role erosion was inevitably lelt. In to cater to executive
organisations the were created
role was abolished and in its place two feeling that the new roles were
particular and a
This led to great erosion,
and planning needs. previous role.
less important than the
stress is experienced when the
Resources inadequacy are not
Resource inadequacy occupant lor performing his role effectively
resources required by a role inlornation, people, materlal, finance or facilities.
available. Resources may include have enough
a role occupant feels that he does not
electively, or that he has not had
When
6. Personal inadequacy to undertake a role
knowledge, skills or training may experience stress. Persons who
are
assigned role he
time to prepare for the adequate preparation or orientation are likely to experience
assigned new roles without
feelings of personal inadequacy.
are
In a role set, the role occupant Imay feel that certain roles
7. Role lsolation much greater distance. The main
psychologically closer to him, while others are at a interaction. When linkages are
of
criterion of distance is the frequency and ease
versa. Role isolation can therelore be
strong, the role isolation will be low and vicelinkages.
measured in terms ol existing and the desired The gap between them indicate
organisational roles, the
the amount of role isolation. To sum up, in relation to
lollowing ten stresses are worth considering:
1. Self-role distance (SRD)
2 Inter-role distance (IRD)
3. Role stagnation (RS)
4. Role isolation (RI)
5. Role ambiguity (RA)
6. Role expectation conflict (REC)

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7. Role overload (RO)
8. Role eroslon (RE)
9. Resource inadequacy (Rin)
10. Personal inadequacy (Pln)

3. COPING WITH ROLE STRESS

When Individuals expertence strens, they try to adopt ways of dealing or coping, with
It as they cannot remain in a continual state of tensloh, The word coping has been
Used malnly with two meanlngs--ways of dealing with stress, and the efflort to rmaster
harmful condittons, threat or chalenge. We will use the tern coplng in the first sense
(ways of deall1ng wth stress), and distlngulsh between effectlve and Inelfective coping
Generally, ellectvo coplng strategles are approach strategies, which contront the
and Increase the capablity of dealíng with it. Ineffective
problem of stress us a challenge,
strategles are escape or avoldance strategles, which reduce the feelings of stress by.
for example, denylng the reality of stress, or through the use of alcohol, drugs or
other alds to escaplsm,
Rescarch has shown that soclal and emotlonal support helps a person to effectively
cope with stress. Persons mmalntaining close Interpersonal relatlonships with friends
and famlly are able to use mnore approach strategles. Socilal support Includes material
support (providing resources) and emotlonal support (listenlng to the person and
encouraging him). However, studles have also shown that unsollclted support may
have hcgative consequences,
ApprOach or ellectlve strategles of coplng Include ellorts to lncrease physical and
nental readiness to cope (through physical exerclses, yoga and meditatlon, diet
nanagernent), creatlve diverslons lor emotlonal enrlchment (music, art, theatre, etc),.
strateyles of dealng with the busie problems causlng stress, and collaborative work
t0 solve such problems,
It ls useful lor both tndivlduals and organlsatlons to exanlne the strategy that they
are uslng to cope wlth streno, The absence of a coplng strategy nnay lead to
Ineffectlvenes. Copl1ng ls alno related to the quality and ntenslty of emotlonal reactions.
There ts inpreaslve anecdotnl und resenrch evidernce polnting to the fact that we
are constantly self-regulatlng our enottonal reactons by, tor Instance, escaplng or
postponlng unpleasant situatlons, actlvely changtng threatenlng conditlons, decetving
OUrselvea about the Implicatlons of certaln lacts or sln1ply learnlng to detachourselves
Iron unpleasant bituatlone, The enpliaals should be on the lndividual (le the sell)
nc.thvely nppralsing the situatlon and what he chn do, ratlher thun on envirommental
ontbgencles presunably nanpülatng an ndivldual's behavlour. The style or stralegy
ol coping aeens to requlre nome pbynleal efforta. The mncho model, n whleh aggressBve
copng by an Indlvldual In emplaslsed, may load to serlous healtth problens.
Copng alylen or stratogle8 chn eltlier bo neon an a general
øvpllcable to most ituatlorn8), or a dlapoaltlon nppllcable to wpecifletraltstress
(a disposltio
situatlons.