For example, role strain might occur if a sleep-deprived new parent experiences stress while navigating the challenges of having a baby. Role conflict might occur if a working parent has to choose between attending a PTA meeting and an important work meeting because both events are scheduled at the same time. Another key idea is role overload , the experience of having many social roles to meet, but not having the resources to meet all of them. For example, imagine the case of someone trying to study for exams the role of a student , work at a campus job the role of an employee , plan meetings for a student organization the role of a group leader , and participate in a team sport the role of an athletic team member.
According to Goode, there are several ways in which people can try to reduce the stress of navigating multiple social roles:. Importantly, Goode acknowledged that societies aren't static, and, if people experience role strain, it can result in social change.
For example, recent efforts to advocate for paid parental leave in the United States could be seen as a result of the role conflict experienced by many working parents. Working parents especially working mothers, due to socialized expectations about women's roles as caregivers often experience role strain and role conflict.
In order to better understand the experiences of working mothers—and to uncover factors that might be linked to less role conflict—researcher Carol Erdwins and her colleagues were interested in assessing the factors related to role conflict and role overload in working mothers.
In a survey of mothers, the researchers found that feeling supported by one's spouse and one's work supervisor was linked to lower levels of role conflict. The researchers also found that feeling a sense of self-efficacy a belief that one is able to achieve one's goals at work was linked to lower role conflict, and that feeling a sense of self-efficacy about parenting was linked to lower role overload.
Although this study was correlational and can't demonstrate whether there is a causal relationship between the variables , the researchers suggested that cultivating self-efficacy could be a way to help people who are experiencing role strain. Actively scan device characteristics for identification.
Use precise geolocation data. Select personalised content. Create a personalised content profile. Measure ad performance. Select basic ads. Create a personalised ads profile. Select personalised ads. Apply market research to generate audience insights. Measure content performance. Develop and improve products. List of Partners vendors. Share Flipboard Email. Elizabeth Hopper. Psychology Expert. Elizabeth Hopper, Ph. Updated February 14, Key Takeaways: Role Strain Role strain occurs when we have trouble meeting the social roles expected of us.
People can also experience both role conflict when two roles have demands that are mutually exclusive and role overload when one doesn't have the resources to meet the demands of multiple roles. Role strain is thought to be a common experience in modern society, and people engage in a variety of strategies to cope with role strain.
Featured Video. Sociologists such as Bird and Bird have measured the efficacy of several role-management strategies in the work and family context. These have varying amounts of efficacy. Role strain can result from any number of roles — such as a parent, spouse, student, or caregiver — and these roles can create, to name a few areas of role strain, role conflict, role overwhelm, or role ambiguity.
Balancing a job with caring for children and managing household chores can cause significant family-to-work conflict. The care of young children requires significant time and mental resources, in the same vein as having a job.
For example, single working mothers experience role strain at higher rates than their married counterparts, as they have to take on full child-rearing and breadwinning responsibilities. Consequently, single mothers experience depression and anxiety at twice the rate of their partnered counterparts Liang However, role strain does not affect every single mother who has the same roles in the same way.
Other factors can exacerbate family-to-work conflict and consequently role strain in parents. A migrant background, having toddler-aged children, young maternal age, and previous maltreatment and lack of social support all contribute to role strain. For example, working long hours at a job may cause a parent to neglect their childcare responsibilities.
Recent research suggests that work-family conflict and family-work concepts can be interrelated. Because work-to-family conflict and family-to-work can overlap, sociologists such as Carlson and Frone have used scales to evaluate the directionality of work-family conflict. Work-family conflict creates role strain as these conflicting roles lead to negative psychological effects.
Hospital employees experiencing behavior-based work-family conflict have lower levels of job satisfaction Bruck et. A family situation that requires an emotional response may strain a doctor who must be neutral in delivering a negative prognosis to patients. Work-to-family conflict, but not family-to-work conflict, is associated with greater levels of absenteeism, especially in those whose gender and relation to others leads to a greater assumption of responsibility in the family Boyar Those who experience high levels of work-family conflict also report lower job performance and greater intention to leave their organization Boshoff Those who care for elderly adults can experience significant role strain in either a professional or family context.
Edwards compared professional and non-professional caregivers and found that there were no significant differences between the amounts of role overload, strain, and depression between them.
However, other studies, such as Scharlach claim that caregiving and employment are contradictory roles that create behavioral role strain, as employees must balance professionalism with vulnerability. In both situations, caregiving can commonly create strain, with effects such as role exit a caregiver leaving their job or shifting schedule to reduce their work hours Edwards Among students, role strain can come both from the responsibilities and expectations of being a student in itself and competing roles, and these competing roles can be as far-ranging as parenthood, work, and family to race.
Home found, for example, that female nursing students who have higher perceived responsibilities in their roles experience greater levels of stress and role strain. Role strain has a greater effect when these roles are between education and family.
As a result, family and education roles can lead to high levels of overload and frequent role conflict, particularly when students have little social support. Charlotte Nickerson is a student at Harvard University.
Coming from a research background in biology and archeology, Charlotte currently studies how digital and physical space shapes human beliefs, norms, and behaviors and how this can be used to create businesses with greater social impact. Nickerson, C. What is role strain? Simply Psychology. Aneshensel, C. Marital and employment role-strain, social support, and depression among adult women. Stress, social support, and women Boshoff, A. The prediction of intention to quit by means of biographic variables, work commitment, role strain and psychological climate.
Boyar, S. The effects of work—family conflict and family—work conflict on nonattendance behaviors. Journal of business Research, 58 7 , Bruck, C. The relation between work—family conflict and job satisfaction: A finer-grained analysis. Journal of vocational behavior, 60 3 , Creary, S. Role conflict, role overload, and role strain. Encyclopedia of family studies, Ebaugh, H.
Becoming an ex: The process of role exit: University of Chicago Press. Edwards, A. Employed family caregivers of cognitively impaired elderly: An examination of role strain and depressive symptoms. Greenhaus, J.
Sources of conflict between work and family roles. Academy of management review, 10 1 , Conflict between work and nonwork roles: Implications for the career planning process. Human Resource Planning, 4 1 , Hall, D. A model of coping with role conflict: The role behavior of college educated women. Administrative Science Quarterly, Hibbler Jr, D. University of South Florida,.
Home, A. Learning the hard way: Role strain, stress, role demands, and support in multiple-role women students. Journal of Social Work Education, 33 2 ,
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