Personal growth      01/15/2020

Role theory of personality in a group. Role theory of personality. "Social dramaturgy" by I. Hoffman

Socio-psychological analysis of the social role is | of great importance for understanding the social behavior of the individual. That's why this problem attracted the attention of many researchers, not only interactionists, but also representatives of other orientations, such as neobehaviorist (Thiebaud and Kelly), cognitivist (Newcomb), etc. By the end of the 60s in American social psychology, there were already many hundreds of predominantly empirical, but also and theoretical research in this area. Such popularity of role-playing studies is explained by two circumstances by some authors. First, the problem of the role presents great opportunities for both theoretical and mainly empirical research. Secondly, role theory contains such an approach to research social behavior personality that is absent in other theoretical orientations social psychology. The most famous in this area are the works of such social psychologists and sociologists dealing with socio-psychological issues as T. Sarbin, I. Hoffman, R. Linton, R. Merton, R. Rommetveit, N. Gross and others.

Currently, as J. Hayes rightly notes, in social science there are two types of role theories, which he calls structuralist and interactionist. Structuralist role theory firmly stands on sociological positions. Theoretical basis sociological role theory was laid down by many authors - M. Weber, G. Simmel, T. Parsons and others. All of them developed the problem of the relationship between individuals and society and the influence of society on the individual. Most of these authors considered the objective aspects of role theories and practically did not touch on its subjective aspects. Only Weber once noted that sociology must take into account the subjective motivation of the performer of the role to explain his behavior [see: Stryker, Stathem, 1985].

Modern interactionist role theories are based on the socio-psychological concepts of J. Mead, associated with the concept of "role", introduced by him into the everyday life of social psychology. Mead did not give a definition of the concept of role in the presentation of his concepts, using it as very amorphous and indefinite. In fact, this concept was taken from the field of theater or everyday life, where it was used as a metaphor for a number of phenomena of social behavior, such as the manifestation of similar behavior in very different people in similar circumstances. Mead used this term when he developed the idea of ​​"taking the role of the other" to explain the act of interaction between individuals in the process of verbal communication.

According to J. Mead, "accepting the role of another", i.e. the ability to look at oneself from the side through the eyes of a communication partner is a necessary condition for the successful implementation of any act of interaction between people. As an example of “taking on the role of the other,” Mead mentioned only childhood role-playing games which he considered one of essential funds socialization of the individual. This, in fact, limits his reasoning about the social role of the individual. Later, the concepts of "role" and "social role" began to be widely used and developed in Western sociology and social psychology. A significant contribution to the development of role theory was made by the social anthropologist R. Linton. He proposed the so-called status-role concept. According to Linton, such terms as "status" and "role" are very convenient for defining the relationship of an individual with various systems of society. Status, according to Linton, is the place that an individual occupies in a given system. And the concept of role is used by him to describe the total amount of cultural patterns of behavior associated with a certain status. According to Linton, thus the role includes the attitudes, values ​​and behavior prescribed by society for each of all people with a certain status. Because a role is an outward behavior, it is a dynamic aspect of status, something that an individual must do in order to justify the status he occupies.

The concept of "social role" is very complex, since the role is a function of various phenomena of an objective and subjective nature. The approach of Russian authors, reflected in a number of works on this issue [Bueva, 1968; Kohn, 1967; Shakurov, 1972 and others], suggests understanding it as social function, as an inseparable unity of a certain type of activity and the corresponding mode of behavior developed in a given society, which are ultimately determined by the place occupied by an individual in the system of social relations. Moreover, if the general way or standard of behavior for the performer of a particular social role is set by society, then its specific individual performance has a certain personal coloring, which manifests the unique uniqueness of each person.

Therefore, when studying a social role, one can single out sociological and socio-psychological aspects that are closely interrelated. The sociological approach to the social role, as a rule, is related to its impersonal, content and normative side, i.e. to the type and content of activity, to the intended performance of a certain social function, as well as to the norms of behavior required by society for the performance of this social function. The socio-psychological aspect of the social role is associated primarily with the study of the subjective factors of the social role, i.e. with the disclosure of certain socio-psychological mechanisms and patterns of perception and performance of social roles. It is typical for interactionists to attach particular importance to the socio-psychological side of role theory.

The complexity of the social role phenomenon makes it extremely difficult to define it. Various authors in Western social psychology approach this problem in different ways. So, one of the leading American experts on role theory T. Sarbin, in his generalizing article on this problem, written jointly with W. Allen, prefers not to define the concept of "role" at all, indicating that this metaphor is convenient for socio-psychological analysis certain aspects of social behavior, and refers only to the etymology of the word "role", taken from theatrical paraphernalia. Other authors are trying to find their own definitions. So, for example, the already mentioned definition of the role, which was proposed by R. Linton, is very famous: a role is a dynamic aspect of status. We also find Linton's understanding of the role in I. Hoffman, who defines the social role as "the exercise of the rights and obligations associated with this status." A number of authors criticize Linton's definition for being vague and inaccurate, but they themselves do not offer definitions.

M. Deutsch and R. Krauss note that in view of different approaches To understand the role in social psychology, it is inappropriate to try to look for a comprehensive definition, but it is enough to point out those aspects of social behavior that most authors have in mind when they talk about the role. Referring to the works of J. Thiebaud and G. Kelly, as well as R. Rommetveit, they highlight the following aspects:

1. Role as a system of expectations existing in society regarding the behavior of an individual occupying a certain position in his interaction with other individuals.

2. Role as a system of specific expectations in relation to oneself of an individual occupying a certain position, i.e. how he presents a model of his own behavior in interaction with other individuals.

3. Role as an open, observable behavior of an individual occupying a certain position.

In other words, in the first case we are talking about the ideas of other people about how an individual occupying a certain position should behave, in the second - about his own idea of ​​how he should behave in a particular position, and in the third - about the observed behavior of an individual occupying a certain position in interaction with other people. As can be seen, in most cases, the role of the individual in its socio-psychological consideration is associated with his position, status. At the same time, interactionists often consider status not as an objective position of an individual in a system of certain social relations, but primarily as a subjective category, i.e. "set" or "organization of role expectations", which are divided into expectations-rights and expectations-duties of an individual in the performance of a particular role.

In this interpretation, the subjectivist approach to the analysis of social phenomena, characteristic of the interactionist orientation, is clearly manifested, ignoring the content side of the role as a type of socially useful activity and its separation from objective social relations. Representatives of role theories abstract from the fact that, as L.P. Bueva rightly notes, role expectations are nothing more than a subjective expression, “an ideal form of objective social relations that exist in the social practice of society” [Bueva, 1968]. Although the socio-psychological analysis of a social role presupposes consideration, first of all, of the subjective factors of role behavior, however, true penetration into the essence of these factors does not require their absolutization, but a close connection of the subjective aspects of role behavior with objective social relations, so how? it is the latter that are ultimately decisive | for the formation in the public consciousness of expectations, requirements, rights and obligations, modes of behavior corresponding to a particular role.

role, according to modern concept role-playing behavior is a way of behavior set by society. It consists of two variables: the basic psychological attitudes of our "I" and the expectations of other people.

While role behavior typically consists of conscious role play, in some cases it is highly conscious. With this behavior, the player constantly examines his own efforts and creates a desirable image of his own "I". In any case, the individual performance of a role by a person has a certain “personal coloring”, depending both on his knowledge and ability to be in this role, on its significance for him, character, motivation, other personality traits, and socio-cultural influences.

As researchers T.V. Kazakov and S.I. Raikov, each individual during his life learns to play a variety of roles, thereby mastering the norms of culture. Role-playing learning, in their opinion, has two aspects:

1. Fulfillment of duties and exercise of rights in accordance with the role played.

2. Acquisition of attitudes, feelings and expectations, appropriate for this role.

Performance training social roles can be successful only with consistent preparation for the transition from one role to another throughout the life of the individual. Practice studies show that role learning characterized by discontinuity, which leads to role tension. Role tension arises due to a misunderstanding of the future role, as well as poor preparation for it and, as a result, poor performance of this role. Another source of role tension is that the moral preparation of the individual for the performance of roles includes mainly formal rules of social behavior. This often ignores learning informal modifications of these rules that really exist in the world around us. In other words, role-learning individuals tend to learn an ideal picture of the surrounding reality, rather than real culture and real human interactions.

Role regulation is a formal procedure by which a person is relieved of personal responsibility for the consequences of performing a particular role. In practice, this looks like a person's reference to the influence of organizations, by virtue of which he is forced to act in a certain way.

In general, role behavior is determined by the following factors:

§ ongoing sociocultural changes;

§ the relationship of the individual with other members of the social group to which he is a member;

§ the individual's assimilation of socio-cultural values ​​and norms, which are regulated mainly through learning to play roles;

§ the social status of the individual in society;

§ the expectations of others in relation to the individual.

The study of role behavior through socio-psychological conditions was carried out by the authors of these lines in the labor collective of one of the enterprises in the city of Tambov and made it possible to identify a number of socio-psychological conditions that determine role behavior. The authors grouped these conditions into three groups.

1. Conditions determined by the process of socialization:

§ the influence of social stereotypes (the presence of a social stereotype plays a significant role in a person's assessment of the world around him, in his response to a changing reality, to the process of his knowledge);

§ the influence of social values ​​that a person acquires in the process of socialization (social values ​​are more or less generally recognized behavioral standards, that is, beliefs shared by a social group about the ways and means that lead to the achievement of a goal; social values ​​answer the question of how refer to what already is and what can be);

§ influence social norms which the personality assimilates and implements in its role-playing behavior.

2. The condition of role tension (affects the occurrence or elimination of role tension):

§ the influence of the socio-psychological climate of the team, which affects the degree of trust and exactingness of group members to each other, the degree of pressure of leaders on subordinates, etc.;

§ the pressure of surrounding circumstances, which leads to role tension and role conflict;

§ the interaction of the personality of the performer of the role with other participants, because the concept of the role includes a set of expectations of each person in relation to both his own behavior and the behavior of other people when interacting in a certain situation;

§ the degree of correspondence between the expectations of other people and their own ideas about themselves and their role (the higher this degree of correspondence, the more effective role behavior);

§ Correspondence of a person's role with his personal potential;

§ the degree of awareness of the personality of their roles (on how much a person understands the specifics of his role, how much he represents a line of behavior appropriate for himself, to what extent it is interpreted by him, the quality of its performance largely depends).

3. Condition of role self-realization:

§ activity of the individual (under the activity of the individual is understood the ability of a person to produce socially significant transformations, manifested in creativity, role behavior, communication; the activity of the individual in role behavior can be expressed in the choice of a particular role, her awareness of her role, the choice of a model for her performance, conscious submission their role behavior to the expectations of others);

§ the level of a sense of responsibility (responsibility determines the attitude of the individual to his role duties, since it serves as a means of internal control of the internal regulation of the behavior of the individual;

§ Ability to adapt to changing situations.

Thus, role-playing games are always improvisation, drawing material from the social practice of human life with the introduction of three elements: fantasy, historical truth and real reality. The unifying spontaneous moment of the three elements is imagination.

The characteristic of a small group as a set of subjects of communication suggests its consideration as a "system of systems". This means that a small group is a specific socio-psychological system that integrates individuals as "microsystems".

L.P. Bueva, who proposed this approach, considers the personality to be an open and dynamic system. It's hard to disagree with this.

I. S. Kon also understands personality as a system. He believes that, objectively, the personality system can best be described as the totality of its social roles. According to I.S. Kohn,

"the concept of personality means whole person in the unity of his individual abilities and the social functions (roles) performed by him.

Social functions reveal her belonging to a certain social group, they fix her rights and obligations in relation to the group. The personality is not limited to one role, the objective structure of the personality is revealed as the totality, the integrity of its roles in society.

In the literature, there are different points of view on the role behavior of the individual. Each of them reflects a subjective view of the essence and content of the concept of "role". But it is objective that sociology has developed a role theory of personality.

According to V. A. Yadov, the role theory of personality is a theory in which a personality is described by means of learned and accepted by the subject (internalized) or forced to perform (non-internalized) social functions and patterns of behavior - roles determined by the social status of the individual in society or social group.

The role theory of personality is an integration of the achievements of sociology and social psychology in the study of personality.

The main provisions of the role theory of personality were formed in social psychology by J. Mead, and in sociology by the social anthropologist R. Linton.

J. Mead focuses on "learning the role", mastering roles in the processes of interpersonal interaction (interaction), emphasizing the stimulating effect of "role expectations" on the part of "significant" for this individual persons with whom he enters into communication.

R. Linton singles out, first of all, the sociocultural nature of role prescriptions and their connection with the social position of the individual, as well as the maintenance of role requirements by a system of social and group sanctions.

Within the framework of the role theory of personality, such phenomena as

  • "role conflict" - the experience by the subject of the ambiguity or inconsistency of role requirements from different social communities, of which he is a member; what creates a stressful situation;
  • "integration and disintegration" of the role structure of the personality - as a result of harmony or conflict social relations.

Based on this theory, A. A. Nalchadpsyan developed the concept of role behavior. From his point of view, role behavior is the behavior of an individual in a group, determined by her status and the role she plays in accordance with this status.

The concept of a social role associated with norms and expectations includes the following "blocks":

  • represented role (the system of expectations of the individual and certain groups);
  • subjective role (those expectations (expectations) that a person associates with his status, i.e. his subjective ideas about how he should act in relation to persons with other statuses);
  • role played (the observed behavior of a person with a given status in relation to another person with a different status).

The style of role behavior is the "personal coloring" of the performance of the role, depending on the temperament, character, motivation and other characteristics of the individual, on her knowledge and skills.

The role behavior of the personality is two-dimensional: these are actions

  1. from regulatory requirements (I am in the role offered by the circumstances),
  2. from personal claims (I as such).

The first plan of action - social form role actions. Second plan - psychological way role-playing self-realization.

  • personal concept;
  • role expectations;
  • personal role specificity;
  • personal strategy for the implementation of the role;
  • personal cognitive program.

The concept of social role involves understanding the following four points:

  • firstly, the fact that the social role is regulated by certain rights and obligations both in society as a whole and in small groups into which the individual is included by his life activity;
  • secondly, that the person himself has a certain opinion about how he will play his role;
  • thirdly, the fact that different roles have different significance for the individual;
  • fourthly, the fact that the role of the individual is manifested in her real behavior.

The acceptance of a role by a person - in addition to dependence on social factors - depends on her gender, age, typological characteristics. nervous system abilities, health status, etc.

There is a normative structure for the performance of a social role, consisting of a description of behavior (corresponding to this role); instructions (requirements for this behavior); assessing the performance of the assigned role; sanctions (for violation of prescribed requirements). Each the social system has its own "set of roles", which is determined:

  • firstly, the stable expectations of society or a group regarding the behavior of a person with a certain status;
  • secondly, a set of value orientations of the individual, called the "internalized" (internally accepted) role;
  • thirdly, by the fact that there are always people whose behavior and internal appearance are considered as the ideal embodiment of the role and serve as a role model.

The performance of social roles can cause the following conflicts:

  • intrapersonal (caused by contradictions in the requirements for the behavior of the individual in its various social roles).
  • intra-role (arises as a result of contradictions in the requirements for the performance of a social role different participants interactions);
  • personality-role (a consequence of the mismatch of a person's ideas about himself and his role functions);
  • innovative (as a result of a discrepancy between previously formed value orientations and the requirements of a new social situation).

We have always been interested in the communicative roles of the individual: it is their analysis that makes it possible to approach small group as a set of subjects of communication. But this is a first-level approach, i.e. subjective. Within its framework, we developed a morphology of the role, including

  1. role-playing strategy (a way to attach to a communication partner);
  2. role task (a goal to be achieved in a problem situation);
  3. role-playing program (a system of purposeful, ordered actions);
  4. role-playing actions (means to achieve the goal);
  5. role competence (knowledge of the conditions of action);
  6. role freedom (possible and unacceptable in the performance of the role);
  7. role mood (psycho-emotional state corresponding to the situation of interaction).

There are currently two types of role theories in social science: structuralist and interactionist. Structuralist role theory firmly stands on sociological positions. The theoretical foundations of the sociological role theory were laid by many authors - M. Weber, G. Simmel, T. Parsan and others. All of them developed the problems of the relationship between individuals and society and the influence of society on the individual. Most of these authors considered the objective aspects of role theories and practically did not touch on its subjective aspects. Only Weber once noted that sociology must take into account the subjective motivation of the performer of the role in order to explain his behavior.

Modern interactionist role theories are based on the socio-psychological concepts of J. Mead, associated with the concept of "role", introduced by him into the everyday life of social psychology. Mead did not give a definition of the concept of role in the presentation of his concepts, using it as very amorphous and indefinite. In fact, this concept was taken from the field of theater or everyday life, where it was used as a metaphor for a number of phenomena of social behavior, such as the manifestation of similar behavior in very different people in similar circumstances. Mead used this term when he developed the idea of ​​"taking the role of the other" to explain the act of interacting individuals in the process of verbal communication.

According to J. Mead, "accepting the role of another", i.e. the ability to look at oneself from the side through the eyes of a communication partner is a necessary condition for the successful implementation of any act of interaction between people. As "accepting the role of the other" in Meade, only children's role-playing games figured, which he considered one of the most important means of socializing the individual. This, in fact, limits his reasoning about the social role of the individual. Later, the concepts of "role" and "social role" began to be widely used and developed in Western sociology and social psychology. A significant contribution to the development of role theory was made by the social anthropologist R. Linton. He proposed the so-called status-role concept. According to Linton, such terms as "status" and "role" are very convenient to determine the relationship of an individual with various systems of society. Status, according to Linton, is the place that an individual occupies in a given system. And the concept of role is used by him to describe the total amount of cultural patterns of behavior associated with a certain status. According to Linton, therefore, the role includes the attitudes, values ​​and behavior prescribed by society for each of all people with a certain status. Because a role is an outward behavior, it is a dynamic aspect of status, something that an individual must do in order to justify the status he occupies. Therefore, when studying a social role, one can single out sociological and socio-psychological aspects that are closely interrelated. The sociological approach to the social role, as a rule, is related to its impersonal, content and normative side, i.e. to the type and content of activity, to the proposed performance of a certain social function, as well as to the norms of behavior required by society for the performance of this social role, is associated primarily with the study of subjective factors of the social role, i.e. with the disclosure of certain socio-psychological mechanisms and patterns of perception and performance of social roles. It is typical for interactionists to attach particular importance to the socio-psychological side of role theory.

As can be seen, in most cases, the role of the individual in its socio-psychological consideration is associated with his position, status. At the same time, interactionists often consider status not as an objective position of an individual in a system of certain social relations, but primarily as a subjective category, i.e. "set" or "organization of role expectations", which are divided into expectations-rights and expectations-duties of an individual in the performance of a particular role. Although the socio-psychological analysis of the social role presupposes consideration, first of all, of the subjective factors of role behavior, however, true penetration into the essence of these factors does not require their absolutization, but a close connection of the subjective aspects of role behavior with objective social relations, since it is the latter that is ultimately determining for the formation in the public consciousness of expectations, requirements, rights and obligations, ways of behavior corresponding to a particular role.


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Any person is subject to influences from society at the macro and micro levels. The macrolevel refers to the "broad" social environment, up to the level of the entire world community, but primarily the role of the social influences of that particular society to which a person belongs.

The micro level is the immediate environment of a person: his family, circle of friends, work colleagues, neighbors, i.e. all people with whom a person directly communicates in certain situations of everyday life.

The personality is not only the object of certain influences from the surrounding social environment, but also the subject of activity. Each person in some way influences other people, communicating with them in the process of work, study, leisure. The individual also influences the macro environment by voting for one or another candidate in elections, taking part in demonstrations or strikes, the individual acts as a subject political activity, influencing the transformation of the macro environment.

In order to better understand the relationship between the individual and his social environment, psychologists turn to the role theory of personality.

As a member of any social groups, interacting with other people, a person in each of these cases has one or another position (status) - a place in this particular system social interactions. It is possible to single out socio-political positions (deputy, party member, etc.), professional (engineer, doctor, actor) and a number of others. Separate mention should be made of the positions held in one's family and among relatives in general (grandfather, brother, father, husband, etc.). Certain rights and obligations act as regulators in family relations as well.

Each person has a number of different social positions, which constitutes his "status set". Consideration of any position in a group or in society always implies the presence of other positions associated with it. A well-known interrelationship is also derived from this between people who are in interconnected positions. For example, the position of a leader implies the existence of a position of a subordinate. The position of the seller implies the presence of the position of the buyer, the client. Thus, it is possible to speak about the existence of corresponding relationships between named persons. Within the framework of these relationships, individuals perform certain social roles, and these relationships are called role relationships.

One of the significant characteristics of groups, including reference groups, is the role structure. Roles are established and played out in the group. Role- this is a prescribed pattern of behavior expected from an individual in a given situation due to his social position . Role theory is projected into commercial activity, since the role involves certain consumer behavior.

There are a number of classifications of social roles. Thus, everything and diversity can be divided into roles prescribed and roles achieved. Prescribed roles include, for example, roles due to the differentiation of people by sex. Achieved roles include those that are performed in a particular professional area.

In accordance with another logical basis, roles are divided into diffuse and specific. In roles, specific relationships are built on the basis of specific clearly defined goals (cashier, hairdresser, etc.). The activity of persons performing diffuse roles, on the contrary, does not have a similar social orientation. Such, for example, is the role of the mother, who is interested in literally everything that concerns her child.

If others know the social role of a person, they impose appropriate role expectations on his behavior. These expectations may include well-defined prescriptions (what a person must do), certain prohibitions (what a person should not do), and a number of less precisely defined expectations (what a person should do in a given role). When the behavior of an individual performing any social role matches the expected pattern, it is considered successful.

A person has a certain degree of freedom in relation to his role behavior. That is why the performance of the same social roles by different individuals often has some differences, although with all this their actions can be assessed as successful.

Role expectations often concern not only the behavior of individuals in a particular role, but also its appearance - clothes, jewelry, hairstyles. In some formal situations, dress code is strictly regulated.

The range of behavior acceptable for a given role is described by the role parameters. role-playing style- the specifics of the performance of one role different people. For example, the role of a housewife, a corporate leader.

Each consumer simultaneously performs several roles, for example, the role of a student, assistant manager, neighbor, young man, son. The set of roles performed by the consumer is not static. In the process of role evolution, new roles are acquired and old ones are lost.

Role stereotype in society assigns a certain set of attributes to the role - appearance, behavior, consumption. The commercial aspect of the role is the existence role product cluster. So, for example, a pop star must drive a luxury car, wear custom-designed clothes, consume exclusive services from hairdressers, beauticians, producers, and generally lead an extravagant lifestyle. Cluster products may be functionally or symbolically required to fulfill a role.

Role clusters define both necessary and unsuitable products to fulfill a role. Because most products are designed to enhance role performance, salespeople must ensure that products fit existing and emerging consumer roles.

The role behavior of a person is usually considered as a function of two main variables - social role and "I". The quality of a person's performance of a particular role largely depends on how much he understands its specifics and to what extent he accepts and assimilates this role, i.e. is internalized. This implies not just agreement with the requirements of a particular role, but awareness of it, the moral readiness of the individual to accept this role.

Sometimes a person on the way to fulfilling a role finds himself in a conflict situation. Such conflicts are called role conflicts. There are several types of such conflicts.

There is a known case when a graduate of a financial institution, conducting his first audit, discovered serious abuses. Based on the prescriptions of this role, the auditor had to demand the trial of certain persons, but as an exceptionally mild person, he was unable to decide on this. The current situation eventually led the novice auditor to a severe neurosis. In this example, the "I" came into conflict with the prescriptions of the social role. Such a conflict is called personality-role conflict.

Another example. A female researcher, passionate about her research, is working on her dissertation. All this requires a lot of time and effort from her. On the other hand, she wants to be a good, caring mother and wife. If a woman is equally focused on professional growth, and on the family, there is a conflict between its given roles. In this case, the prescriptions of various social roles performed by the individual hinder their successful implementation. Such conflict is called inter-role conflict.

Role conflicts also include the incompatibility of expectations for a person who performs any social role. A typical example is the situation in which a production foreman finds himself. The specificity of his position lies in the fact that, on the one hand, the master is perceived by the management as a representative of the administration. On the other hand, the workers regard the foreman as their representative before the administration. Thus, the successful fulfillment of the role of foreman is possible only if he can simultaneously satisfy the requirements of both workers and management. However, these requirements may not be compatible. When the wizard detects this incompatibility, a conflict occurs. Such a conflict is called intra-role.

Personal reactions to role conflicts may vary depending on individual psychological characteristics and the nature of the situation. This may be the refusal of an individual from any of the roles that are incompatible for him, attempts to mislead a certain group of people regarding the fulfillment of their expectations, and finally, leaving this situation (change of place of work, residence, divorce). Role conflicts lead to an increase in the degree of tension of the individual with all the physiological and psychological manifestations inherent in this state, up to diseases.

To characterize this state, not without reason, the term "role stress" is used. One of the causes of role stress can be role overload. It occurs when a person has to perform too many social roles. This requires not only time, but also the ability of the individual to quickly socially and psychologically restructure when moving from one role to another.

The cause of stress can be a role underload. At the same time, a conflict arises when an individual believes that his role responsibilities do not allow him to fully demonstrate his abilities. Such a mental state is sometimes characteristic of university graduates. A particular young professional may have high level claims in relation to creativity and self-realization, but receive only routine tasks. In this case, role conflict Negative influence on self-esteem of the individual.

Role conflict can also be used in sales technology, for example, between the roles of a housewife and an employee. On the resolution of this conflict, the promotion of home appliances is often built, saving the time and effort of the consumer.



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Course: Consumer Behavior
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