role conflict

Meaning: A role is the set of behaviors and expectations attached to a social position (status). Everyone holds several statuses at once, and the demands of one can clash with another. Role conflict occurs when meeting the expectations of one role makes it hard to meet those of another. The usual sources are limited time and energy, or norms that point in opposite directions. Examples: a student-athlete choosing between practice and exam preparation, an employee who must also care for a sick parent, or a manager asked to discipline a close friend.

On the MCAT: A passage describes a person with two or more positions and asks you to name the concept. The wrong choices are often related terms such as role strain or role exit (leaving a role that was central to one's identity). Questions may also ask you to sort scenarios into conflict versus strain, or to link the idea to social structure, where statuses and the roles that come with them organize behavior.

Common confusion: Role conflict is often mixed up with role strain. Role strain is stress from competing demands inside one role, such as a teacher with too many students and too much paperwork. Count the roles: one role means strain, two or more roles means conflict. Role conflict comes from how social positions are structured, not from a personal failing.