Role Conflict and Role taking

 Role conflict and Role taking

Role is what individual does as his duty as per the status he possess. It is the expected behavior that comes with social status. Role and status are interrelated.  A person may exhibit various roles and the way he fulfills his expectations of role.

A. Role conflict
Role conflict experienced by individual at a time of playing role. There can be two types of conflict one can experience while playing in a role that are:
1. Conflict within his own role
2. Conflict between his own role and others.
These conflicts are usually immobile and can lead to excessive discomfort and group tensions. 

I experienced role conflict several times while i was on the post of HeadGirl in my school. There used to be the instances where I had to decide the priorities of filling in the duties. While organising for an event once i was requested by the student council to keep the timings for the event after 7 p.m while my teachers ordered to adhere the noon timings. Moreover for cater services I was given the name of 2 cateen service by teacher and both asked me to confirm their respective cater services. It was a hard call to make. In regards of the timing I had to listen to teachers though that meant upsetting the students and for canteen services I compared the food quality and prices. Though the role conflicted but I had to make a decision in lieu of my role. 

B. Role Taking

Role taking is putting onself mentally in other shoes to regulate his/her own behavior.  This behavior is initiated by individual attracts reactions from others. There are three stages in role taking : preparatory stage, play stage and game stage. Role-taking ability is distinct from perceptual perspective taking, which is the ability to recognise another person's visual point of view of the environment. It entails understanding the cognitive and affective (i.e., relating to moods, emotions, and attitudes) aspects of another person's point of view.Furthermore, despite some contradictory findings, role taking and perceptual perspective taking appear to be functionally and developmentally distinct.  

My experience in role taking is that of playing teacher and Student with my cousins in childhood.   While playing the role of teacher I had to prepare some content to teach and be mentally prepared for the query of students i.e .my cousins. I used to write and teach via blackboard and chalk. This practice of putting myself in the shoes of the teacher helped me understand the emotions and the struggle of teachers. It helped me understand their pyschology and attitude. It also assisted me in developing my moral and respecting teachers for their relentless efforts.