A Comparative Review on the Prevalence of Role Conflict in Corporate Organizations

Abstract

In sociological terms, roles are important guidelines for behaviour and can be defined as a set of expectations applied to the incumbent of a particular position by the incumbent himself and by role senders within and beyond the organization. Individuals are frequently confronted with situations in which they may be required to play a role which conflicts with their value systems or to play two or more roles which conflict with each other. This situation has been termed as role conflict. A role is defined as a pattern of behaviours and role conflict is the incompatibility of demands faced by an individual. Role conflicts cause a negative effect in the workplace when it comes to group dynamics. Conflicting roles can be confusing for the employee and can cause stress and burnout. Role conflicts are different for everyone and each individual affected by the role conflict at work reacts differently. Although role conflict has been studied extensively over the years with respect to organizational sciences, it still remains a topic of interest for researchers due to its omnipresence in all spheres of the organization. The purpose of this paper is to review and develop a better understanding of the role conflict variable and the extent of its significance in corporate organizations.