Role concepts have been useful to the researchers in industrial organizations, in the diagnosis of conduct impairment and family dynamics, in studies of child development, in psychometric theory, in conformity studies, in psychotherapy and behavior change in studies of hypnosis and behavior disorders.
Role is a term borrowed directly from the theater is a metaphor intended to denote that conduct adheres to certain parts or portions rather than to the players who read or recite them. The metaphorical continuity is from real life to drama and from drama to a psychological theory about people enacting real life dramas.
To the social psychologist whose observation is guided by role concepts, the object of the study is the role enactment of persons in social settings. It bridges the gap between the individual and the group, between personal history and social organizations.
Overt conduct, that is, what the person does and says in a particular setting is the first specification of role enactment. Among the dimension of role enactment that appear to have conceptual or practical utility are (a) number of roles, (b) organismic involvement (effort) and (c) preemptiveness (time).
In every day affair roles tend to be coacted with a minimum degree of organismic involvement.
2. Ritual acting
3. Engrossed acting
4. Classical hypnotic role taking
5. Histrionic neurosis
6. Ecstasy
7. Objects of sorcery and witchcraft (sometimes irreversible).
Ritual acting is alluded to as mechanical acting or push button acting.
Engrossed acting or "heated acting".
Classical hypnotic role taking-'as if' behavior.
Histrionic neurosis-couvades (Husband of pregnant women).
Ecstasy - such states cannot be prolonged over time without damage to the functioning of the body.
Bewitchment-The bewitched person takes the role of a moribund person.
The variability in time spent is applicable primarily to the roles that have an achieved aspect but not an ascribed one (sex, age, etc).
This is a cognitive concept, the content which is consist of human beliefs, expectations, subjective probabilities and so on. The units of social structure are positions or statuses (in specialized context, jobs and offices). These units are defined in terms of actions and qualities expected of the person who at any time occupies the position
Role expectations· are comprised of the rights and privileges, the duties and obligations of any occupant, of a social position in relation to person occupying other position in the social structure. Historical processes bring about changes in role expectations no less than in other beliefs or cognitive systems.
There are expectations concerning the temporal an spatial aspects of role enactment, role behavior is expected to occur at the proper time and proper place.
1. Role expectations vary in the degree of their generality or specifity
2. They also vary in their scope or extensiveness
3. Degree of clarity or uncertainty.
4. Finally, degree of consensus among other person concerning a role particular has frequently been considered an important dimension of role expectations.
Role expectations occur in the context of both the informal social system and the formal social system. Klapp called role expectations in the informal as social system
"social types".
Role expectations in general facilitate social interaction by providing the people with means of reciprocal prediction of behavior more precise prediction. This helps in smoother social interaction, if informal role expectations are known in addition to formal role expectations.
Self reports, such as questionnaires and interviews or inferences from overt behavior etc are used.
For assessing role expectations in terms of qualities Sarbin and Jones ( 1956) used a 200 word adjective checklist. Sentence completion test was used by Thomas, Dolansky and Kounin (1955). Gross and Stone's analysis (1964) of 1000 embarrassing incidents disclosed that embarrassment occurred frequently in situations requiring continuous and coordinated role performances, such as speeches and ceremonies.
Role expectations may differ in content and in structure as a function of the standpoint of the person assessing the role expectations. A person's knowledge of others role expectations facilitates his interaction with them, regardless of whether his own conception of his role coincides with theirs or not.
Conformity of role expectations: The role expectations have a normative or evaluative character. The occupant of a social position ought to do particular things in specified ways and ought to hold certain beliefs instead of others.
Role expectations are specifications for adherence to group norms. In case of chronic failure to conform to role expectations the person may be removed from the position, particularly if it is an achieved one.
A systematic study of conformity to role expectations was undertaken by Gross, Mason and Mc Eachem (1958).
Although in general, people do seem to confirm to role expectations we should emphasize that role behavior does not consist of the rigid following of specific directions. Most role expectations require only that some end result be accomplished within some limits.
Complex social interaction is accomplished through the sharing of role expectations by individuals. To the extent that role expectations are unclear and ambiguous behavior will be less readily predictable, resulting in ineffective and dissatisfying social interaction. Clarity of role expectations can be defined as the difference between the optimal amount of information needed about role expectations and the amount actually available to a person.
Inclarity influences group performance. Unclear group structure which interferes with interpersonal predictability was cited by Torrance (1954) as an important factor working against survival of Air force crews under stress. The necessity of expending a great deal of time and effort on trying to predict other's behavior decreases the time available to spend on task activities.
The hypothesis that unclear role expectations are detrimental to a group in both the task and the social emotional areas was tested experimentally by Smith (1957). Ambiguous role expectations were created by having stooges remain silent through out a small problem solving group session as work on the task progressed the behavior of those members who spoke became of course more predictable than the behavior of the silent members. The results confirmed the hypothesis that unclear expectations of role interfere with effectiveness of problem solving and decreases member's satisfaction.
It seems, then that lack of clarity in role expectations does lead to decreased effectiveness and productivity and that these task effects are mediated through psychological effects on the individual, which are discernible in such reactions as personal frustration and strain.
Role expectation is one, which integrates the individual with the social structure since performers do tend to confirm to roles expectations, clarity and consensus of role expectations determines the degree to which role enactment is convincing proper and appropriate.
In order to survive as a member of a society the individual must be able to locate himself in the social structure. From his repertory of roles, he must select one that is appropriate to the situation, and since roles are enacted in interactions settings the position of others must be taken into account if he is to locate himself accurately. Locating the position of self and others is a reciprocal, alternating, interacting affair. It is the first part of the social act, and it consists of the usually silent or tacit naming of the position of the others on the basis of observed cues and inferred qualities. At the same time, the individual makes a decision regarding his own role
If placement of the other and self is incorrect then the choice of role and resulting role enactment is likely to be inappropriate, improper or unconvincing.
Locating oneself in the role system may best be described as a cognitive process. The time elapsing between the beginning of a social act and role enactment may be infinitesimal, so that observers overlook the cognitive phase. The cues to locating the position of another person of course, are his acts and appearances. These may be further characterized as everything publicly exhibited by the other in deed or in contour. A catalogue of such cues would include gross skeletal movements, verbal acts, physique, stature, clothing ,facial expressions, posture, gait, accent, pitch, intonation, adornments, visible emblems and badges of office, tattoo marks and so on. The wearing of a uniform and silver badge, for example; is art of the role of policeman. The recognition of these objects on a person leads to predictable role behavior on the part of the actor. The choice of role follows from the location of self in the social structure, such location being determined conjointly with locating the position of the other.
For effective participation in a culture, man must locate himself efficiently in a· number of distal ecological systems. These systems represent specific differentiation of the all encompassing concepts of environment, and they may be seen as convenient ways of portioning the world of occurrences which give rise to sensory events, some of which may function on inputs. We can identify five distal systems, each of which provides the occurrence that the actor must instantiate (make sense of). He must locate himself in the self-maintenance system, in the space time system, in the social system in the normative system and in the transcendental system.
Locating oneself in any system is an inferential process by which the syllogism may be taken as the typical form. In schematic form the inferential process could be described in the following series:
1. Major premise: A proposition that asserts what cues go with what positions.
2. Minor premise: A proposition that links current inputs with an individual.
3. Conclusion: A proposition that connects the subject of the minor premise with the predicate of major premise.
4. Implication: The observer should adopt the complementary role behaviour.
Major premises in the form of role expectations are acquired through socialization and acculturation experiences.
Sarbin and Hardijck ( 1955) constructed a set of stick figures where fill cues were eliminated With the exception of postural cues. This device has been used in a number of studies to test the skill in placing the person represented by the stick figure on various dimensions.
A further study conducted by Krasner, Ullman and Weiss (1964) on stick figures, got the support to the conclusion that hospitalized patients are characterized by an inability to place person in the role system if this requires interpreting cues that reflect covert, implicit qualities.
The validity, propriety and convincingness of his own role enactment are thus dependent on the accuracy of his role placement.
Once a person who interacts accurately locates the position of other persons on the basis of behavioral, symbolic, or artificial cues, the range of possible role behavior is reduced from infinity to a small number. The behavior of the other guides, the location of the specific position of the other and from this the actor selects the appropriate role. Potentially more coercive constraints on the choice of the role are introduced when some additional features of the situation are taken. into account. These may be called role demands, that is, demands for a specific role enactment. Under ordinary conditions role demands are implicit. A series of experiments by Orne (1959) supports the conclusion that the role demand variable is one of the most important feature of the experimental situation.
Role demands especially if regarded as a conceptual extension of folkways and moves, are generally silent and subtle. In a hypothetical static, closed and perfect society there would be no need for the role demand variable, the role expectation variable would be sufficient under such conditions, and conduct would be completely ritualized. The behaviors of one person signaling the ceremonial behavior of another social group, however are in fact imperfectly organized and propriety norms stand ready to demand specific role performances designed to maintain social balance and welfare.
A person enacting a role may be viewed as facing a task, the task being to fulfill as wen as possible the expectations of the role. How will the person perform the task depends on the relevant skills at his disposal.
A skill can be defined as a physical and psychological readiness to perform some task to some given level of competence. Role skills then refer to those characteristics possessed by the individual, which result in effective and convincing role enactment, aptitude, appropriate experience ,and specific training. Most role skills are probably learned.
Persons differ widely in the convincingness, appropriateness, and propriety of their person of the same role. The components of role skills may be broadly divided into cognitive and motoric skills. Each of these components may in turn be divided into general skills and role skills.
These include the ability to infer validity from available cues, the social position of the other, and of the self, and to infer appropriate role expectations for the position.
The concepts of role taking, empathy, social sensitivity, identification and social perception refer in general to cognitive and affective responses made reference to another person as social object.
Delinquency behavior disorders and other asocial behavior patterns have been interpreted as due in part to lack of skills in taking the role of the other.
The term empathy is often used to describe the ability to put oneself in the others place in more in a cognitive or· predictive sense. Accurately understanding the other, being able to imagine his private self-valuations and to feel sympathy for him are frequently implied by the concept of empathy. Sometimes a motoric response similar to that made by the other person is the referent for the term. This is the type of overt motor behavior. Originally discussed by Lipps ( 1907) as Kinesthetic Inference. In order to determine whether an ability and tendency to empathize will have a facilitating or detrimental effect on role taking, it is useful to consider three standpoints. Turner ( 1956):. To begin within individual who is playing the role can completely identify another ·person with him. In which case the others imagined feelings might become an automatic guide for his own behavior on the other hand he may regard the role as some object to he examined and then cast himself as third party who uses the data of the other's role enactment as a guide for action. Finally, the role may be viewed with the notion of using it in interaction with the other to achieve some purpose. The effects of the role of the other are different from each of these standpoints. From Turner's analyses it is clear that empathy as commonly understood has a facilitating effect on role taking only in the first case, where the actor desires to be guided by the imagination and feelings of the relevant other. When the later standpoints are appropriate emphatic ability or proactivity has a detrimental effect. If a soldier for example: were to put himself emphatically in the role of the enemy during wartime, it would hardly be conducive to his valid enactment of the role of soldier.
Enactment of any role requires appropriate posture, movements, facial expressions and tone of voice. Motoric response includes movements of the body parts, highly differentiated muscular responses certain types of vocal responses.
The expressive function is a particularly important aspects of the motoric component of role skills~ For example: To attend a party, to comforting a sick friend, to attend a funeral.
• Role specific skills: Role specific skills may be either cognitive or motoric. The enactment of the role of surgeon for instance, requires particular cognitive and motoric skills. A specific motor skill, eye hand coordination and a role specific cognitive skill, tension handling are required of the surgeon. These cognitive and motoric skills facilitate enactment of specific role.
1) One device that has been used to measure role aptitude in a global fashions is the "as if test", a direct face-valid approach to assessing general cognitive· component.(Sarbin and Jones).
2) Another technique for assessing role-taking skill has been suggested by Mausner.
Social roles are perceived and enacted against the background of self. The term 'self' refers to the inferences the person makes about the referent for 'I'. It is a cognitive structure and derives from past experiences with other person and with objects. We define the self as the experience of identity arising from a person's inter behaving with things. Body parts and other person's.
When self-characteristics are congruent with role requirements, role enactment is more effective, proper, and appropriate than when role and self are in congruent. By self-role congruence we mean the degree of overlap or fillingness that exists between requirements of the role and qualities of the self. Self role congruence is reflected in observations that the person seem to like the role, is involved in it, and is committed to it. In every day language self role in congruence is indicated by saying that a person is not well suited to a particular role, that the job does not fit his personality, or that he is a square leg in a round hole.
Extreme incongruence between values or belief about self and role expectations creates severe psychological effects on the individual, recognizable through somatic dysfunction, lack of care, and the like. If the value involved in self-role incongruence is a salient one, then role enactment will, be unconvincing or perhaps break down completely. Self-role congruence and its influence on role enactment is provided by Sheelid in as study of stuttering. Stuttering is highly specific to role requirements. Most stutters speak fluently most of the time. When role requirements are incongruent with self conceptions, stuttering may appear. Thus stuttering can be predicted from the relative status of the speaker and listener.
Role theory concepts have been useful in different studies and research. It has demonstrated the utility of role and concepts to psychologists, sociologists, educators and others engaged in human relations.
Number of roles, organic involvement and preemptiveness are some of the major dimensions along which role enactment may be described. Placed on these dimensions, behavior in addition to specifying the contents of roles serves to provide cues for observers and people who interact constructing inferences about the appropriateness, propriety and convincingness of role enactments.
Role expectation is a central concept is role theory, which integrates the individual with the social structure. Role expectations refer to a set of cognition pertaining to performance and quality, which the occupants of a social position ought to display.
The role location variable is a measure of the cue properties of the social ecology, especially cues arising from the conduct of person s in interaction, one with the other. The accuracy with which a person notices such cues and draws conclusions about the role of the other is directly related to the accuracy with which he locates his own position.
Role theory is one of the few theories of social psychology that attempt to take explicitly into account the skill variable. The effective role enactment is related to skills of two kinds, cognitive and motoric.
In the development of social psychology the concept of self has utility. The extent of overly or agreement between role expectation and self conceptions may vary from complete overlap to complete incongruence. Recent research supports the hypothesis that role enactment is more convincing, proper and appropriate under conditions of self-role congruence and less convincing, proper and appropriate under conditions incongruence.
ROLE
Role is a term borrowed directly from the theater is a metaphor intended to denote that conduct adheres to certain parts or portions rather than to the players who read or recite them. The metaphorical continuity is from real life to drama and from drama to a psychological theory about people enacting real life dramas.
ROLE ENACTMENT
To the social psychologist whose observation is guided by role concepts, the object of the study is the role enactment of persons in social settings. It bridges the gap between the individual and the group, between personal history and social organizations.
Overt conduct, that is, what the person does and says in a particular setting is the first specification of role enactment. Among the dimension of role enactment that appear to have conceptual or practical utility are (a) number of roles, (b) organismic involvement (effort) and (c) preemptiveness (time).
a) Number of roles :
The more roles in an actor's resitore, the better prepared he is to meet the exigencies of social life. Time spent by the actor in particular roles and the degree of engrossment or involvement in the enactment gives number of roles.b) Organismic involvement :
It is an intensity dimension. At the low end of the continuum one finds enactments with minimal degree of effort and visceral participation. At the high end of the continuum one finds enactments which involve great degrees of effort, that is, muscular exertion or participation of the visceral through autonomic nervous system activation or both.In every day affair roles tend to be coacted with a minimum degree of organismic involvement.
c) Zero involvement:
1. Casual role enactment2. Ritual acting
3. Engrossed acting
4. Classical hypnotic role taking
5. Histrionic neurosis
6. Ecstasy
7. Objects of sorcery and witchcraft (sometimes irreversible).
Ritual acting is alluded to as mechanical acting or push button acting.
Engrossed acting or "heated acting".
Classical hypnotic role taking-'as if' behavior.
Histrionic neurosis-couvades (Husband of pregnant women).
Ecstasy - such states cannot be prolonged over time without damage to the functioning of the body.
Bewitchment-The bewitched person takes the role of a moribund person.
Preemptiveness (time):
The amount of time a person spends in one role is relative to the amount of time he spends in other roles.The variability in time spent is applicable primarily to the roles that have an achieved aspect but not an ascribed one (sex, age, etc).
ROLE EXPECTATIONS
This is a cognitive concept, the content which is consist of human beliefs, expectations, subjective probabilities and so on. The units of social structure are positions or statuses (in specialized context, jobs and offices). These units are defined in terms of actions and qualities expected of the person who at any time occupies the position
Role expectations· are comprised of the rights and privileges, the duties and obligations of any occupant, of a social position in relation to person occupying other position in the social structure. Historical processes bring about changes in role expectations no less than in other beliefs or cognitive systems.
There are expectations concerning the temporal an spatial aspects of role enactment, role behavior is expected to occur at the proper time and proper place.
DIMENSIONS OF ROLE EXPECTATIONS
1. Role expectations vary in the degree of their generality or specifity
2. They also vary in their scope or extensiveness
3. Degree of clarity or uncertainty.
4. Finally, degree of consensus among other person concerning a role particular has frequently been considered an important dimension of role expectations.
Role expectations occur in the context of both the informal social system and the formal social system. Klapp called role expectations in the informal as social system
"social types".
Role expectations in general facilitate social interaction by providing the people with means of reciprocal prediction of behavior more precise prediction. This helps in smoother social interaction, if informal role expectations are known in addition to formal role expectations.
MEASUREMENT OF ROLE EXPECTATIONS
Self reports, such as questionnaires and interviews or inferences from overt behavior etc are used.
For assessing role expectations in terms of qualities Sarbin and Jones ( 1956) used a 200 word adjective checklist. Sentence completion test was used by Thomas, Dolansky and Kounin (1955). Gross and Stone's analysis (1964) of 1000 embarrassing incidents disclosed that embarrassment occurred frequently in situations requiring continuous and coordinated role performances, such as speeches and ceremonies.
Role expectations may differ in content and in structure as a function of the standpoint of the person assessing the role expectations. A person's knowledge of others role expectations facilitates his interaction with them, regardless of whether his own conception of his role coincides with theirs or not.
EFFECT OF ROLE EXPECTATIONS ON ROLE ENACTMENT
Conformity of role expectations: The role expectations have a normative or evaluative character. The occupant of a social position ought to do particular things in specified ways and ought to hold certain beliefs instead of others.
Role expectations are specifications for adherence to group norms. In case of chronic failure to conform to role expectations the person may be removed from the position, particularly if it is an achieved one.
A systematic study of conformity to role expectations was undertaken by Gross, Mason and Mc Eachem (1958).
Although in general, people do seem to confirm to role expectations we should emphasize that role behavior does not consist of the rigid following of specific directions. Most role expectations require only that some end result be accomplished within some limits.
Clarity of Role Expectations
Complex social interaction is accomplished through the sharing of role expectations by individuals. To the extent that role expectations are unclear and ambiguous behavior will be less readily predictable, resulting in ineffective and dissatisfying social interaction. Clarity of role expectations can be defined as the difference between the optimal amount of information needed about role expectations and the amount actually available to a person.
Inclarity influences group performance. Unclear group structure which interferes with interpersonal predictability was cited by Torrance (1954) as an important factor working against survival of Air force crews under stress. The necessity of expending a great deal of time and effort on trying to predict other's behavior decreases the time available to spend on task activities.
The hypothesis that unclear role expectations are detrimental to a group in both the task and the social emotional areas was tested experimentally by Smith (1957). Ambiguous role expectations were created by having stooges remain silent through out a small problem solving group session as work on the task progressed the behavior of those members who spoke became of course more predictable than the behavior of the silent members. The results confirmed the hypothesis that unclear expectations of role interfere with effectiveness of problem solving and decreases member's satisfaction.
It seems, then that lack of clarity in role expectations does lead to decreased effectiveness and productivity and that these task effects are mediated through psychological effects on the individual, which are discernible in such reactions as personal frustration and strain.
Role expectation is one, which integrates the individual with the social structure since performers do tend to confirm to roles expectations, clarity and consensus of role expectations determines the degree to which role enactment is convincing proper and appropriate.
ROLE LOCATION
In order to survive as a member of a society the individual must be able to locate himself in the social structure. From his repertory of roles, he must select one that is appropriate to the situation, and since roles are enacted in interactions settings the position of others must be taken into account if he is to locate himself accurately. Locating the position of self and others is a reciprocal, alternating, interacting affair. It is the first part of the social act, and it consists of the usually silent or tacit naming of the position of the others on the basis of observed cues and inferred qualities. At the same time, the individual makes a decision regarding his own role
If placement of the other and self is incorrect then the choice of role and resulting role enactment is likely to be inappropriate, improper or unconvincing.
Locating oneself in the role system may best be described as a cognitive process. The time elapsing between the beginning of a social act and role enactment may be infinitesimal, so that observers overlook the cognitive phase. The cues to locating the position of another person of course, are his acts and appearances. These may be further characterized as everything publicly exhibited by the other in deed or in contour. A catalogue of such cues would include gross skeletal movements, verbal acts, physique, stature, clothing ,facial expressions, posture, gait, accent, pitch, intonation, adornments, visible emblems and badges of office, tattoo marks and so on. The wearing of a uniform and silver badge, for example; is art of the role of policeman. The recognition of these objects on a person leads to predictable role behavior on the part of the actor. The choice of role follows from the location of self in the social structure, such location being determined conjointly with locating the position of the other.
For effective participation in a culture, man must locate himself efficiently in a· number of distal ecological systems. These systems represent specific differentiation of the all encompassing concepts of environment, and they may be seen as convenient ways of portioning the world of occurrences which give rise to sensory events, some of which may function on inputs. We can identify five distal systems, each of which provides the occurrence that the actor must instantiate (make sense of). He must locate himself in the self-maintenance system, in the space time system, in the social system in the normative system and in the transcendental system.
Locating oneself in any system is an inferential process by which the syllogism may be taken as the typical form. In schematic form the inferential process could be described in the following series:
1. Major premise: A proposition that asserts what cues go with what positions.
2. Minor premise: A proposition that links current inputs with an individual.
3. Conclusion: A proposition that connects the subject of the minor premise with the predicate of major premise.
4. Implication: The observer should adopt the complementary role behaviour.
Major premises in the form of role expectations are acquired through socialization and acculturation experiences.
Sarbin and Hardijck ( 1955) constructed a set of stick figures where fill cues were eliminated With the exception of postural cues. This device has been used in a number of studies to test the skill in placing the person represented by the stick figure on various dimensions.
A further study conducted by Krasner, Ullman and Weiss (1964) on stick figures, got the support to the conclusion that hospitalized patients are characterized by an inability to place person in the role system if this requires interpreting cues that reflect covert, implicit qualities.
The validity, propriety and convincingness of his own role enactment are thus dependent on the accuracy of his role placement.
ROLE DEMANDS
Once a person who interacts accurately locates the position of other persons on the basis of behavioral, symbolic, or artificial cues, the range of possible role behavior is reduced from infinity to a small number. The behavior of the other guides, the location of the specific position of the other and from this the actor selects the appropriate role. Potentially more coercive constraints on the choice of the role are introduced when some additional features of the situation are taken. into account. These may be called role demands, that is, demands for a specific role enactment. Under ordinary conditions role demands are implicit. A series of experiments by Orne (1959) supports the conclusion that the role demand variable is one of the most important feature of the experimental situation.
Role demands especially if regarded as a conceptual extension of folkways and moves, are generally silent and subtle. In a hypothetical static, closed and perfect society there would be no need for the role demand variable, the role expectation variable would be sufficient under such conditions, and conduct would be completely ritualized. The behaviors of one person signaling the ceremonial behavior of another social group, however are in fact imperfectly organized and propriety norms stand ready to demand specific role performances designed to maintain social balance and welfare.
ROLE SKILLS
A person enacting a role may be viewed as facing a task, the task being to fulfill as wen as possible the expectations of the role. How will the person perform the task depends on the relevant skills at his disposal.
A skill can be defined as a physical and psychological readiness to perform some task to some given level of competence. Role skills then refer to those characteristics possessed by the individual, which result in effective and convincing role enactment, aptitude, appropriate experience ,and specific training. Most role skills are probably learned.
Persons differ widely in the convincingness, appropriateness, and propriety of their person of the same role. The components of role skills may be broadly divided into cognitive and motoric skills. Each of these components may in turn be divided into general skills and role skills.
Cognitive skills :
These include the ability to infer validity from available cues, the social position of the other, and of the self, and to infer appropriate role expectations for the position.
The concepts of role taking, empathy, social sensitivity, identification and social perception refer in general to cognitive and affective responses made reference to another person as social object.
Delinquency behavior disorders and other asocial behavior patterns have been interpreted as due in part to lack of skills in taking the role of the other.
Empathy:
The term empathy is often used to describe the ability to put oneself in the others place in more in a cognitive or· predictive sense. Accurately understanding the other, being able to imagine his private self-valuations and to feel sympathy for him are frequently implied by the concept of empathy. Sometimes a motoric response similar to that made by the other person is the referent for the term. This is the type of overt motor behavior. Originally discussed by Lipps ( 1907) as Kinesthetic Inference. In order to determine whether an ability and tendency to empathize will have a facilitating or detrimental effect on role taking, it is useful to consider three standpoints. Turner ( 1956):. To begin within individual who is playing the role can completely identify another ·person with him. In which case the others imagined feelings might become an automatic guide for his own behavior on the other hand he may regard the role as some object to he examined and then cast himself as third party who uses the data of the other's role enactment as a guide for action. Finally, the role may be viewed with the notion of using it in interaction with the other to achieve some purpose. The effects of the role of the other are different from each of these standpoints. From Turner's analyses it is clear that empathy as commonly understood has a facilitating effect on role taking only in the first case, where the actor desires to be guided by the imagination and feelings of the relevant other. When the later standpoints are appropriate emphatic ability or proactivity has a detrimental effect. If a soldier for example: were to put himself emphatically in the role of the enemy during wartime, it would hardly be conducive to his valid enactment of the role of soldier.
Motoric skills:
Enactment of any role requires appropriate posture, movements, facial expressions and tone of voice. Motoric response includes movements of the body parts, highly differentiated muscular responses certain types of vocal responses.
The expressive function is a particularly important aspects of the motoric component of role skills~ For example: To attend a party, to comforting a sick friend, to attend a funeral.
• Role specific skills: Role specific skills may be either cognitive or motoric. The enactment of the role of surgeon for instance, requires particular cognitive and motoric skills. A specific motor skill, eye hand coordination and a role specific cognitive skill, tension handling are required of the surgeon. These cognitive and motoric skills facilitate enactment of specific role.
• Assessment of role skills :
1) One device that has been used to measure role aptitude in a global fashions is the "as if test", a direct face-valid approach to assessing general cognitive· component.(Sarbin and Jones).
2) Another technique for assessing role-taking skill has been suggested by Mausner.
SELF-ROLE CONGRUENCE
Social roles are perceived and enacted against the background of self. The term 'self' refers to the inferences the person makes about the referent for 'I'. It is a cognitive structure and derives from past experiences with other person and with objects. We define the self as the experience of identity arising from a person's inter behaving with things. Body parts and other person's.
When self-characteristics are congruent with role requirements, role enactment is more effective, proper, and appropriate than when role and self are in congruent. By self-role congruence we mean the degree of overlap or fillingness that exists between requirements of the role and qualities of the self. Self role congruence is reflected in observations that the person seem to like the role, is involved in it, and is committed to it. In every day language self role in congruence is indicated by saying that a person is not well suited to a particular role, that the job does not fit his personality, or that he is a square leg in a round hole.
Extreme incongruence between values or belief about self and role expectations creates severe psychological effects on the individual, recognizable through somatic dysfunction, lack of care, and the like. If the value involved in self-role incongruence is a salient one, then role enactment will, be unconvincing or perhaps break down completely. Self-role congruence and its influence on role enactment is provided by Sheelid in as study of stuttering. Stuttering is highly specific to role requirements. Most stutters speak fluently most of the time. When role requirements are incongruent with self conceptions, stuttering may appear. Thus stuttering can be predicted from the relative status of the speaker and listener.
SUMMARY
Role theory concepts have been useful in different studies and research. It has demonstrated the utility of role and concepts to psychologists, sociologists, educators and others engaged in human relations.
Number of roles, organic involvement and preemptiveness are some of the major dimensions along which role enactment may be described. Placed on these dimensions, behavior in addition to specifying the contents of roles serves to provide cues for observers and people who interact constructing inferences about the appropriateness, propriety and convincingness of role enactments.
Role expectation is a central concept is role theory, which integrates the individual with the social structure. Role expectations refer to a set of cognition pertaining to performance and quality, which the occupants of a social position ought to display.
The role location variable is a measure of the cue properties of the social ecology, especially cues arising from the conduct of person s in interaction, one with the other. The accuracy with which a person notices such cues and draws conclusions about the role of the other is directly related to the accuracy with which he locates his own position.
Role theory is one of the few theories of social psychology that attempt to take explicitly into account the skill variable. The effective role enactment is related to skills of two kinds, cognitive and motoric.
In the development of social psychology the concept of self has utility. The extent of overly or agreement between role expectation and self conceptions may vary from complete overlap to complete incongruence. Recent research supports the hypothesis that role enactment is more convincing, proper and appropriate under conditions of self-role congruence and less convincing, proper and appropriate under conditions incongruence.