The Study of Role Conflict: Explorations in Methodology

It is the purpose of this paper to report the results of two empirical studies of role conflict conducted by the authors and to compare the procedures and results of these studies with that conducted by Gross, Mason, and McEachern (2) and, where possible, those conducted by Shull and Miller (4). Primary focus will be placed upon the prediction of the resolution of role conflict and the diversity of the operations employed in making such predictions. We shall attempt to answer the following questions: (a) What is the relationship between the many predictor variables and the methods of operationalizing them in the studies under review? (b) What is the relative efficacy of these predictors of conflict resolution? and (c) What degree of stability do they manifest as predictors in the studies in which they have been employed?