A theory of role strain
Abstract
levels, for example, the conditions of small experimental groups as a subtype of social system. Only in so far as codification reveals uniformities in the cognate features of many different types of operationally studied system do the more general theorems have a prospect of approaching rigorous empirical verification. This specification should not be assumed to be capable of being carried out by simple common sense; it requires careful technical analysis through a series of concatenated steps. I believe, however, that the theory of action in its present state provides methods for successfully carrying out this specification, and conversely, generalization as well from lower-level uniformities to higher levels. Perhaps the most important key to this possibility is the conception of all systems of action as systematically articulated with others along system-subsystem lines. The basic system types designated here as organisms, personalities, social systems, and cultural systems must be regarded as subsystems of the general category of action system. Each of these in turn is differentiated into further subsystems at different levels of elaboration. Any subsystem is articulated with other subsystems by definable categories of input-output interchange, the processes, in sufficiently highly differentiated subsystems, being mediated by symbolictype mechanisms such as those discussed above. In many respects, this possibility of dealing with multiple system references and of ke ping straight the distinctions and articulations between them, has turned out to be the greatest enrichment of theoretical analysis developed from Dubin's Model II. A flat conception of a single system reference which must be accepted or rejected on an all-or-none basis for the analysis of complex empirical problems, cannot possibly do justice to the formidable difficulties in the study of human action.
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According to the scarcity hypothesis, role conflict arises when time and resources are limited and an individual faces conflicting expectations across different roles.
“According to the scarcity hypothesis, role conflict arises when time and resources are limited and an individual faces conflicting expectation across different roles (46).”
From Caring alone: older adult care burdens, practices, and structural imbalances among China's one-child generation (2025) · cites this paper as [46]
Role conflict generates stress, as resources become scarce or depleted while trying to balance multiple roles, and this can negatively affect caregivers' psychological well-being, physical health, and financial stability.
“Role conflict generates stress, as resources become scarce or depleted while trying to balance multiple roles. This can negatively affect caregivers’ psychological well-being, physical health, and financial stability (26, 46, 47).”
From Caring alone: older adult care burdens, practices, and structural imbalances among China's one-child generation (2025) · cites this paper as [46]
The experience of cultural conflict has not been explicitly acknowledged in the acculturation literature.
“In contrast, the experience of cultural conflict (i.e., feeling caught or trapped between one's two cultural orientations) has not been explicitly acknowledged in the acculturation literature, even though this component may be similar to identity confusion (Baumister, 1986) or role conflict (Goode, 1960).”
From Bicultural Identity Integration (BII): Components and Psychosocial Antecedents (2005) · cites this paper as Goode, 1960
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Recent Developments in Role Theory
Biddle, B. J. (1986) · Annual Review of Sociology · doi:10.1146/annurev.so.12.080186.000435 · Cited by 2,358 · see citing works
“Some years ago Goode ( 1960) suggested that role strain was endemic in complex social systems and provided a positive force that promoted system evolution.”
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“Third, because of the high contrast in segmented role identities, it is easier to psychologically compartmentalize the identities (Ashforth & Mael, 1989; Goode, 1960; Nippert-Eng, 1996b).”
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“, feeling caught or trapped between one’s two cultural orientations) has not been explicitly acknowledged in the acculturation literature, even though this component may be similar to identity confusion (Baumister, 1986) or role conflict (Goode, 1960).”
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“The concept of role strain, which states that too many roles may place a burden on the person resulting in negative effects (Goode, 1960), has also received some empirical support.”
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“occupying multiple roles has the potential to create conflicting and overwhelming demands for an individual’s behavior (Goode, 1960), overall, studies on multiple roles have indicated that a larger number of role-identities is associated with better”
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“Although much of the current role theory literature pre-supposes that role strain is avoided by prioritizing some roles over others, Marks and MacDermid (1996) remind us that the notion of hierarchically organized roles is a theoretical assumption (Goode, 1960), not an empirical fact.”
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“are the scarcity hypothesis (Goode, 1960) and the”
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“According to the scarcity argument in role theory (Goode 1960), a person has a limited amount of resources and energy to spend.”
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“…and home domains is because of his inability to manage the resources (ten Brummelhuis and Bakker 2012) as the resources are finite (Becker 1965; Goode 1960), and it becomes difficult to manage and fulfill the obligations effectively at both work and homewith limited resources (Greenhaus and…”
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“The theory is based on three fundamental concepts that, prior to Rothbard and colleagues’ theoretical work, largely existed as separate concepts in the literature: (1) resource scarcity (Goode, 1960), (2) interrole conflict (Greenhaus &Beutell, 1985) and (3) ego depletion (Baumeister, Bratslavsky, Muraven, & Tice, 199…”
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“Whereas the strain (Goode, 1960) and enhancement (Marks, 1977) perspectives suggest that work-to-family conflict and enrichment are primary employee mechanisms that link FSOP and employee commitment, the systems perspective (Bronfenbrenner, 1989) suggests that this view is incomplete.”
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“Merton’s (1957) analysis of role-sets describes mechanisms for managing conflicts between combined roles, and Goode (1960), often arguing parallel to Merton, discussed sources of role strain and its management.”
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Barber, J. S. (2001) · Social Psychology Quarterly · doi:10.2307/3090128 · Cited by 225 · see citing works
Commitment to family roles: Effects on managers' attitudes and performance.
Graves, L. M., Ohlott, P. J., & Ruderman, M. N. (2007) · Journal of Applied Psychology · doi:10.1037/0021-9010.92.1.44 · Cited by 227 · see citing works
Shammas, V. L. (2014) · Punishment & Society · doi:10.1177/1462474513504799 · Cited by 224 · see citing works
“…confusion over roles, and below it is described how the inmate role enters into conflict with the role of wage-earner and of autonomous intellectual, and how role strain (Goode, 1960) – in which inmates have trouble balancing dual and contradictory commitments – enters into each of these areas.”
BackgroundCouples' Work/Retirement Transitions, Gender, and Marital Quality
Moen, P., Kim, J. E., & Hofmeister, H. (2001) · Social Psychology Quarterly · doi:10.2307/3090150 · Cited by 224 · see citing works
“From this perspective, both timing of retirement and employment after retirement are part of strategic household decision making (Moen and Wethington 1992) that has consequences for couples’ role repertoire (Menaghan 1989).”
BackgroundWork characteristics and incidence of type 2 diabetes in women.
Kroenke, C. H., Spiegelman, D., Manson, J., Schernhammer, E. S., Colditz, G. A., & Kawachi, I. (2006) · American Journal of Epidemiology · doi:10.1093/aje/kwj355 · Cited by 220 · see citing works
“Goode’s role strain (40) perspective suggests that role combinations of work and family may be detrimental to women’s well-being, introducing competing demands on time, energy, and involvement.”
BackgroundDaily Stress Recognition from Mobile Phone Data, Weather Conditions and Individual Traits
Bogomolov, A., Lepri, B., Ferron, M., Pianesi, F., & Pentland, A. (. (2014) · Proceedings of the 22nd ACM international conference on Multimedia · doi:10.1145/2647868.2654933 · Cited by 217 · see citing works
“…of the sample in terms of provenance and cultural background (in our sample we have subjects from 16 countries and from all the continents), which can be expected to correspond to a wide palette of interaction behaviors that efficaciously counterbalance the effects of living-place homogeneity.”
BackgroundThe Effects of Multiple Identities on Psychological Well-Being
Brook, A. T., García, J. A., & Fleming, M. A. (2008) · Personality and Social Psychology Bulletin · doi:10.1177/0146167208324629 · Cited by 212 · see citing works
“Other research suggests a negative relationship (Coser, 1974; Goode, 1960; Menaghan, 1989; Merton, 1957), arguing that multiple identities conflict or compete with one another for limited resources.”
BackgroundRoehling, P. V., Roehling, M. V., & Moen, P. (2001) · Journal of Family and Economic Issues · doi:10.1023/a:1016630229628 · Cited by 214 · see citing works
“According to role theory (Cooke & Rousseau, 1984; Goode, 1960), expectations associated with work and family roles can lead to physical and psychological strain in at least two ways.”
BackgroundEmotional labor demands and compensating wage differentials.
Glomb, T. M., Kammeyer-Mueller, J. D., & Rotundo, M. (2004) · Journal of Applied Psychology · doi:10.1037/0021-9010.89.4.700 · Cited by 208 · see citing works
“The notion that humans seek to conserve or maintain their energies and that this stock of energy is used up in the course of daily activities has been examined elsewhere (Goode, 1960; Marks, 1977; Wharton & Erickson, 1995) and has been applied to the emotional labor domain to explain why emotional labor may lead to bu…”
BackgroundKelly, E. L., Kossek, E. E., Hammer, L. B., et al. (2008) · Academy of Management Annals · doi:10.5465/19416520802211610 · Cited by 212 · see citing works
The Effect of Marriage on the Well-Being of Adults
Gove, W. R., Style, C. B., & Hughes, M. D. (1990) · Journal of Family Issues · doi:10.1177/019251390011001002 · Cited by 210 · see citing works
Lahelma, E. T., Arber, S., Kivelä, K., & Roos, E. (2002) · Social Science & Medicine · doi:10.1016/s0277-9536(01)00105-8 · Cited by 210 · see citing works
“As characterised by William Goode (1960) such a conflict can be understood as a ‘felt difficulty in fulfilling the role obligations’.”
- Authors
- Goode, W. J.
- Affiliations
- Columbia University (US)
- Corresponding author
- Goode, William J.
- Venue
- American Sociological Review
- Publisher
- SAGE Publications
- Published
- 1960-08
- Volume
- 25
- Issue
- 4
- Pages
- 483
- ISSN
- 0003-1224 (ISSN-L)
- OpenAlex
- W1976793337
- Cited by
- 2,454
- References
- 0
- Citations by year
- 2026: 143 · 2025: 130 · 2024: 96 · 2023: 87 · 2022: 106 · 2021: 104 · 2020: 92 · 2019: 83 · 2018: 113 · 2017: 73 · 2016: 88 · 2015: 107 · 2014: 98 · 2013: 97 · 2012: 81
- FWCI
- 27.15
- Type
- journal article
- Language
- en
- Open access
- closed
- Locations
- American Sociological Review (publishedVersion)
- Topics
- Social Sciences › Sociology and Political Science › Contemporary Sociological Theory and Practice
- Social Sciences › Sociology and Political Science › Social Power and Status Dynamics
- Social Sciences › Sociology and Political Science › Weber, Simmel, Sociological Theory
- Keywords
- role strain, philosophy of action, action systems, subsystems, social systems, organism, personality, cultural systems, symbolic mechanisms, levels of analysis, generalization
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