A Model of Coping with Role Conflict: The Role Behavior of College Educated Women

Abstract

A model of role conflict coping behavior is presented based upon three levels in the role process. Type I coping, structural role redefinition, involves altering external, structurally imposed expectations relative to a person's position. Type II coping is personal role redefinition, changing one's expectations and perception of one's own behavior in a given position. Type III coping, reactive role behavior, entails attempting to find ways to meet all role expectations, assuming that demands are unchangeable and must be met. Through a pilot sample and a subsequent survey of college educated women, sixteen specific behavioral strategies are identified and classified under these three general types. The relat onship between coping behavior and satisfaction is explored both in bivariate and moderator analyses. The results indicate that the simple act of coping (as opposed to noncoping) may be more strongly related to satisfaction in women than the particular type of coping strategy employed.'