ROLE‐CONFLICT IN ADOLESCENCE

Abstract

Summary. The role‐conflicts of a group of adolescents (and pre‐adolescents) were assessed by asking the subjects to indicate how they would behave ideally, how they thought they in fact behaved, and how they thought various adult authorities and their friends expected them to behave. This was done by ranking various areas of conduct as they themselves, and in their view the adults and friends, evaluated them in their behaviour. The extent of disagreement among the ranks was taken as a measure of conflict.The adolescents were 470 fifteen‐year‐old grammar and modern school boys and girls in three industrial towns. A last‐year junior school group of forty‐seven children and sixty‐nine late‐teenage male technical college students were also investigated. Role‐conflict was greatest among the grammar‐school boys and technical college students, least among secondary modern school girls and junior school children. Grammar school boys showed more conflict than modern school boys, grammar school girls than modern school girls. There were no social‐class differences within a particular type of school. Teachers, mothers, fathers (and bosses) were seen by all groups to have substantially the same expectations; but there was greater conflict between self‐conception and perceived expectations of friends. The grammar school pupils' conception of their role stood midway between the perceived expectations of friends and of adults; the modern school children did not so generally see themselves between such extreme and conflicting demands.