T HE IMPORTANCE of the field salesman in the successful marketing of industrial goods has long been appreciated. Only recently, however, has attention been given to the fact that the nature of the field salesman's job can produce some perplexing problems for marketing and sales managers, as well as for salesmen themselves. Specifically, several characteristics of the industrial salesman's job make him particularly susceptible to role conflict and role ambiguity.1 Role conflict occurs when the salesman faces two or more incompatible job demands from his organizational superiors, customers, family members, or other role partners. The salesman experiences role ambiguity when he is uncertain about how he is expected to perform his job. The high potential for role conflict poses a problem for the individual salesman because of the negative psychological reactions people often experience in conflict situations. A wide variety of empirical studies have found positive relationships between high levels of perceived role conflict and high levels of job-related tension and anxiety, on the one hand, and low levels of job satisfaction, on the other.2 There is also evidence that prolonged exposure to high levels of role conflict can have physical consequences, such as an increased incidence of coronary disease.3 Similarly, when an individual experiences a great deal of uncertainty about how he is expected to perform his job (role ambiguity), he may experience more mental anxiety and tension and less job satisfaction.4 The potential for high levels of perceived role conflict and ambiguity among field salesmen also presents some major problems for sales and marketing managers. To the extent that conflict and ambiguity reduce the job satisfaction of salesmen, for example, they are likely to produce higher levels of turnover within the sales force and accompanying recruitment and training costs.5 The amount of conflict and ambiguity the salesman experiences may also affect his job performance, although the relationships between conflict, am-