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The Epic Interactive Encyclopedia 1998
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Epic Interactive Encyclopedia, The - 1998 Edition (1998)(Epic Marketing).iso
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R
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Role
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INFOTEXT
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1992-09-02
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In the social sciences, the part(s) a person
plays in society, either in helping the
social system to work or in fulfilling social
responsibilities towards others. Role play
refers to the way children learn adult roles
by acting them out in play (mothers and
fathers, cops and robbers). Everyone has a
number of roles to play in a society: for
example, a woman may be an employee, mother,
and wife at the same time. Sociologists
distinguish between formal roles, such as
those of a doctor or politician, and informal
roles, such as those of mother or husband,
which are based on personal relationships.
Social roles involve mutual expectations: a
doctor can fulfil that role only if the
patients play their part; a father requires
the support of his children. They also
distinguish between ascribed roles (those we
are born with) and achieved roles (those we
attain). Role conflict arises where two or
more of a person's roles are seen as
incompatible. Role conflict arises where two
or more of a person's roles are seen as
incompatible, for example, a woman who is a
daughter to a sick mother and mother to a
sick husband or child.