DEVELOPMENT OF A MEASURE OF ROLE CONFLICT

This article describes the development of a measure of role conflict. Role conflict was conceptualized as consisting of four dimensions: intrasender, intersender, interrotle, and person‐role conflict respectively. Study 1 (N = 65), which was conducted to pilot test the 96 item questionnaire (reduced from 224 items after expert rating), resulted in the reduction of the questionnaire to 43 items with three interpretable dimensions. Study 2 (N = 100) was carried out to examine the construct validity of the scale and confirm the factor structure. There was convergence with the findings of Study 1. Cronbach alpha for each subscale was adequate, and evidence of concurrent, convergent, and discriminant validities was found. Study 3 (N = 242) attempted to provide some normative data for the measure, in addition to carrying out a confirmatory factor analysis (CFA) using LISREL. The findings of Study 2 were almost duplicated, and the CFA results lent greater support to a three‐factor structure of role conflict.