SOCIAL ROLES AND ROLE CONFLICT: A STUDY OF WOMEN IN THREE PROFESSIONS IN PORT HARCOURT, NIGERIA.

Ekpenyong, Otu Anthony, Nkpah, Young Aakpege, and Nduonofit, Larry-Love Effiong

Department of Sociology, Faculty of Social Sciences

University of Port Harcourt, Rivers State, Nigeria

E-mail:tonitee1010@yahoo.com;youngitize2020@yahoo.com;larrylove.nduonofit@gmail.com

Abstract: The study examines the effect of different professions and multiplicity of social roles on the role conflict amongst working women. The present social structure reflects the changes that have come through changing frame of time. A major breakthrough being the growing education and economic independence among women.  The economic pressures of inflation, influence of the women’s movement and the psychological need to develop one’s self identity” are encouraging the women to take a more active role outside the home to pursue full time careers. This shift from private to public domain gives an impression that women have finally liberated from shackles of patriarchal norms.  However, a closer look at the scenario makes us realize that working women face new sets of problems involving both family and profession. Factor analysis which is an interdependent technique was use to deconstructs the rating (raw score) into its various components and reconstructs the partial scores into underlying factor score.  Results revealed that role conflict increase with the increase in number of roles; more role conflict in married professionals derives from the contradictory values underlying their roles.  The study recommends flexi-time, flexi-place and job staring as adequate panacea to role conflict.