role

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 in which 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 – for example, a woman who is a daughter to a sick mother and mother to a sick husband or child.

role

In theatre, an alternative word for character, a person in a play portrayed by an actor.