Which scenario best demonstrates role strain?

• A. A university student who must study for exams and also work a part-time job.
• B. A parent who is also an employee balancing work and home duties.
• C. A high school student who plays on two sports teams.
• D. A teacher who oversees a class and coaches a club.

Answer: (A)

Role strain happens when the demands of a single role pull you in different directions and you can’t easily satisfy all of them at once. In the scenario of a university student who must study for exams and also work a part-time job, the pressures come from within one overarching role—the student—who is pulled between academic responsibilities and work obligations. The competing expectations of doing well academically and maintaining employment create tension and make it hard to meet all those expectations simultaneously, which is exactly the feel of role strain.

By contrast, the other situations pair one role with another distinct role (parent and employee; teacher with classroom duties and coaching responsibilities) or involve multiple activities within the same broad context but not the same single-role tension as clearly. Those illustrate role conflict or overlapping duties across statuses more than the strain within one role that defines role strain.