Role Stress Questionnaire/Role Stressors Scale (RSS) – Chinese Version

Description

In a manner similar to how actors must follow a script to portray a character, individuals in real life also play different roles depending on various contexts. These roles are influenced by the expectations and demands associated with them. The concept of role expectations shapes individual development and behavioral norms. Conversely, when individuals cannot meet the role expectations imposed by external factors or their own beliefs, they experience role stress. The concept of role stress was introduced by Kahn, Wolfe, and Quinn, and is generally defined as a combination of various stressors related to roles, typically including three sources of role stress: role conflict, role ambiguity, and role overload. Kahn et al. define role conflict as the situation where an individual faces two or more conflicting role expectations, leading to stress when trying to satisfy one expectation compromises another. Role ambiguity arises when changes within the individual or the external environment create uncertainty about managerial expectations regarding the individual’s role and how to meet them. Role overload refers to the situation where an individual faces numerous reasonable role expectations, yet their time and abilities are insufficient to accomplish the expected tasks effectively.

Authors and Contact Email

Li Chaoping, Zhang Yi.
Contact email: information not available.

Purpose

To investigate the sources of role stress and their impacts on individuals within educational institutions.

Test Year

2009, subsequent studies in 2022.

Administration Method and Scoring

The role stress measurement utilized a scale developed by Peterson et al. (1995) and translated by Li Chaoping and Zhang Yi et al. (2009). The scale includes 13 items, and responses are recorded using a five-point Likert scale. Five items assessing role ambiguity are scored inversely, while five items measuring role overload are scored positively, and three items related to role conflict are also scored positively. A higher total score indicates greater role stress.

Reliability and Validity

Cronbach’s alpha for role conflict is 0.76, for role ambiguity is 0.74, and for role overload it is 0.90.

Factors and Subscales

1. 角色冲突 (Role Conflict)
2. 角色模糊 (Role Ambiguity)
3. 角色超载 (Role Overload)

Keywords

Role stress, role conflict, role ambiguity, role overload, educational institutions.

Items in Chinese

1. 我经常要面对一些要求彼此冲突的情形。
2. 我从两个或者更多的人那里接收到互相矛盾的要求。
3. 我不得不去面临一些不同的情形,并以不同的方式来做这些事情。
4. 我的工作有明确的、计划好的目标与目的。
5. 我确切地了解单位对我的期望是什么。
6. 我知道我的职责是什么。
7. 我非常明确我承担多大的责任。
8. 我的职责有明确的界定。
9. 很需要减轻我的部分工作。
10. 在工作中,我感觉负担过多。
11. 我承担了太多的职责。
12. 我的工作负担太重。
13. 我所承担的工作量太大,以致于我不能保证工作的质量。

Items in English

1. I often face situations where the demands conflict with each other.
2. I receive contradictory demands from two or more people.
3. I have to face different situations and approach them in different ways.
4. My work has clear and planned goals and objectives.
5. I clearly understand what the organization expects from me.
6. I know what my responsibilities are.
7. I am very clear about the extent of my responsibilities.
8. My responsibilities are clearly defined.
9. I urgently need to reduce some of my workload.
10. I feel overloaded at work.
11. I have taken on too many responsibilities.
12. My workload is too heavy.
13. The amount of work I have taken on is so great that I cannot ensure the quality of my work.

References

李超平,张翼.角色压力源对教师生理健康与心理健康的影响[J].心理发展与教育,2009,25(01):114-119.
王丽琼. 员工角色压力、心理资本和组织支持对亲组织不道德行为的影响研究[D].云南师范大学,2022.DOI:10.27459/d.cnki.gynfc.2022.000607.