Social Roles & Personal Goals Z Reisz & Daniel J. Ozer

UC Riverside

Social Roles Associated With Goal Content

Social Role 𝜒2(1) p-value ɸ Parent 54.72 <.0001 .66

Spouse 35.33 <.0001 .53

Girl/Boy Friend 16.21 <.0001 .36

Student/Trainee 9.61 .002 .28

Friend 5.10 .024 .20

Career/Job 2.93 .09 .15

Daughter/Son 2.85 .09 .15

Social Identity 2.20 .14 .13

Parent Role Yes No

Rol

e R

elat

ed

Goa

l

Yes 24 [8]

2 [18]

No 15 [31]

86 [70]

Abstract Goals are a fundamental expression of desires and plans, but relatively little is known about person attributes related to goal choice. This research looks at goal choice as a function of social roles and relationship status. A heterogeneous volunteer sample (N = 127) was recruited from Craigslist.com and asked to report 10 current goals. In addition, participants were asked about their status as a student, a parent, in a relationship, and as a professional. They were also provided space to report their 3 most important social roles. As expected there is a moderate to strong association between social roles and goals. Students, parents, and romantically-involved participants all reported goals related to these roles. Participants without a professional or romantic role reported more goals directed at acquiring these roles. Results are discussed within a framework that understands goals as reflecting a discrepancy between the present and a desired future status.

Study Purpose To evaluate the relationship between social roles and the content of idiographic goals

Background Social roles are composed of specific role demands, and goals may be formulated to meet such demands. (Goode, 1960) •  Internalization of gender roles may lead to gender related

goals. (Evans & Diekman, 2009) •  Occupational success may require adoption and pursuit of

work-related goals. (Ashforth & Saks, 1995)

 Methods Continued Materials •  Personal goal elicitation form: an open-ended questionnaire

where participants listed 10 current goals. •  Social role elicitation form: an open-ended elicitation of the

participant’s 3 most important social roles. •  Social role taxonomy: a hierarchical taxonomy composed of

26 categories developed to represent the social roles of this sample.

  Procedures •  A short advertisement for this study and a URL link to the

online survey was posted on each city’s Craigslist website. •  Based on the agreement among multiple independent

judges, each social role was coded into one of 26 categories. •  Similarly, based on the agreement among multiple

independent judges, goals were coded for content related to the 26 social role categories.

Results Analysis Overview Chi-square tests were used to determine if social roles were associated with the presence of role-related goals.  For each social role, a two by two table of counts (i.e., with and without the role by with and without role related goal content) was created and the observed frequencies were tested against expected frequencies. Below is the table of observed and expected counts for the parent role.

Conclusion Unsurprisingly, the Parenthood role showed the strongest relation with the presence of role facilitative goals. Intimate relations (e.g., Spouse and Girl/Boyfriend) showed the next strongest relations to goal content. Surprisingly, within the Occupation/Vocation role domain, the Student/Trainee role was the only role with a significant relation to goal content. Social roles are associated with goal content directed at role needs. The most prominent associations are with roles that have a large interpersonal component.

Methods Participants •  127 participants were recruited from Craigslist websites of

24 US cities (e.g., Denver, Boston, Portland, Chicago, Dallas, etc.)

•  Age: mean = 33, sd = 13, range = 18 to 67 years old •  Gender: 79% female, 21% male, & 2% unspecified •  Ethnicity: 69% White, 9% Other, 8% Hispanic, 6% Asian, 4%

Black, & 3% Native American •  Parental status: 69% not parents & 31% parents •  Relationship status: 56% married or in a committed

relationship, 34% single, & 10% divorced or separated •  Student status: 64% not students, 21% full-time, 13% part-

time, & 2% unspecified •  Employment status: 60% employed & 40% unemployed

Results Continued Roles & Goals Of the 26 social role categories in the taxonomy, 8 had sufficient frequencies to support a chi-square analysis. The results of these 8 tests are reported in the below table; five of the categories showed a significant relation. On average, participants reported 9 goals, 4 of which contained role related content and 2 that were associated with the social roles they reported.  

Note. In brackets are the expected values

The Parent Role’s Table of Counts

References Ashforth, B. E., & Saks, A. M. (1995). Work-role transitions: A

longitudinal examination of the Nicholson model. Journal of Occupational and Organizational Psychology, 68, 157-175.

Evans, C. D., & Diekman, A. B. (2009). On motivated role selection: Gender beliefs, distant goals, and career interest. Psychology of Women Quarterly, 33(2), 235-249.

Goode, W. J. (1960). A Theory of Role Strain. American Sociological Review, 25(4), 483-496.

Presented at SPSP 2012 San Diego, CA