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Roles and Socialization

As interdependent people associate with one another and gain experience with interpersonal relations, they come to expect others to behave in particular ways. Instructors expect students to complete reading assignments before coming to class. Students, in turn, expect that the tests instructors administer will be based on the same reading assignments. When either of these expectations is violated, strain in the relationship will be evident. As another example, upper-level managers expect middle-level managers to put the company's interest ahead of their own personal career interests. At the same time, middle-level managers expect promotion decisions made by upper-level managers to be based on merit and experience rather than race or sex. When these expectations are violated, a whole host of problems arise.

Expectations such as these and the behaviors they presuppose make up the roles that individuals occupy in interpersonal relations.

The behavioral expectations that make up work-related roles can include formal established task elements, that are generally determined by a company's management, as well as many other informal emergent task elements that evolve over time as interpersonal relationships develop and mature.

Established Task Elements	Emergent Task Elements
Created by managers or specialists independently of the role incumbent. Characterized by elements that are objective, that are formally documented and about which there is considerable consensus Static and relatively constant	Created by everyone who has a stake in how the role is performed, including the role incumbent Characterized by elements that are subjective, not formally documented and open to negotiation Constantly changing and developing

Established Task Elements

Emergent Task Elements

1. Created by managers or specialists independently of the role incumbent.
2. Characterized by elements that are objective, that are formally documented and about which there is considerable consensus
3. Static and relatively constant

1. Created by everyone who has a stake in how the role is performed, including the role incumbent
2. Characterized by elements that are subjective, not formally documented and open to negotiation
3. Constantly changing and developing

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