We all play many different roles every day, with different responsibilities. The fact that we maintain relationships with many different people, and our attention is divided between a whole range of disparate but important tasks in our lives means that we sometimes need to adapt our behaviour in order to fulfil these roles. However, we might feel differently in our roles as friends than we do as daughters or sons. We might enjoy the role of being a volunteer for an important cause more than being a company employee, or one of many students at a university. We are likely to behave differently in each of these roles, and even our voice and body posture might change, for example when we talk on the phone to our bosses, parents or friends. This might lead us to wonder who 'we' are. The fact is, we are all complex beings, capable of taking on many different roles at the same time. Some of our roles, of course, will be more natural to us than others.
Take for example Ghazal. She is a single mom who raises a teenage son. Ghazal works as a software developer in a large cooperation located in the centre of town, and is currently in the process of building a home for herself, her son and her father. In addition, she has friends who she has known since her days at university.
Look at the picture below and consider some of the different roles she has. The roles she enjoys most are marked in red.
Figure developed by Thu Phong Vuong for this course
Task: A variety of roles
- Refer to the map in the learning journal and fill it out for yourself. In order to do this, take some time now to consider three to four roles you play in your life. Mark your most enjoyable roles in one particular colour, and the ones you find more challenging or taxing in another colour.
- If you find some roles easier than others, then ask yourself: What might be the reasons for this? What could be important factors that influence how easy or enjoyable a role is in comparison to others? Note down these reflections in your learning journal.
We can see that all of us play a wide range of roles every day. So why is it that we find fulfilling some roles easier than others? We might find taking on roles in a student organisation, for example, or as a volunteer, or even as a friend, easier because these are usually roles that we pick ourselves. They play into our strengths and interests and may also be more in line with our self-image.
Last modified: Thursday, 16 May 2024, 4:19 PM