In particular, then, the approach to sex roles promulgated by psychologists
has caused considerable ambiguity in the literature. Has the psychological defini-
tion of sex role strayed from the traditional meaning of the role concept? The
word role is derived from the old French word rôle--that is, the "roll" of paper
used in the theater for the actors' scripts. A role is most frequently viewed as the
set of expectations that arise from the position one holds in society--a position
(sometimes called a status) being a collectively recognized category for classify-
ing people. Despite their prescriptive-proscriptive nature, most social roles
specify few exact behaviors; more often, they consist of clear but general
guidelines as to how to conduct oneself. There is a range of acceptable perfor-
mances, just as a stage role may be interpreted differently by different actors. To
a certain extent, social roles are interdependent--that is, they establish their
boundaries, and derive their meaning in partnership with complementary roles.

The notion of role involves an integration of activity and relation in terms of
cultural expectations. According to Bronfenbrenner ( 1979) "it is the embedded-
ness of roles in this larger context that gives them their special power to
influence--and even to compel--how a person behaves in a given situation, the
activities she engages in, and the relations that become established between that
person and other persons present in the setting [p. 86]." The work of Zimbardo
and his colleagues, using a simulated prison situation, dramatically demonstrated
the powerful impact of roles: Placing comparable, normal individuals in different
roles (even in the same physical setting) radically influenced their behavior and
interpersonal dynamics ( Haney, Banks, & Zimbardo, 1973). In fact, the consid-
erable body of research generated by self-perception ( D. J. Bem, 1967) and
attribution theories ( Jones & Davis, 1965) has repeatedly emphasized the human
tendency to overestimate the degree to which behavior is influenced by enduring
personality traits of the individual, and underestimate the degree to which it is
caused by external factors. In other words, we presume more cross-situational
consistency than actually exists. Thus, the evidence of social-learning theory
challenges our intuitive bias towards dispositional explanations and demonstrates
the importance of situation, location, and context--so vital to the sociological
and anthropological definitions of role--in determining our behavior. To the
extent that sex-role behaviors represent a category of social role, they should be
sensitive to changes in social context.

The question remains, however, whether sex roles are really "roles" or
whether the term role is a misnomer. At best, sex role is an unusual use of the
role concept. Unlike other roles, sex roles are ascribed at birth on the basis of
gender, and are not achieved or acquired by choice. Other ascribed characteris-
tics (such as age, race, and class) are seldom discussed in terms of role prescrip-
tions. Most roles are focused within a "situated activity system," activity that
occurs entirely within the walls of a single social establishment ( Goffman, 1961).
In contrast, sex roles are unfocused or diffuse in the larger society; they intrude
upon other key roles, introducing considerable modulations in their performance.

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