Stress that occurs when too much is required of a single role is known as what?

• A. Role strain
• B. Role conflict
• C. Role performance
• D. Status

Answer: (A)

Role strain is the stress that comes from too many demands being placed on a single role. When one position carries a heavy load of expectations—often competing or extensive duties—the individual feels pressure to meet them all within that role, leading to strain. This fits the question because it specifies stress from overload within one role, not from conflicting obligations between different roles. For example, a teacher who must plan lessons, grade papers, supervise extracurriculars, advise students, and handle administrative tasks all within the same teaching role experiences role strain. By contrast, role conflict involves incompatible expectations across different roles (like being both a parent and an employee), role performance is about how well duties are carried out, and status refers to the social position itself and its general expectations, not the overload within a single role.