A generalization of the role expectation conflict theory with a methodological analysis

Gross’, Mason's and McEachern's role conflict theory with two incompatible role expectations is generalized by letting the number of incompatible role expectations increase. It is proved that the generalized theory is consistent and that its four axioms are independent. Three methodological results are proven. They show that the generalized theory is, in principle, testable from the point of view of three different well‐defined testing situations. Finally, it is shown that the original theory is a special case of the generalization.