Organizational Antecedents of Role Conflict and Ambiguity in Top-Level Administrators

Abstract

December 1976, volume 21 This study explores factors associated with role conflict and ambiguity in top-level administrators in public agencies. Research is reviewed, on possible organizational and interorganizational antecedents. Despite the fact that toplevel administrators devote a considerable proportion of their time to relations with other units, interorganizational factors have not been included in models of role conflict. Data were obtained in structured personal interviews with 102 top-level county administrators. As demonstrated by regression analysis, interorganizational variables tended to account for the largest amount of variance in role conflict, and intraorganizational variables accounted for the largest amount of variance in role ambiguity. Interorganizational variables were stronger independent determinants of role conflict than intraorganizational variables were of role ambiguity.