A Study of the Relationship of Role Conflict, the Need for Role Clarity, and Job Satisfaction for Professional Librarians

Abstract

Over the past 10 years, role conflict, role ambiguity, role clarity, and job satisfaction have been given increased attention in the study of organizational behavior for a number of occupational groups. As librarians continue to turn their attention toward managerial issues, it is important that these variables be analyzed within the context of the profession. The purpose of this paper is twofold: (1) to review empirical research that studies these role variables in various occupational groups, and (2) to describe an empirical study that investigates the relationship between certain role and job-satisfaction variables for a sample of 68 professional librarians. The results suggest that while role ambiguity and role conflict are both significantly related to overall job satisfaction, need for role clarity does not affect the relationships between role ambiguity and the overall or individual dimensions of job satisfaction.