Role conflict and the buffering effect of proactive personality among middle managers

Role conflict is typically present in boundary-spanning roles such as middle managers in organizations. We used conservation of resources (COR) theory (Hobfoll, 1989) as a basis for our examination of the impact of role conflict on middle managers’ job satisfaction and work-related anxiety, and the buffering effect of proactive personality. Participants comprised 245 middle managers. The results showed that more role conflict did not significantly lead to lower job satisfaction, but led to significantly higher work-related anxiety. We also found that proactive personality significantly moderated the relationships between role conflict and the two outcome variables. Specifically, for more proactive middle managers, role conflict did not significantly influence either job satisfaction or work-related anxiety. However, for less proactive middle managers, more role conflict led to significantly lower job satisfaction and higher work-related anxiety. This suggests that proactive personality can serve as a coping resource that buffers the dysfunctional effects of role conflict. Implications of the results and directions for future research are discussed.