Intra-role conflict: a result of naive attempts toward professionalization.

In an attempt to become professional, many allied health occupations have focused upon acquiring the traditional attributes associated with a profession while neglecting the professionalization process. As a result, members of allied health occupations that claim professional status may experience the problems of lack of occupational prestige, limited opportunity for vertical mobility, and occupational burn-out. A study was conducted to explore the possible links among level of training program socialization, level of professional identity, and level of intra-role conflict in medical technologists, registered dietitians, physicians' assistants, and certified dental technicians. An instrument was developed to test for the existence of relationships between intra-role conflict and a combination of factors. Results of this study support a relationship between occupation and training program socialization and intra-role conflict. Evidence in this study suggests that structural characteristics of an occupation may influence the level of intra-role conflict experienced by allied health practitioners.