Types Of Roles In Relationships

There are many different types of roles in relationship including relations between romantic partners, friends, family, and work relationships. In all types of relationships, there are four main roles. The first step to interacting with someone is to be able to distinguish these roles. It is important to understand the different types of roles in relationships in order to be able to know how to behave with someone in different relationships.

Distinguishing Roles And Boundaries

The first important step is to be able to distinguish between different types of roles. Without this, we can't know how to interact with someone or how to improve our own skills.

There are four main roles in relationships. These are the independent, the interdependent, the superior and the inferior. I am going to use these to explain how different types of people can interact with each other.

• The independent: The interdependent is motivated by their own needs and their own wants. They seek to please themselves, relying on no one else. They make their own decisions and are completely responsible for themselves. They can rely on no one, and see everyone else as a potential threat. This can be a good type of role for those, who want to make their own decisions, but it can also be frustrating if those decisions don't go the way the independent wants.

• The interdependent: The interdependent is motivated by the needs of themselves and others. They are usually social, and usually rely on the decisions of others. They are not completely independent, and still need to take care of themselves. They have a reasonable amount of self-worth, but place more value on their relationship with others. This is usually the most common type of role in relationships and it makes things easier for everyone. This is the role you should choose if you want a stable relationship.

• The superior: The superior is motivated by their own personal gain. They strive to be the best at whatever they do and will sacrifice others, if it means they will win. They are usually ambitious and value personal achievement. This type of person usually makes good leaders, as they have the ability to motivate those around them with their own personal achievements. They also tend to be good in positions of power and authority, as they will usually try to use that power to further their own ends.

• The inferior: The inferior is motivated by the needs of others. They place others first, and will not seek their own interests unless doing so would serve the greater good. They often have open minds, as they are likely to trust advice even if they don't follow it. This is usually the best role for those, who want to serve others and put others first.

All of these roles are motivated by the four fundamental needs. These are emotional, physical, social and mental needs. There are also some divergent needs, which can be categorized as destructive or beneficial. Destructive needs take the form of lust and greed, while beneficial ones include love and respect.

Maintaining Roles

Roles can also be classified by how they are maintained. There are three main types, which are active, passive and alternating.

• Active roles: Active roles are those in which the person actively pursues their role as much as possible. The active role-taker will seek out self-development and specialize in one skill, becoming an expert in it. The active role-receiver will try to find someone, who is better than them in their role, and will willingly serve them in order to improve themselves. This can be a good way to keep each other balanced, although it can lead to people getting used or taken advantage of if the active role-taker is skilled enough.

• Passive roles: Passive roles are those in which the person does not actively maintain their role. The person in a passive role will usually be less skilled, than the active role-taker and will find themselves being pushed around by them. Sometimes, a passive role-taker will find themselves becoming more skilled if they are allowed to relax, but most people do not want to let themselves relax. When a person becomes passive, they usually switch to an alternating role.

• Alternating roles: Alternating roles are a combination of active and passive roles. The person alternating between the two roles will find themselves serving their role-taker for periods of time, and then pushing them away for periods of time. This keeps roles from stagnating, and each role-taker is keeping themselves balanced by actively pursuing one role while servicing the other.

To keep roles from spiraling out of control, there needs to be a delicate balance between role-takers and role-receivers. Too many role-receivers and roles become stale, while too many role-takers and roles degenerate into a constant tug of war. This can be prevented through the use of constraints, which are systems, that limit the amount of people a role can be given to or taken by. Universes with few constraints usually have a large amount of people taking on a specific role, while confined universes tend to have more people with that role.

Roles, when not being actively pursued or received, will usually be able to fluctuate freely within a given range. The confines of a role's range are determined by a combination of the individual and their role. A skilled role-taker could hypothetically take it out to the moon, while an unskilled one could only take it out to the nearby wasteland. Depending on the role and the individual, constraints can range from very specific to extremely broad, which can make it difficult to find a role to put a given individual.

Constraints also have another, more practical use. People seem to have a habit of following a specific path in life, when they're young and then changing direction completely, when they're older. This is especially true, when it comes to pursuing a specific role. By putting a hard limit on the role a person can pursue, it gives them a sense of direction. If an unskilled role-taker wishes to pursue a profession, that is more closely related to their skillset, such as doctor or mercenary, then they can better spend their time and efforts in that direction.