Compare the Difference Between Similar Terms

Difference Between Role and Responsibility

Role vs Responsibility

Roles and responsibilities have a significant impact on the quality of life we lead. We may be a single individual but play different roles in life. An individual may be a manager in a firm where he is leading a team and looking after day to day operations of a company, but back home, he plays the role of a loving husband and doting father of his kids. In his neighborhood, he plays the role of a responsible community member, and has to play the role of a good citizen. Even the most influential leaders and CEO’s of companies have to play different roles at different times and circumstances in life. Every role has different responsibilities attached to it and this is where the differences between role and responsibility get highlighted. This article will describe in detail all such differences.

Every, action, every move a person makes in life is attributed to the role he is playing at that moment. If you want to delve deeper, you can think of your role as a human being along with billions of other human beings. But you have additional responsibilities that you have to shoulder having taken up other roles in life such as a son, brother, husband, father and a manager. First and foremost are your responsibilities towards yourself as a human being. These responsibilities include your personal needs and requirements, your health and hygiene and your social life. There are huge differences between individuals as there are people who are content with a limited social life while there are many who have an extensive network of friends and colleagues.

One has to assign sufficient time to fulfill responsibilities that he has got by virtue of various roles he has taken over. In your family, you have responsibilities towards your wife and kids as you have to play the role of a protector and financer to fulfill their needs and requirements. For adults, their responsibilities towards their role at workplace assume great significance in life as most of their daytime is spent at the workplace and in between their employees or colleagues. It is a matter of balancing your priorities so that you are satisfied with your contributions to all the roles that you are playing in life.

Difference between Role and Responsibility

• A person can play several roles in life and each role has different set of responsibilities

• A role describes the responsibilities attached with it

• A person who is playing a role can delegate some of his responsibilities to others but has to play a balancing act so that he fulfills his responsibilities in his various roles.