ROLES IMPACT FEELINGS: A ROLE PLAY

Goals

^? To enable participants to become aware of some of the roles they play.

^? To discover how roles produce feelings.

Group Size

A minimum of eight participants. (Can be done with a large group.)

Time Required

Approximately two and one-half hours.

Materials

^? Newsprint and a felt-tipped marker.

^? Two blank name tags for each participant.

^? Blank sheets of paper and a pencil for each participant.

Physical Setting

A room in which the participants can move about freely.

Process

1. The facilitator invites the participants to join in a role play, but does not reveal the goals of the experience. The facilitator says that he or she is going to describe pairs of extreme roles that people play and that each set of roles will demonstrate polarities. He or she says that the participants will nonverbally play each role for about three minutes after it is described.

2. The facilitator distributes blank paper and pencils to the participants.

3. The facilitator lists the roles on newsprint, one at a time. After listing each role, he or she:

^? Announces the role to be played and explains it briefly.

^? Encourages the participants to “get into” the role nonverbally.

^? Allows about three minutes for the nonverbal activity, depending on how well the group members are responding.

^? Asks the participants (when they are deeply involved in the activity) to become aware of their feelings “right now” and allows about thirty seconds for them to do this.

^? Instructs the participants to record their feelings and how they experienced the particular role. (Two to three minutes.)

List of Roles¹

A.	Bully (exaggerates aggression, threatens others: “Watch it, Buster.”)	B.	Nice Guy (exaggerates warmth, tries to please others, smiles: “Oh, what a beautiful day.”)
C.	Judge (exaggerates criticism, mistrusts others, blames: “I know better.”)	D.	Protector (exaggerates support, spoils others, gives charity: “Let me help you.”)
E.	Weakling (exaggerates sensitivity, helpless, confused, passive: “Please don’t hurt me.”)	F.	Dictator (exaggerates strength, parental and authoritarian, commands: “Do this; don’t do that.”)
G.	Clinging Vine (exaggerates dependency, wants to be taken care of, led by others: “I can’t live without you.”)	H.	Calculator (exaggerates control, perfectionistic, tries to outwit others: “This isn’t quite right.”)

4. After the last role play, the facilitator directs the participants to reflect on the following process questions and then to record their answers

^? Which roles did you identify with most easily?

^? Which roles were the hardest for you to “get into”?

^? Which role did you enjoy most (which was your favorite)?

^? Which role did you either dislike the most or feel to be the most distant from you?

(Ten minutes.)

6. The facilitator stops the role play and directs the participants to record their feelings about and reactions to the experience. (Three to five minutes.)

7. The facilitator displays the list of roles on newsprint, noting that the roles across from each other are opposites. The facilitator explains that the presupposition is that we do not use the role that is the opposite of our favorite role. He or she again distributes blank name tags and directs each participant to write on the name tag the role that is the opposite of his or her favorite role.

8. Participants nonverbally role play the roles opposite their favorite roles. Because these roles are unfamiliar to the participants, it may take some time for them to “get into” the roles and really experience them. (Five to fifteen minutes).

9. Participants are instructed to record their feelings about and experiences of the role play. (Three to five minutes.)

10. The facilitator directs the participants to reflect on and then to record their reactions to the entire experience. They are encouraged to be aware of how they produced feelings in themselves as they played each role. (Five minutes.)

11. The group processes the experience. The facilitator may note on newsprint any salient points. He or she also may focus on how the roles demand “partners” in order to be played out; i.e., the “weakling” is the victim of the “dictator,” the “judge” must have someone to judge, etc.

Variations

^? The activity can be stopped after step 4.

^? Other roles can be played, including “positive” ones.

^? A feedback step can be added, during which participants tell how they see each other in terms of the roles they have played.

^? Participants can be instructed to remain in their favorite or opposite roles while performing some task.

^? In step 5, participants can be instructed to make notes on their favorite role and to depict it graphically.

^? The experience can be combined with a lecturette on characteristics of the self-actualizing person.

ROLES IMPACT FEELINGS A ROLE PLAY