THE ROLE OF POLICE OFFICER EMBODIES A COMPLEX NETWORK OF RELATIONSHIPS AND EXPECTED BEHAVIOR PATTERNS. THE POSITION INVOLVES NOT ONLY THE ROLE OF LAW ENFORCER IN RELATION TO CRIMINALS, BUT ALSO NUMEROUS OTHER ROLES RELATING THE POSITION TO UPPER-LEVEL FUNCTIONARIES, FELLOW OFFICERS, AND THE PUBLIC. BECAUSE OF THE DIVERSITY OF ROLE RELATIONSHIPS, A POLICE OFFICER MAY FACE A SITUATION INVOLVING SIMULTANEOUS OCCURRENCE OF ROLE EXPECTATIONS THAT ARE CONFLICTING OR CONTRADICTORY. WHEN DIFFERENT SOURCES DEFINE AN OFFICER'S ROLE ACCORDING TO COMPETING SETS OF EXPECTATIONS, ROLE CONFLICT OCCURS. IN THIS STUDY, IT IS HYPOTHESIZED THAT PROFESSIONALIZATION OF THE POLICE OFFICER WILL REDUCE ROLE CONFLICT. DATA FOR THE PROJECT WERE COLLECTED FROM QUESTIONNAIRE RESPONSES OF OFFICERS REPRESENTING SIX LAW ENFORCEMENT AGENCIES IN IDAHO AND WASHINGTON. THREE RURAL AND THREE URBAN POLICE DEPARTMENTS WERE INVOLVED IN THE STUDY. SELF-ADMINISTERED QUESTIONNAIRES WERE DISTRIBUTED TO APPROXIMATELY 150 RESPONDENTS. TO MEASURE PROFESSIONALISM, HALL'S PROFESSIONALISM SCALE WAS EMPLOYED AND STRUCTURED TO POLICE OFFICERS SPECIFICALLY. DATA ANALYSIS INVOLVED SEPARATE STEPWISE MULTIPLE REGRESSIONS OF ROLE CONFLICT ON FIVE PROFESSIONALISM SUBSCALES FOR RURAL AND URBAN AGENCIES. RESULTS SUPPORT THE CONTENTION THAT COMMITMENT TO A PROFESSIONAL IDEOLOGY REDUCES ROLE CONFLICT AMONG POLICE. HOWEVER, ONLY PARTICULAR DIMENSIONS OF PROFESSIONALISM PRODUCE SUCH EFFECTS. FOR RURAL POLICE DEPARTMENTS, BELIEF IN SELF-REGULATION WAS SHOWN TO BE THE DOMINANT VARIABLE, ACCOUNTING FOR OVER 80 PERCENT OF THE TOTAL VARIATION EXPLAINED IN ROLE CONFLICT AND EXERTING A DIRECT EFFECT TWICE THAT OF THE NEXT MOST IMPORTANT PREDICTOR. FOR URBAN DEPARTMENTS, THE THREE PROFESSIONALISM DIMENSIONS THAT WERE SIGNIFICANTLY RELATED WITH ROLE CONFLICT DEMONSTRATED NEARLY COMPARABLE EFFECTS. HERE, BELIEF IN SELF REGULATION, SENSE OF CALLING TO THE FIELD, AND BELIEF IN AUTONOMY EACH MAY BE VIEWED AS EQUALLY REDUCING ROLE CONFLICT. FOOTNOTES, STATISTICAL TABULAR INFORMATION, AND REFERENCES ARE PROVIDED IN THE ARTICLE. (LWM)