Individual statuses. Statuses of an individual in society

Social statuses and roles are important elements of the personality structure. Concepts " social status" and "social role" have steadily entered the dictionary of terms in the social and human sciences. Into scientific circulation in the 1930s. they were introduced by the American social anthropologist and sociologist Ralph Linton (1893-1953).

Social status. The word “status” was borrowed by sociology (social sciences) from the language of Roman jurisprudence. IN Ancient Rome status meant the legal status of a person. Thus, social status refers to the position (position) of an individual in society or a group, associated with his rights and responsibilities. Highlighting a status position allows you to:

a) see place, which a person occupies in society, group, including through the prism of generally accepted indicators social achievements chances of success;
b) show his surroundings social status environment;
c) understand volume of social benefits(resources), as well as rights and responsibilities which he possesses.

Social statuses accepted in a certain way distinguish.

Socio-demographic statuses (also called sociobiological or natural) may be related:

1) with a person’s age ( age statuses)- child, teenager, youth, mature, elderly person;
2) kinship (related family statuses) - father, mother, son, daughter, etc.;
3) gender of the person ( sexual statuses) - man Woman;
4) race ( racial status). This social category arose in the 19th century, when biologists and anthropologists tried to classify the diversity of human physical types into three groups - Caucasians, Negroid, Mongoloids;
5) health ( health status)- for example, a disabled person, a person with limited physical capabilities.

Actually social statuses- their formation and existence is possible only in society; they are a product of the system of social connections that have developed in society. These include statuses:

? economic(owner, tenant, rentier, landowner, employee, etc.);
?political(reflect one or another attitude of people’s social positions to power);
? legal(belonging to a status is often associated with the corresponding legal scope of rights and obligations of individuals);
?professional(these include all professions and specialties within them);
? sociocultural(consist of four basic areas: science, education, art, religion);
?territorial(for example, city dweller, villager; Siberian, resident Far East etc.).

Social statuses are also divided into formal And informal.

Formal status -

This is a social position that is fixed and spelled out in one or another official document. For example, CEO joint stock company, tone manager of a trading company, rector of higher educational institution, director of the lyceum.

Unofficial (informal) status is not reflected in official documents. Typically, unofficial status positions develop in the process interpersonal relationships in small groups, between friends, acquaintances, colleagues, relatives. For example, we say about a person that he is “responsible” or “irresponsible”, “hardworking” or “a slacker”, “an upstart” or “deservedly occupies a high management position”, “the soul of the company” or “on his own mind”, etc. d.

Highlight prescribed (scriptive), achieved And mixed social statuses.

> Prescribed name the statuses that an individual received and possesses them without making any personal efforts to acquire them. For example, the status of social origin, inherited aristocratic titles, socio-demographic statuses.

> Achievable are called status positions that an individual acquired through his own efforts. Thus, educational and professional status are examples of achieved status positions. Modern open societies are focused on ensuring that the achieved statuses have the main, determining significance in society ( self-made-man- a self-made man), and not prescribed, as in traditional and closed societies.

> Mixed name the statuses that simultaneously possess signs of a prescribed and achieved status. For example, children decided to follow in the footsteps of the older generation and chose the same profession as their parents, under the influence of their example, public or tacit influence, explicit or implicit consent, and assistance. This is not uncommon in families of lawyers, doctors, actors, musicians, financiers, and successful businessmen. Mixed status can also include positions desired by a person, but received by him through patronage, thanks to various social connections.

In the totality of statuses, it is customary to single out the main status, i.e. the status most characteristic of a given individual; that social position by which others distinguish him and by which he primarily identifies himself. In modern society, the main status often coincides with the professional and official status of a person (financial analyst, chief researcher, lawyer, unemployed, housewife).

Distinguish private And social statuses.

Social status- this is the position (position) of a person in society, largely determined by the representative of which social group he is.

Personal status- this is the position (position) of a person in the primary group, depending on how he (his qualities) are assessed by other members of the group.

Social status is of predominant importance in the system of impersonal formal relations, in large organizations, among strangers. Personal status prevails among people familiar to a person. Personal statuses are informal; their influence and effectiveness are determined by the fact that it is important for most people to maintain and increase their personal status in the group. People are very sensitive to the expectations and demands of those whom they personally know and respect, and in order to maintain their trust, they sometimes risk the resentment of officials.

The distinction between personal status and social status corresponds to the distinction that the Chinese make between the two ways of “saving face.” Social status refers to a person's position in society: the respect he receives is based on what social category he belongs to and how that category is valued in the system social assessment, prestige. A person maintains his social status if he lives in accordance with the norms of this social category. When the Chinese talk about conservation " Mian", they mean preserving the reputation that a person has acquired due to his position in society. Thus, a successful businessman is expected to provide his daughter with an excellent dowry, even if he has to go into debt to do so.

The Chinese also talk about preserving "l yang." A person cannot live without “Lian”, how he will be assessed as a human being depends on this, the loss of “Lian” will lead to the fact that he will be isolated. A person will hardly be forgiven if he is exposed in dishonesty, meanness, betrayal, if he is found to have an unforgivable poverty of mind and an inability to keep his word. The preservation of “lian” is not related to social status; its approval depends personally on the person himself.

In the middle of the 20th century, Robert Merton introduced the term into scientific vocabulary "status set"(as a synonym this concept term used "status portrait" person). Under status set is understood as the totality of all statuses belonging to one individual.

For example, Mr. N is a middle-aged man, teacher, doctor of science, scientific secretary of the dissertation council, head of the department, trade union member, member of one of the parties, Christian, voter, husband, father, uncle, etc. This is the status set, or portrait, of a person N.

From point of view rank value highlight social statuses high, average, low rank. According to rank value, for example, status positions differ top manager, middle or lower level manager.

When analyzing social statuses, you need to remember about status incompatibility. There are two forms of status incompatibility:

1) when a person occupies a high position in one group and a low position in another;
2) when the rights and obligations of one status contradict, exclude or interfere with the implementation of the rights and obligations of another status.

An example of the first form of status incompatibility is a situation where the CEO of a large company in his family is not the head of the family; this role is filled by his wife. Examples of the second form of status incompatibility include the fact that an official does not have the right to engage in commercial activities, a police officer cannot be a member of a mafia group. Criminals who are servants of the law are considered “werewolves in uniform.”

Status incompatibility

is a position in which the same person in different group hierarchies occupies different ranks - high, middle, low.

In contrast to this status compatibility is a position in which the same person in different group hierarchies occupies approximately the same ranks - all high, all middle or all low.

Social role. If the key to understanding social status is the word “position,” then when we talk about social role, the starting word here is “behavior.” Social statuses describe position, position of people in the social world, and social roles reveal people's behavior in the world of social statuses. We occupy status, but let's play(play) a role, therefore the role acts dynamic aspect social status.

A social role is a kind of model, pattern, format of behavior of an individual occupying a particular status. In its origin, the word “role” is associated with Latin word persona(person, individual), which in ancient times meant actor's mask, depicting the character of a character (or role): villain, jester, hero, titan, etc. In a certain sense, a role is a mask that a person puts on when going out into people and society.

American Sociologist II. Berger writes: “...man plays dramatic roles in the grandiose play of society, and, sociologically speaking, he is the masks that he must wear while performing his roles.”

A role is the expected behavior of an individual occupying a certain status (R. Linton). All aspects of determining a social role are interconnected. So, a role is an individual’s behavior, but not all, but expected, i.e. such behavior that corresponds to the prevailing ideas in groups and society regarding the normality, adequacy, correctness, and dignity of a person’s actions in connection with his status position. Thus, role-playing is human behavior, considered in the coordinate system of expectations and status positions. In other words, only behavior that meets the expectations of those who are functionally associated with a given status is called a role; other behavior is not a role.

Talcott Parsons noted that each role can be described using five main characteristics - from the point of view of: 1) its emotionality; 2) method of receipt; 3) scale; 4) formalization; 5) motivation.

Taking into account these characteristics, let's compare two roles: the role of a policeman and the role of a mother.

1. The role of a police officer is much less emotional than the role of a mother. In general, emotional restraint is expected from a police officer, while the role of a mother can be associated with very strong expressions of feelings.
2. According to the method of obtaining, the role of a police officer is related to the achieved status. The role of the mother includes a prescribed (since women are mothers) and achieved (not all women become mothers) aspects.
3. The role of the policeman is formal; he can only do what is prescribed by law, instructions, or determined by orders. The role of the mother is largely informal, although, of course, it is formal in terms of the provisions recorded in legal acts and documents.
4. The role of the mother is larger than the role of the policeman, since the role of the policeman is limited only to the sphere of his professional performance. job responsibilities, while between mother and child there is much more wide range relationships.
5. From a motivational point of view, the role of a police officer is primarily focused on realizing public interests in law and safety. But this role also includes personal motivation. It is associated with public recognition of the police service, worthy remuneration for the work of police officers, and their career interests. However, the determining factor in the role of a police officer is service to the legitimate interests of citizens, the law, i.e. First of all, the role of the police officer is socially motivated. The mother's role includes motivation for personal and social interests. The primary one here is a woman’s personal motivation to have children, which may coincide with society’s interest in the reproduction of the population.

In addition to the concept of “status set,” Robert Merton introduced the term "role set" Under role-playing set refers to a set of roles (role complex) associated with one status. Typically, each status includes several roles. For example, the status of a university professor is associated with the roles of teacher, researcher, graduate student supervisor, youth mentor, scientific consultant, expert, author scientific works etc. Thus, together with the concept of “status set”, the concept of “role set” is used, which describes the whole variety of behavior patterns - roles assigned to one status (Fig. 10.1).

Is a role part of a person’s “I”, his personal structure, or is it just an external shell, a mask, a label for the inner “I”? To what extent "I" identifies(identify) himself with the role?

A role can be both part of the “I” and only an external mask. If one of the parents plays the role of Santa Claus at the New Year tree in kindergarten, then this role is nothing more than a mask that is with “I” this person may be completely unrelated. For a professional actor, playing the role of Santa Claus is something else. This one is for him

Rice. 10.1.

the role, of course, is a mask, but a mask associated with his profession; here the performance of the role is already, to a certain extent, included in the “I” of the person.

An even greater identification of the person’s inner “I” with the role is possible. The actor plays different roles: today the role of Prince Hamlet, tomorrow King Lear, then the inhabitant of the social bottom of Satin. But in reality, the actor is neither Hamlet, nor Lear, nor Satine, nor any of these and other dramatic characters. But for a doctor, a lawyer, a musician, their professional activity is not a theatrical performance; what they serve are the roles of their entire lives. So, the doctor calls himself, considers and identifies himself as a doctor, and not with a masquerade role-playing character in a white coat. At the doctor role of the doctor deeply rooted in his “I”.

Roles may suddenly find themselves in a rock bottom when they seem to begin to live their own lives separate from people. There are two main dangers here. The first is that it is impossible to live in society and avoid playing roles. Roles, among other things, are a form of social selection, the establishment of social filters, and control. If a person does not want or is not able to master role behavior, then he is threatened with non-recognition, rejection, and social isolation. The second danger: people tend to think that the roles they play are under their complete control; they believe that they can always enter or exit any role they need at will. However, you can play too much and one day discover that roles command people, and not people command roles; that roles brought people under their control and reduced their inner selves to ashes.

See: Shibutani T. Social Psychology. Rostov n/d, 1998.P. 351-356.
See: Belsky V. Yu., Kravchenko A. I., Kurganov S. I. Sociology for lawyers. M., 2009. P. 154.
Berger P. L. Invitation to sociology: a humanistic perspective. pp. 99-100.

The concept of status in everyday life is equated to the characteristics of an individual associated with his economic capital, social prestige and the possibility of influence in certain areas of life. At the same time, the sociological interpretation of this concept comes from a special social status a person within a group or society, defined by the specific rights and responsibilities for the individual. Status allows us to identify any person, assigning him to a group and fitting him into the social structure of society. Examples of statuses can be different: priest, leader, woman, child, client, professor, prisoner, father, mayor, etc. Each person is free to shape his own status, but he is limited by his financial situation, social relations and national culture as a whole. Any state offers its individuals a certain set of statuses that are appropriate and possible at each historical and social stage of the development of society. Moreover, society creates a field of competition for status. The specifics of this struggle are influenced by the age, gender of the individual, his social and professional affiliation. The very concept of social status of an individual has three components: sociology (adj.: social), status and personality. · Sociology is the science of society. · Personality is an individual who is the bearer of not only biological and psychological qualities, but also socially significant features. Many individuals make up a society. Personality is formed in the interaction of internal motivations and external restrictions. · Status is the social position occupied by an individual in society. Types of statuses: · Personal status is the position that a person occupies in a small or primary group, depending on how he is assessed by his individual qualities . · Social status is the position a person occupies automatically as a representative of a large social group or community (professional, class, national). · A status set is a set of statuses belonging to one individual. · Prescribed status - a status that a person acquires by birth (for example: a title that is inherited) · Achieved status - a position that a person achieves through his efforts. · Natural status is a status that is based on a biological trait. (male, female) So: the social status of an individual is the position of a person in society, occupied by him as a representative of a certain social group and including a certain set of rights and responsibilities. Social status depends on: · age; · floor; · profession; · origin; · marital status; · income; · education. You should not think that everyone has one single social status. Each person can occupy several different statuses, but one of them will prevail over the others. Sociologists call this status basic. The main status dominates in a person’s consciousness, influencing his life activity and motives of behavior, and people around him perceive this status as leading for the individual. Thus, the influence of social status on a person is noticeable. Social roles have no less influence on him. Social status and social roles are interrelated concepts. Any status contains certain patterns of behavior, a culture of relationships and obligations. In other words, expected actions. It is these actions and what shapes behavior within a social status that is called a social role. In each status, it is possible to manifest several roles, which in sociology are usually called “role set”. Expected behavior associated with a particular role performs the functions of a norm and regulation of rights and responsibilities for society. The entire society is based on role relationships, which once again reinforces the socializing role of the public for each individual. For example, a woman’s social status can have many faces: wife, mother, daughter, sister, company employee, Christian, member of an organization (besides this, there are many more examples of social status). The set of these provisions is called the status set. From the above example it is clear how social status is determined: this includes marital status, religious views, professional activities, personal interests, etc. There are contradictions in statuses, which leads a person to discomfort, therefore, he strives for change. For example: in the USA for a long time There was racial discrimination against African Americans. Over time, a representative of this race becomes the President of the United States. This means that the status system of society has changed. The ratio of prescribed and acquired statuses is reflected in social structure. In a slave-owning, feudal and caste society, prescribed statuses prevail, because they are highly valued family ties for status. IN democratic society acquired statuses prevail. The social role of an individual is a set of requirements that are put forward in relation to a person occupying a particular position. social position. Aspects of the social role: · way of behavior; · formalization: a) you can communicate formally (example: lecturer-student in class); b) communication in a non-formal setting (example: the same during a chance meeting on the street); acquired roles - in childhood these are toys, and in adulthood they are a conscious choice professional activity; · scale of connections - some roles require a wide circle of contacts (example: journalist), while other roles have a limited circle (example: parent based on the number of children in the family); · emotional aspect - judge, actor; · motivational aspect - interest, finances, prestige or other. Division of social roles: · individual behavior; · role expectations of others from the individual’s behavior. (Under the prism of the profession, it sounds something like what is possible for an actor, but not for a judge.) · social roles (human activity in groups); · interpersonal roles (family, friends). Socialization process. Social roles are learned through the process of socialization. A person observes those around him and then imitates them, accepting the rules. But a person has a certain degree of freedom, which should not violate the freedoms of other people and the system of society. Socialization is the process of personality formation, during which a person acquires skills, patterns of behavior and attitudes characteristic of his social role. (The individual either acts as expected of him or improves in his role). Combination in progress external factors and internal qualities of a person. Agents of socialization are members of society who influence the formation of personality. In childhood, parents, and from the age of 3, the number of socialization agents increases. Conformism is passive acceptance of the existing order. Forms of socialization: · Adaptation - passive adaptation to the environment; · Integration is the active interaction of the individual with the environment, as a result of which not only the environment influences the individual, but also the individual changes the environment. The degree of completeness of socialization is determined by: · The ability to manage finances independently of others. · The ability to provide oneself with a means of subsistence. · Ability to live separately from parents. · Ability to choose a lifestyle. Questions for self-control: 1. What does the concept of social status of an individual mean? 2. Name three components of a person’s social status. 3. Name the types of social statuses. 4. What does the social status of an individual depend on? 5. What is the essence of the concept of social role? 6. What is included in a person’s status set? 7. What are the main aspects of the social role of the individual? 8. Personal socialization, what is it?

Social status is the position of an individual (or group of people) in society in accordance with his gender, age, origin, property, education, occupation, position, marital status etc.

People have not one, but many statuses:

1) prescribed (received from birth);

2) achieved;

3) economic;

4) personal;

5) political, social, cultural.

A social role is certain actions that an individual (or group) must perform in accordance with one or another status.

Thus, if the status itself determines a person’s position in society, then the social role is the functions they perform in this position.

QUESTIONS, TASKS, TESTS.

1. Expand the content of the concepts “person”, “personality”, “individual”, “individuality”.

2. What factors influence the formation of personality?

3. What is the social status of an individual? What types of social statuses do you know? Describe your status set.

4. What is a social role? What social roles do you fulfill?

5.Why does a conflict of social roles arise? How is it overcome?

6. How can you confirm the presence of status-role coercion?

7. Do you agree with E. Durkheim, who believed that “the more primitive a society is, the greater the similarities between its constituent individuals?

8. Define the following concepts: “individual”, “individuality”, “personality”, “role conflict”, “social role”, “status distance”, “status symbols”, “social status”, “person”, “expectations” (role expectations).

Literature:

1. A.I. Kravchenko “Sociology and political science” pp. 115-120.

2. I.D.Korotets, T.G.Talnishnikh “Fundamentals of sociology and political science” pp.85-109.

3. V.V.Latysheva “Fundamentals of Sociology” pp.65-86.

1. Social role is...

1) the individual’s contribution to the cause of his people;

2) a person’s awareness of the significance of his work;

3) behavior expected from a bearer of social status;

4) society’s assessment of the individual’s activities.

2. The process of assimilation by an individual throughout his life social norms And cultural values the society to which he belongs is called:

1) education; 2) socialization; 3) integration; 4) adaptation.

3. Personal socialization lasts:

1) from the beginning of adolescence;

2) until the end of the formation of a person as an individual;

3) before entering working life.

4. Social status shows:

1) what behavior society expects from an individual;

2) what place the individual occupies in society or group;

3) in what environment the personality is formed.

5. The set of roles corresponding to a certain status is called:

1) role performance; 2) role-playing set; 3) role expectation.

6. What does the concept of “personality” mean?

1) properties that make a person different from others;

2) the same as the concept of “person”;

3) a system of social qualities of an individual.

7. Normative (basic) personality is:

1) a person sharing the same cultural patterns, as the majority of members of this society;

2) a standard, an example of a personality as the ideal of a given society (group);

3) the personality type is the most common in a given territory.

Another result of socialization is the acquisition by people of various statuses, that is, certain positions in society. There are social and personal statuses. * Social status- This the position of an individual (or group of people) in society in accordance with his gender, age, origin, property, education, occupation, position, marital status, etc. For example, people studying at a university have student status; those who have completed their working career due to age - pensioner status; those who have lost their jobs - unemployed status. Each status position implies certain rights and responsibilities.

People have in their lives not one, but many statuses. Thus, a person can be simultaneously a son, a husband, a father, a scientist, a mayor, a car enthusiast, a philanthropist, etc. At the same time, in the set of statuses one can single out one main status(usually an official), which is of decisive importance for a given individual.

Bright example - famous Russian economic and political figure of the 1990s. Yuri Luzhkov(born in 1936). Despite rich variety his positions in society (up to senator, honorary professor Russian Academy sciences and the author of a popular book about Moscow), after all, the position of mayor of the capital of Russia is the main social status of this person. Depending on the role played by the individual himself in acquiring his status, two main types of social status are distinguished: prescribed and achieved. Prescribed status(it is also called assigned or attributed) - this is the one received from birth, by inheritance or by coincidence of life circumstances, regardless of the desire, will and efforts of a person. These are, in particular, those acquired from birth, or natural born statuses associated with gender (woman, man), with nationality (Egyptian, Chilean, Belarusian), with race (representative of the Mongoloid, Negroid or Caucasian racial groups), with consanguinity (daughter, son, sister, grandmother), with inherited titles (queen, emperor, baroness). Prescribed statuses also include such “involuntarily” acquired statuses as stepdaughter, stepson, mother-in-law, etc.

Unlike the prescribed achieved status (or being achieved) acquired through the individual's own efforts. It is associated ♦ with obtaining education and labor qualifications (student, student, worker, master, engineer), ♦ with labor activity and a business career (farmer, banker, director, major, general, doctor of science, minister, member of parliament), ♦ with any special merits ( National artist, honored" teacher, honorary citizen of the city), etc.

According to Western analysts, in a post-industrial society it is the achievable(rather than prescribed) status of people. Modern societies gravitate towards the so-called meritocrats, which involves evaluating people according to their merits (knowledge, qualifications, professionalism), and not according to inheritance or personal connections with VIP.

Achieved and prescribed statuses are two main type of status. But life, as always, is “more bizarre” than schemes and can create non-standard situations, in particular, the status of an unemployed, an emigrant (who became such, say, due to political persecution), a disabled person (as a result, for example, of a road accident), an ex-champion 4. ex-husband. Where should we include these and other similar “negative” statuses, which a person, of course, initially does not strive for in any way, but which, unfortunately, he still received? One option is to classify them as mixed statuses, since they may contain elements of both prescribed and achieved statuses.

If social status determines an individual’s place in society, then personal status determines his position among the people immediately surrounding him. * Personal status - This a person’s position in a small (or primary) group, determined by how others treat him. Thus, each employee in any work collective enjoys a certain reputation among his colleagues, i.e. has a public assessment of his personal qualities (a hard worker is a lazy person, a good person is a miser, a serious person is a dummy, a benevolent person is evil, etc.). In accordance with such assessments, people often build their relationships with him, thereby determining his personal status in the team.

Levels of social and personal status may often not coincide. So, say, a minister (high social status) can be a nasty and dishonest person (low personal status). And vice versa, a “simple” cleaning lady (low social status), thanks to her hard work and sincerity, can enjoy great respect from others (high personal status).