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54. Social status. Systematization of social roles

Each person in the social system occupies several positions. Each of these positions, which implies certain rights and obligations, is called a status. A person can have multiple statuses. But more often than not, only one determines his position in society. This status is called the main, or integral. It often happens that the main, or integral, status is due to his position (for example, director, professor). Social status is reflected both in external behavior and appearance (clothing, jargon and other signs of social and professional affiliation), and in internal position (in attitudes, value orientations, motivations, etc.).

Sociologists distinguish between prescribed and acquired statuses. Prescribed- this means imposed by society, regardless of the efforts and merits of the individual. It is determined by ethnic origin, place of birth, family, etc. Acquired(achieved) status is determined by the efforts of the person himself (for example, writer, scientist, director, etc.). There are also natural and professional-official statuses. Natural the status of a person presupposes essential and relatively stable characteristics of a person (men and women, childhood, youth, maturity, old age, etc.). Professional and official- This is the basic status of a person, most often for an adult, which is the basis of an integral status. It fixes the social, economic, production and technical status (banker, engineer, lawyer, etc.).

social status denotes the specific place that an individual occupies in a given social system. The totality of demands placed on the individual by societies forms the content of the social role. social role is a set of actions that a person occupying a given status in the social system must perform. Each status usually includes a number of roles. The set of roles arising from a given status is called a role set.

The social role is divided into role expectations- what, according to the "rules of the game", is expected from a particular role, and on role behavior- what a person actually performs within the framework of his role. Each time, taking on a particular role, a person more or less clearly represents the rights and obligations associated with it, approximately knows the scheme and sequence of actions, and builds his behavior in accordance with the expectations of others. The society at the same time makes sure that everything is done "as it should be." To do this, there is a whole system of social control - from public opinion to law enforcement agencies and the corresponding system of social sanctions - from censure, condemnation to violent suppression.

Talcott Parsons tried to systematize social roles. He believed that any role can be described using five main characteristics:

1. Emotionality. Some roles (for example, nurse, doctor, or police officer) require emotional restraint in situations that are usually accompanied by a violent manifestation of feelings (we are talking about illness, suffering, death). Less restrained expression of feelings is expected from family members and friends.

2. How to obtain. Some roles are conditioned by prescribed statuses, such as child, youth, or adult citizen; they are determined by the age of the person playing the role. Other roles are being won; when we talk about a professor, we mean a role that is not achieved automatically, but as a result of the efforts of the individual.

3. Scale. Some roles are limited to strictly defined aspects of human interaction. For example, the roles of physician and patient are limited to matters that directly relate to the health of the patient. Between a small child and his mother or father, a larger relationship is established; Every parent is concerned about many aspects of a child's life.

4. Formalization. Some roles provide interaction with people in accordance with the established. rules. For example, a librarian is required to lend out books for a specified period and demand a fine for each day overdue from those who delay the books. In other roles, special treatment is allowed for those with whom you have developed a personal relationship. For example, we do not expect a brother or sister to pay us for a service rendered to them, although we could take payment from a stranger.

5. Motivation, Different roles are driven by different motives. It is expected, say, that an enterprising person is preoccupied with his own interests - his actions are determined by the desire to obtain maximum profit. But the priest is supposed to work primarily for the public good, not for personal gain. According to Parsons, any role includes some combination of these characteristics.

Each person in the social system occupies several positions, each of which implies certain rights and obligations. Entering many social groups at the same time, a person occupies a different position in each of them, due to relationships with other members of the group. The rank or position of an individual in a group or group in relation to other groups is social status.

Personal status is the position of an individual in a small group, depending on how he is evaluated and perceived by members of this group (acquaintances, relatives) in accordance with his personal qualities. To be a leader or an outsider, the soul of a company or an expert, means to occupy a certain place in the structure (or system) interpersonal relationships(but not social).

Varieties of social status are attributed and achieved statuses. Attributed(or prescribed) is the status in which a person is born (it is also called inborn), but which is later necessarily recognized as such by a society or group (although there are cases where ascribed and innate status diverge).

In the strict sense, ascribed is any status acquired against one's will, over which the individual has no control.

Reachable status is acquired as a result of free choice, personal efforts and is under the control of a person. There are also natural personality status - essential and relatively stable characteristics of a person (for example, men, women, youth, maturity, etc.); professional official- the basic status of the individual, for an adult, is most often the basis of the integral status.

Thus, each person has several statuses, but only one determines his position in society. It is called the main one, i.e. integral. Most often, the integral status is due to the position. Social status is reflected both in external behavior and appearance (clothes, jargon, other signs of social and professional affiliation), and in internal position (in attitudes, value orientations, motivations). The integral status fixes the social, economic and production-technical situation.

In addition to the main ones, a person has many episodic, minor statuses. These are the statuses of a pedestrian, a passenger, a tenant, a reader, etc. As a rule, this temporary states. The rights and obligations of the holders of such statuses are often not recorded in any way, but they affect behavior, thinking and feelings.

A person can never exist outside the status or outside the statuses. If he leaves one status, he moves to another.

Behind every status - permanent or temporary, primary or non-primary - there is a large social group. Non-basic statuses form nominal groups or statistical categories.

Possessing many statuses and belonging to many social groups, in each case the individual also has different prestige, that is, there is a mismatch of statuses. This is called status mismatch or discrepancy. In public opinion, over time, it is developed, orally transmitted, supported, but not documented. status hierarchy and social groups where they are valued and respected more than others. A place in such an invisible hierarchy is called rank. It can be high, medium or low.

In addition, a person may experience a mismatch of thoughts, words and actions; values, motives and needs. This is an internal hierarchy, a ranking of thoughts and actions.

Status discrepancy describes a contradiction in the intergroup and intragroup hierarchies that occurs, firstly, when an individual occupies a high rank in one group and a low rank in another; secondly, when the rights and obligations of one status deprive the exercise of the rights and obligations of another.

Each individual can have a large number of statuses, others expect him to fulfill them, to implement them, that is, each status has its own social role. Status and role are two sides of the same phenomenon: status is a set of rights and obligations, role is actions in accordance with rights and obligations. Social role is a dynamic aspect of social status.

Cultural norms are acquired mainly through role training. Each status usually includes a number of roles. The set of roles arising from a given status is called a role set.

social roles can be institutionalized or leading, they are a consequence of the position of the individual in the social structure of society (worker, employee, etc.); or conventional- arising relatively arbitrarily in group interactions and bearing a subjective coloring.

An interesting systematization of roles was proposed by T. Parsons (1902 - 1970), an American theoretical sociologist. He believed that any role is described by five main characteristics: 1) emotional (either restraint or looseness); 2) method of obtaining - prescribed or won; 3) scale - strictly formulated or vague; 4) formalization - performed according to fixed rules or arbitrarily; 5) motivation - for oneself or for others.

Each role in the role set requires a specific demeanor. For example, a teacher, on the one hand, is a strict teacher, on the other hand, a mentor, friend, colleague. Each role has its own type of implementation of social relations.

Social role should be considered in two aspects: role expectation and role performance. The first is what people expect from the individual in accordance with his status, and what the individual himself expects from others in accordance with his status. The second is what happens when these two-sided expectations are "meeted", that is, the observed behavior.

The expectations of others from an individual can also be called role requirements, they are embodied in specific social norms grouped around social status.

In the normative structure of a social role, four elements are usually distinguished: 1) a description of the type of behavior corresponding to this role; 2) instructions related to this behavior; 3) assessment of the performance of the prescribed role; 4) sanction - the social consequences of an action within the framework of the requirements of the social system.

The social role is not a pure model of behavior. The character of the individual penetrates into each, his behavior cannot fit into a pure scheme, because is the product of a unique way of interpreting and interpreting roles, peculiar only to this individual.

The maximum fusion of an individual with a role is called role identification, and the average or minimum - distance from the role.

Distancing from a role is different from reducing the distance between statuses. When the highest in status is held equal, he symbolically closes the gap between statuses, but when an individual of lower status does so, it demonstrates his underestimated identification with his status or familiarity.

The higher a society values ​​a certain status, the stronger the degree of identification with it.

Questions to the topic

1. How can one explain the statement of E. Durkheim: “The more primitive a society, the more similarity between its constituent individuals”?

2. Justify that a person is an object and subject of labor, communication, and knowledge.

Essay topics

1. Social mechanisms of life organization.

2. Features of socialization in student years.

3. Personality and scientific and technological revolution.

4. Problems of self-realization of the individual in the modern Russian Federation.

Bibliographic list

1. Pokrovsky A.V. Being a person. - M., 1990.

2. Frankl Z. Man in search of meaning. - M., 1990.

3. Marx K., Engels F. German ideology // Collected. op. - T. 3. - S. 18, 25, 26 - 30, 37, 45, 61, 69–75, 282, 426, 440, 441.

4. Kon I. S. Sociology of personality. - M., 1967.

5. Pavlovsky VV Sociology of youth and juvenology // Socis. - 1995. - No. 5. - S. 46-51.

6. Spasibenko S. G. Introduction to human sociology. Statement of the problem // Sots. gum. knowledge. - 1999. - No. 4. – S. 92–107.

7. Busova N. A. Homo publicus - the hero of our time // Socis. - 1998. - No. 4. - S. 108-111.

3. THE CONCEPT OF "SOCIAL STATUS".

Each person in the social system occupies several positions. Each of these positions, which implies certain rights and obligations, is called a status. A person can have multiple statuses. But more often than not, only one determines his position in society. This status is called the main, or integral. It often happens that the main, or integral, status is due to his position (for example, director, professor). Social status is reflected both in external behavior and appearance (clothing, vocabulary and other signs of social and professional affiliation), and in internal position (in attitudes, value orientations, motivations, etc.).

Sociologists distinguish prescribed and acquired statuses. Prescribed- this means imposed by society, regardless of the efforts and merits of the individual. It is determined by ethnic origin, place of birth, family, etc. Acquired (reached) status is determined by the efforts of the person himself (for example, writer, scientist, director, etc.). There are also natural and professionally-official statuses. The natural status of a person presupposes essential and relatively stable characteristics of a person (men and women, childhood, youth, maturity, old age, etc.). Professional and official status is the basic status of the individual, for an adult, it is most often the basis of an integral status. It fixes the social, economic, production and technical status (banker, engineer, lawyer, etc.)

Social status refers to the specific place that a person occupies. individual in a given social system. Thus, it can be noted that social statuses are structural elements social organization societies that provide social ties between the subjects of public relations. These relations, ordered within the framework of social organization, are grouped in accordance with the socio-economic structure of society and form a complex coordinated system. Social connections between the subjects of social relations, established in relation to the provided social functions, form certain points of intersection in the vast field of social relations. These points of intersection of connections in the field of social relations are social statuses.

From this point of view, the social organization of society can be represented as a complex, interconnected system of social statuses occupied by individuals who, as a result, become members of society, citizens of the state.

Society not only creates social status, but also provides social mechanisms for the distribution of members of society in these positions. The ratio between social statuses prescribed by society to an individual, regardless of efforts and merit (prescribed positions), and statuses, the replacement of which depends on the person himself (achievable positions), is an essential characteristic of the social organization of society. Prescribed social statuses are predominantly those whose replacement occurs automatically, by virtue of a person's birth and in connection with such characteristics as sex, age, kinship, race, caste, etc.

The ratio in the social structure of prescribed and achieved social statuses is, in essence, an indicator of the nature of economic and political power, there is a question about the nature of the social formation that imposes on individuals the appropriate structure of social status. The personal qualities of individuals, individual examples of social advancement as a whole do not change this cardinal position.

4. THE CONCEPT OF "SOCIAL ROLE".

The multidimensional, complexly organized nature of man, the breadth and diversity of his social connections and relations determine many theoretical approaches and positions in understanding this phenomenon, many different models, images of man in modern sociology. One of them is the image of a person as a set of social roles.

Each person living in a society is included in many different social groups (family, study group, friendly company, etc.). In each of these groups, he occupies a certain position, has a certain status, certain expectations are placed on him. Thus, the same person must behave in one situation like a father, in another - like a friend, in a third - like a boss, i.e. act in different roles.

A social role is a way of people's behavior corresponding to accepted norms, depending on their status or position in society, in the system of interpersonal relations.

The development of social roles is part of the process of socialization of the individual, an indispensable condition for the “growing” of a person into a society of his own kind. Socialization is the process and result of the assimilation and active reproduction of social experience by an individual, carried out in communication and activity.

Examples of social roles are also gender roles (male or female behavior), professional roles. By assimilating social roles, a person assimilates social standards of behavior, learns to evaluate himself from the outside and exercise self-control. However, since in real life a person is involved in many activities and relationships, is forced to perform different roles, the requirements for which may be contradictory, there is a need for some mechanism that would allow a person to maintain the integrity of his "I" in the conditions of multiple connections with the world (i.e., .e. remain yourself, playing various roles). A personality (or rather, a formed substructure of orientation) is just that mechanism, a functional organ that allows you to integrate your "I" and your own life, to carry out a moral assessment of your actions, to find your place not only in a separate social group, but also in life in in general, to work out the meaning of one's existence, to give up one in favor of the other. A developed personality can use role-playing behavior as a tool for adapting to certain social situations, at the same time not merging, not identifying with the role.

So, a social role is a set of requirements imposed by society on persons occupying certain social positions. These requirements (prescriptions, wishes and expectations of appropriate behavior) are embodied in specific social norms. The system of social sanctions of a positive and negative nature is aimed at ensuring the proper fulfillment of the requirements associated with a social role.

Arising in connection with a specific social position given in the social structure, a social role is at the same time a specific (normatively approved) way of behavior that is obligatory for individuals who perform the corresponding social roles. The social roles performed by an individual become a decisive characteristic of his personality, without losing, however, their socially derived and, in this sense, objectively inevitable character. In the aggregate, the social roles performed by people personify the dominant social relations.

Personality socialization

concept personality used to emphasize the social essence of a person and an individual. A person is not born, but becomes in society in the course of interactions with other people through the acquisition of various social qualities. Thus, personality is a social characteristic of a person and an individual, which is based and interconnected with its biological and genetic inclinations.

Personality can be defined as a relatively stable system of social qualities acquired and developed in the process of interaction with other people in society.

The most important social qualities personalities: self-awareness, self-esteem, social identification, activity, interests, beliefs, life goals. Self-consciousness is the ability, peculiar only to a person, to realize himself in the system of social relations. Social identification is the result of conscious and emotional self-identification with other people with a different community; activity - the ability to perform socially significant actions that are manifested in interaction with other people; interests - a constant source of activity based on needs; beliefs - socio-psychological assessments and perceptions of the world around them, they are moral, ideological, scientific, religious, etc. Having goals in life and striving to achieve them the most important characteristic formed personality. The goals of life are differentiated into four main groups: 1) material goods; 2) knowledge and creativity; 3) power, prestige, authority; 4) spiritual perfection.

Personality can be considered as the result of a variety of behaviors that are characteristic of any individual in a particular social group and society as a whole. The behavior model called social role, inherent in this or that individual in accordance with his social status, i.e. position in society, social group. All social statuses can be divided into two main types: those that prescribed individual by society or group, regardless of his abilities and efforts, and those that the individual reaches by their own efforts.

Each person in the social system occupies several positions. Therefore, sociologists use the concept - status set, those. the totality of all social statuses of a given individual. But most often only one status determines the position in society. This status is called main, or integrated. It often happens that the main (integral) status is due to the position (for example, rector, economist, etc.). The set of roles arising from a given status set is called role set.

The social role contains two main elements: role expectations - what is expected from this or that role, and role-playing what a person actually performs within the framework of his role. Any social role, according to Talcott Parsons, can be described using five main characteristics: emotionality, method of obtaining, scale, formalization and motivation.

Sociologists note the fundamental role that interests play in the behavior of the individual. In turn, the interests of the individual are based on needs. Need can be defined as a need, a person's need for something. The main problems of needs analysis are to establish their complete composition, hierarchy, boundaries, levels and possibilities of satisfaction. Currently, there are many classifications of needs in science. In classification K. Alderfer There are three groups of needs: existence, connection and growth. D. McClelland highlights the needs of achievement, participation and power. These needs do not have a hierarchical structure; they interact depending on the individual psychology of a person. For example, the need to achieve, according to McClelland, denotes the competition with some standards of excellence, the desire to surpass them.

The best known is the classification proposed by Abraham Maslow. He identified five groups of needs: 1) physiological ( vital activity ) , 2) security, 3) affiliations and affiliations(to the team, society), 4) recognition(respect and love), 5) self-actualization(self-realization, self-expression). According to Maslow, the needs of the first two groups are innate, i.e. biological, and from the third group, acquired needs begin, i.e. social. Human behavior is driven not by the need itself, but, above all, by the degree of its dissatisfaction. The true essence of a person, the deep meaning of his life, is most consistent with social needs, the main among which is the need for self-realization. An important aspect of needs analysis is their hierarchy. It is objectively predetermined, first of all, by the fact that the condition for the emergence of intellectual and spiritual needs is the functioning of the physiological systems of the human body. When the needs of a certain group are satisfied, they cease to be relevant and direct the activity of a person, and the transition to the next higher group of needs is motivated. However, this dependence should not be absolute. Needs for creativity and self-realization may not always appear only after the full satisfaction of all other needs, as evidenced by the biographies of many prominent people. Although some consistency in the satisfaction of needs undoubtedly exists, it cannot be considered the same for everyone.

There are three main levels of satisfaction of the needs of existence: 1) minimum, 2) normal, 3) luxury level. The minimum level of satisfaction of the needs of existence ensures the survival of man. The normal level provides the possibility of significant intellectual and spiritual needs. It is proposed to consider the level of luxury as such, in which the satisfaction of the needs of existence becomes an end in itself and (or) a means of demonstrating a high social status. After reaching normal(basic) level of satisfaction of the needs of existence, the needs of achieving the goals of life are formed. Depending on individual inclinations, abilities and claims, some people, after satisfying basic needs, will be dominated by the desire to maximize the consumption of material goods; for others - to spiritual perfection, etc. The structure of needs can change in the same person during different periods of his life.

The role theory of personality describes its social behavior using the concepts of "social status" and "social role". Each person in the social system occupies several positions. Each of these positions, which implies certain rights and obligations, is called a status. A person can have multiple statuses. But more often than not, only one determines his position in society. This status is called the main or integral. It often happens that this main status is due to his position (for example, director, professor). Social status is reflected both in external behavior and appearance (clothes, jargon, signs of professional affiliation, etc.), and in internal position (in attitudes, value orientations, motivations, etc.).

In sociology, social status is understood as an assessment of the objective position of a person or social group in a hierarchical system of social stratification. And usually the term is used when talking about an increase, an improvement in the position of an individual or a group, or vice versa, a decrease.

Social status is an objective and comprehensive description of a person's position in the social system, or, as Sorokin argued: "Social status is a place in social space." Each individual occupies one, the most important place in society, and has one main or general status, this is an assessment of his position in society as a whole. But a person is objectively included in various groups and communities, and together with them he also occupies a certain place in society, and in the crayfish of a group or community, his status and place may be different. The main status is determined primarily by his type of activity, because in the public consciousness any type of activity is characterized by income, therefore, by its material capabilities. But there are other statuses and provisions that are also important to consider.

Smelser gave such an example. For an American, race is of great importance. For us, it's less. Status may have an ethnic connotation. There is the status of the head of the family. A person is included in a mass of systems, interconnections and interdependencies and has different statuses. Each status, both main and non-main, implies a certain behavior of a person, which is expected from him in accordance with his status. The more people are included in public life, the more statuses it has. In addition to dividing statuses into main and non-main, there are 2 more types of statuses: prescribed and acquired. Prescribed - the status that a person receives at birth (often social status can also be prescribed, although a person's social position often changes with age). But most statuses are acquired. This is marital status, professional, including the main status. As a rule, people strive to acquire a status higher than they have.

If we consider a formalized status, then in it the behavior, actions of a person are predetermined by instructions, rules, laws (primarily professional status, civil status, etc.). There are professions and activities where the degree of formalization is high. There are completely unformalized statuses (the status of an informal leader in small groups).

In any status, and especially in a professional one, a person enters into different relationships with people, into different structures, and this is called social roles. Some statuses even imply a role set, a set of roles that a person plays within the framework of his status.

Each status involves from one to many roles, and any person has several statuses, plays even more social roles. A social role, like social status, creates a certain expectation of others for your behavior, and you act in accordance with this expectation.

There are also natural and professional-official statuses. The natural status of a person presupposes essential and stable characteristics of a person (man, woman, youth, old man, etc.). Professional and official status is the basic status of a person for an adult. It fixes the social, economic and professional position - for example, a banker, lawyer, engineer.

In any status, and especially in a professional one, a person enters into different relationships with people, into different structures, and this is called social roles. A social role is a set of actions that a person holding a given status in the social system must perform. Each status usually includes several roles. The set of roles arising from a given status is called a role set.

Each status implies that an individual has from one to many roles, but any person has several statuses and plays even more social roles. A social role, like social status, creates a certain expectation of others for your behavior, and you act within the appropriate framework of this expectation. The roles that each person plays are influenced by a number of circumstances:

The expectation of others

Personal qualities,

Traditions, specific features that develop in different social groups and communities.

One of the first attempts to systematize roles was made by Parsons. He believed that any role is described by five main characteristics:

Emotional - some roles require emotional restraint, others - looseness;

With the way of getting a role - some are prescribed, others are won;

Scale - part of the roles is formulated and strictly limited, the other is blurred;

Formalization - action in strictly established rules or arbitrarily;

Motivation - for personal profit, for the common good, etc.

Any role is characterized by some set of these five properties.

Role requirements (prescriptions, provisions and expectations of appropriate behavior) are embodied in specific social norms grouped around social status.

It should be noted that any role is not a pure model of behavior. The main link between role expectations and role behavior is the character of the personality, i.e. human behavior does not fit into a clean pattern. It is the result of a unique interpretation of the role by a particular person.

sociology institute status community city