What is social status - types and whether it can be increased. Types of social statuses

Social statuses and roles are important elements of the personality structure. The concepts of “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 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, under social status refers to the position (position) of an individual in society or a group associated with his rights and responsibilities. Selecting 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 obligations, which he possesses.

Social statuses are usually distinguished in a certain way.

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

1) with a person’s age ( age statuses)– a child, a teenager, a young man, a person of mature, old age;
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, a city dweller, a villager; a Siberian, a resident of the 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, the general director of a joint-stock company, a top manager of a trading company, the rector of a higher educational institution, the director of a lyceum.

Informal (informal) the status is not reflected in official documents. Typically, unofficial status positions develop in the process of interpersonal relationships in small groups, between friends, acquaintances, colleagues, and 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”, etc. d.

Highlight prescribed (ascriptive), 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, 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 oriented towards 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, 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 through patronage, thanks to various social connections.

In the totality of statuses it is customary to distinguish 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 is of predominant importance in the system of impersonal formal relationships, 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 incurring 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 enjoys is based on which social category he belongs to and how this category is valued in the system of social evaluation, 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 for this he has to go into debt.

The Chinese also talk about preserving " lian". 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 find himself in isolation. A person is unlikely to be forgiven if he is exposed in dishonesty, meanness, betrayal, if he is shown to have an unforgivable poverty of mind, an inability to keep his word. The preservation of “lian” is not related to social status, its affirmation depends personally on the person himself.

In the middle of the 20th century, Robert Merton introduced the term into scientific vocabulary "status set"(the term is used as a synonym for this concept "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, medium, low rank. By rank value, for example, the status positions of a top manager, middle or lower level manager differ.

When analyzing social statuses, you need to remember 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.”

Signs of social status

Note 1

The social position of an individual, his social status is determined by the existing system of social relations that characterize the place of the subject included in a given social structure. Such relationships in the course of practical joint activities of people are established for a long time and are objective in nature.

When determining social status, a multidimensional approach is most often used, which allows taking into account the whole variety of characteristics:

natural characteristics (age, gender);
ethnic relations;
a set of rights and obligations;
place in the hierarchy of political relations;
relations between individuals in the system of social division of labor;
economic criterion (property, financial situation, income level, family and living conditions, lifestyle, education, profession, qualifications);
distribution relations;
consumption relations;
prestige is an assessment by a social group or society of the social significance of the positions occupied by people, etc.

Different sociologists use their own combination of criteria to determine social groups of the population, and therefore groupings of individuals can occur in different ways.

Often social status is determined by the social functions performed by an individual when interacting with other people. Social status is divided by education, skills and abilities.

An important indicator of social status in modern society are such signs as:

scope of power,
level of income and education,
prestige of the profession in the field of municipal and public administration.

In the sociology of Western countries, a socio-economic index is popular, which includes measured characteristics:

the quality of education,
income level,
prestige of the profession.

Socio-demographic characteristics

The social status of an individual is established taking into account objective socio-demographic indicators, including:

age,
nationality,
education,
material conditions,
occupation,
Family status,
social status,
speciality,
social roles,
having a permanent place of residence,
citizenship.

Components of social status

The components characterizing social status include:

status rights and obligations - determine what a status holder can and should do;
status range - the designated framework within which status rights and obligations are realized;
status image - a set of ideas about the proper appearance and behavior of the status holder;
status symbols - certain external insignia that make it possible to distinguish between holders of different statuses;
status identification - determining the degree of compliance of an individual with status.

Signs of certain types of social status

There are a large number of different statuses, each of which has its own characteristic features.

Signs characterizing certain types of social statuses:

The most characteristic status for an individual is the main status. The main status determines the individual’s lifestyle; others identify him in accordance with his status.
The prescribed status is characterized by gender, age, race and nationality.
The achieved status is described by the following criteria: level of education, qualifications, professional achievements, title, position, career, socially prosperous marriage, etc. M. Weber identified three main indicators: power, prestige, wealth.
Social-administrative status is determined by a set of rights and responsibilities.
Personal status is characterized by individual qualities and properties.
Mixed social statuses are distinguished by the characteristics of both prescribed and achieved statuses, but achieved as a result of a confluence of certain circumstances.

Social status- social position occupied by a social individual or social group in society or a separate social subsystem of society. It is determined by characteristics specific to a particular society, which can be economic, national, age and other characteristics. Social status is characterized by power and/or material capabilities, less often by specific skills, charisma, and education.

Concept

The concept was first used in a sociological sense by the English historian and lawyer Henry Maine.

Social status is the place or position of an individual, correlated with the position of other people; this is the place of the individual in a hierarchically organized social structure, his objective position in it; it is an inexhaustible human resource that gives a person the opportunity to influence society and through it obtain privileged positions in the system of power and distribution of material wealth. Each person occupies a number of positions in society, each of which involves a number of rights and responsibilities. Social statuses are structural elements of the social organization of society, ensuring social connections between subjects of social relations. Society not only creates social positions - statuses, but also provides social mechanisms for distributing members of society into these positions.

Social status is the place that an individual occupies in the social system (society) and which is characterized by a certain set of rights and responsibilities.

Types of statuses

Each person, as a rule, has not one, but several social statuses. Sociologists distinguish:

natural status- the status received by a person at birth (gender, race, nationality, biological stratum). In some cases, birth status may change: the status of a member of the royal family is from birth and as long as the monarchy exists.
acquired (achieved) status- the status that a person achieves thanks to his mental and physical efforts (work, connections, position, post).
prescribed (attributed) status- a status that a person acquires regardless of his desire (age, status in the family); it can change over the course of his life. The prescribed status is either innate or acquired.

Criteria for determining the social status of a person or group

Most sociologists adhere to a multidimensional approach, taking into account such features as:

own
income level
Lifestyle
relations between people in the system of social division of labor
distribution relations
consumption relations
a person's place in the hierarchy of the political system
the level of education
ethnic origin, etc.

In addition, in sociology there is a so-called main status, i.e. the most characteristic status for a given individual, with which he identifies himself or with which other people identify him. It determines the style, lifestyle, circle of acquaintances, and behavior. For representatives of modern society, the main status is most often associated with professional activity.

Status incompatibility

Status incompatibility arises only under two circumstances:

when an individual occupies a high rank in one group and a low rank in the second;
when the rights and obligations of one status of a person contradict or interfere with the fulfillment of the rights and obligations of another status.

Social status

Each person occupies a certain position in society. This position in sociology is designated by the concept of status. This term was first used by an English historian G. Main , and it was introduced into sociology by the American sociologist R. Linton . When characterizing the social status of an individual, they usually indicate his rights and responsibilities, as well as his position in the social hierarchy.

Social status- this is a certain position in the social structure of society, connected with other positions through a system of rights and obligations. Social statuses are interconnected, but do not interact with each other. Only status holders, that is, people, interact and enter into relationships with each other. Each person has multiple statuses as he participates in multiple groups and organizations. The totality of all statuses occupied by one person is status set. Among the many social statuses, as a rule, one stands out, which determines a person’s position in society. This is called the main or integrated status. The main status is the most characteristic status for a given person, with which he is identified by other people or himself. The main status is relative, but it is what determines the style and lifestyle, social circle and behavior; for example, for men, the main status is usually determined by the place of work, profession or position. There are also social and personal statuses. If social is the position of a person in society, which he occupies as a representative of a large social group (profession, class, nationality, gender, age), then personal status is the position of an individual in a small group from the point of view of members of this group.

Social group- this is the position of an individual in society, which he occupies as a representative of a large social group (race, nation, gender, class, stratum, religion, profession, etc.). Personal status is the position of an individual in a small group (family, school class, student group, community of peers, etc.). Social group status depends on the position of a particular social group in the social stratification of society. Personal status is determined by the individual qualities of a person and depends on how she is assessed and perceived by members of a small group.

Sociologists distinguish prescribed (ascriptive) and acquired (achieved) statuses. The prescribed status is imposed by society, regardless of the efforts and merits of the individual, it is determined by ethnic origin, place of birth, family, and so on. The acquired status, that is, the achieved one, is determined by the efforts of the person himself; it is acquired by the individual as a result of free choice and targeted efforts.

Also highlighted natural and professional official status .

Natural status personality presupposes existing and relatively stable characteristics of a person. Professional and official status is the basic status of an individual. For an adult, it most often forms the basis of an integrated status; it records the socio-economic and production-technical position (banker, lawyer, engineer).

Social status denotes the specific place that a person occupies in a given social system. The totality of the requirements presented to an individual by society in accordance with his certain status forms the concept of a social role.

Social role- this is a set of actions that a person occupying a given status in the social system must perform. Thus, a social role is a model of behavior focused on a given status and characterized by prescribed rules of behavior (social norms).

Social roles and social norms relate to a system of interaction and describe the dynamics of society. And social statuses are associated with social relations and characterize the statics of society. Similar to the status set, there is also a role set - this is a set of roles that is associated with a certain status. A role set describes all types and diversity of roles (patterns of behavior) assigned to one status.

People identify themselves to varying degrees with their statuses and their corresponding roles. Sometimes they literally merge with their role and automatically transfer the stereotype of their behavior from one status to another. Thus, a woman who holds the position of boss at work, when she comes home, continues to communicate in a bossy tone with her husband and other loved ones. The maximum fusion of an individual with a role is called role identification.

But not all roles are identified equally by a person. Research shows that with personally significant roles (most often associated with the main status), identification is also carried out more often. Other roles are of no importance to a person. Often there is also distancing from the role, when a person deliberately behaves contrary to the requirements of norms and people's expectations.

Example: if a boss comes to work in a formal suit, he associates himself with the role; if he wears a tracksuit and allows his subordinates to call him by name, then this is distancing himself from the role. If a person does not play a role in accordance with expectations, then he enters into some kind of conflict with the group or society. For example, parents should take care of their children, a close friend should be concerned about our problems. If a parent does not show such care, then society condemns him; if we turn to a close friend for help or sympathy and do not receive it from him, then we are offended and may even break off relations with him.

The term “reduction of inter-status distance” characterizes the relationship between carriers of different, but functionally related statuses, for example, a boss - a subordinate. Each person has his own set of roles, but he does not identify with all roles in the same way. With some (socially significant) it is more intense, with others there is distancing from the role. Identification with a role or distancing from it was studied by great directors who created their own schools of acting: K. Stanislavsky, B. Brecht.

E. Bern In the acclaimed bestseller Games People Play, People Who Play Games takes a detailed look at how people perceive roles, identify with them, and shape their destinies based on their chosen roles. Some adapt the role to themselves, build their destiny themselves according to the principle “I am a hero, I am a prophet”, others adapt to the role - “amoeboid personality”.

Examples of a person's social status

Living in society, one cannot be free from it. Throughout life, a person comes into contact with a large number of other individuals and groups to which they belong. Moreover, in each of them he occupies his specific place. To analyze a person’s position in each group and society as a whole, concepts such as social status and social role are used. Let's take a closer look at what it is.

Meaning of the term and general characteristics

The word “status” itself dates back to Ancient Rome. Then it had more of a legal connotation, rather than a sociological one, and denoted the legal status of an organization.

Nowadays, social status is a person’s position in a particular group and society as a whole, endowing him with certain rights, privileges, as well as responsibilities in relation to other members.

It helps people interact better with each other. If a person of a certain social status does not fulfill his duties, then he will be held responsible for it. Thus, an entrepreneur who sews clothes to order will pay a penalty if the deadlines are missed. In addition, his reputation will be ruined.

Examples of the social status of one person are a schoolboy, son, grandson, brother, member of a sports club, citizen, and so on.

This is a certain characteristic of a person according to his professional qualities, financial and marital status, age, education and other criteria.

A person can simultaneously belong to several groups at once and, accordingly, play not one, but many different roles. That's why they talk about status sets. It is unique and individual for each person.

Types of social statuses, examples

Their range is quite wide. There are statuses received at birth, and others acquired during life. Those that society ascribes to a person, or those that he achieves through his own efforts.

The basic and passing social status of a person is distinguished. Examples: the main and universal one, in fact, is the person himself, then comes the second - this is the citizen. The list of main statuses also includes consanguinity, economic, political, and religious. The list goes on.

Episodic - a passerby, a patient, a strike participant, a buyer, an exhibition visitor. That is, such statuses for the same person can change quite quickly and repeat periodically.

Prescribed social status: examples

This is what a person receives from birth, biologically and geographically given characteristics. Until recently, it was impossible to influence them in any way and change the situation. Examples of social status: gender, nationality, race. These set parameters remain with a person for life. Although in our progressive society they have already taken aim at changing gender. So one of the listed statuses to some extent ceases to be prescribed.

Much of what is related would also be considered a prescribed species. This is father, mother, sister, brother. And husband and wife are already acquired statuses.

Achieved status

This is what a person achieves himself. By making efforts, making choices, working, studying, each individual ultimately comes to certain results. His successes or failures are reflected in the way society assigns him the status he deserves. Doctor, director, company president, professor, thief, homeless person, tramp.

Almost every achieved social status of an individual has its own insignia. Examples:

for the military, security forces, internal troops - uniform and shoulder straps;
doctors wear white coats;
people who have broken the law have tattoos on their bodies.

Roles in society

A person’s social status will help to understand how this or that object will behave. We constantly find examples and confirmation of this. Expectations in the behavior and appearance of an individual depending on his membership in a certain class are called social role.

Thus, the status of a parent obliges him to be strict but fair to his child, to bear responsibility for him, to teach, to give advice, to prompt, to help in difficult situations. The status of a son or daughter is, on the contrary, a certain subordination to parents, legal and material dependence on them.

But, despite some patterns of behavior, every person has a choice of what to do. Examples of social status and its use by an individual do not fit one hundred percent into the proposed framework. There is only a scheme, a certain template, which each individual implements according to his abilities and ideas.

It often happens that it is difficult for one person to combine several social roles. For example, a woman’s first role is mother, wife, and her second role is a successful businesswoman. Both roles require an investment of effort, time, and full dedication. A conflict arises.

An analysis of the social status of an individual and an example of his actions in life allow us to conclude that it reflects not only the internal position of a person, but also affects his appearance, manner of dressing and speaking.

Let's look at examples of social status and the standards associated with it in appearance. Thus, the director of a bank or the founder of a reputable company cannot appear at work in sweatpants or rubber boots. And the priest should come to church in jeans.

The status that a person has achieved forces him to pay attention not only to appearance and behavior, but also to choose his social circle, place of residence, and education.

Prestige

Not the least role in the destinies of people is played by such a concept as prestige (and positive, from the point of view of the majority, social status). We can easily find examples in the questionnaire that students of all high schools write before entering higher education institutions. They often make their choice based on the prestige of a particular profession. Nowadays, few boys dream of becoming an astronaut or pilot. And once upon a time it was a very popular profession. They choose between lawyers and financiers. This is how time dictates.

Conclusion: a person develops as an individual in the process of mastering different social statuses and roles. The brighter the dynamics, the more adapted to life the individual will become.

/ sociology

Non-state educational institution

Higher professional education

"University of the Russian Academy of Education"

Chelyabinsk branch

Faculty of Humanities

Department of Foreign Languages

Abstract on the topic:

"Social status and social role"

Performed: student gr. LP-131

Goncharenko Valentina

Checked by: Ermakov V.I.

Chelyabinsk

Introduction

1. Concept and definition of social status

2. Concept and definition of social role

Conclusion

Bibliography

Introduction

The topic “The concept of social status and social role” in this work was considered on the basis of a textbook edited by Professor A.G. Efendiev “General Sociology”, which provides an opportunity for an accessible (understandable) presentation of the fundamental analysis of the basic branch of social science - modern sociological science.

Every day we communicate and interact with various people and social groups (family, work team, etc.). It is difficult to imagine the same interaction in different social groups and with different people; of course, we behave differently, since in different interactions our position depends on relationships with others, we select behavior options, mastering, to one degree or another, the required qualities.

The world consists of many positions that are in constant self-renewing interactions. And entering this world, each person strives to establish himself in a certain social position. Let us consider how and to what extent the system of social interactions influences human behavior.

Each person, being included in the system of social interactions, must perform certain social functions: a teacher - to teach, a student - to study, an entrepreneur - to organize and manage production, etc.

To perform specific functions during social interactions, a person is assigned certain (functional) responsibilities; at the same time, a person is endowed with certain rights, privileges, and powers of authority. A person, performing a particular function, within the framework of a system of interactions occupies (or claims to) a certain social position - this position is called social status.

1. Concept and definition of social status

Status (from Lat. – position, condition)

E. Giddens: “ Status (status). Social recognition or prestige that a certain group of individuals receives from the rest of society. Status groups usually differ in their lifestyle - ways of behavior characteristic of individuals of this group. Status privileges can be both positive and negative.”

Social status is a characteristic of social position in a social system of interactions. Social status has an internally substantive side, a dispositional-spatial dimension, and an externally nominal form.

The presence of an internally substantive side means that social status characterizes what rights, responsibilities, privileges, and powers are assigned to those who perform a particular function.

Knowing these rights, the responsibilities of privileges, as well as with whom a person is obliged to interact, to whom he is subordinate, and who is subordinate to him, will help us determine the disposition (location) of a particular status in the coordinate system of a given social space.

The presence of an external nomination form means that the social status has its own nomination: teacher, doctor, president, artist, grandfather, grandson, etc. But in sociology, these nominations take on a different meaning, for example, the status of a daughter is a nomination not just of family ties, but also of a certain subordination to parents, the obligation to listen to their opinion, material, legal dependence on parents.

Therefore, in sociology, any social-positional name (position, profession, relationship position) is interpreted in unity with internally substantive aspects and receives a dispositional dimension (horizontally or vertically): what are the individual’s rights, responsibilities, dependencies, privileges, powers, to whom does he report, who obeys him and in what ways, etc.

Another characteristic of status is the status-role theory of personality. This is a corresponding theory that describes the social behavior of an individual. It was developed by American sociologists R. Minton, R. Merton, T. Parsons, and describes the social behavior of an individual with two main concepts: “social status” and “social role”. American researcher R. Linton, one of the authors of the concept of social status and social role, emphasized that for science the concept of “status” is inseparable from the concept of “role” - these are essentially two sides of the same coin. If status is a fixation of a certain social position (its content, dispositional, nomination aspects), i.e. status is static, then a role is a dynamic characteristic that determines how a person with a particular status should behave. In other words, status is a set of rights, privileges and responsibilities, while a role is an action within this set of rights and responsibilities.

Status, as a static characteristic at the same time, gives rise to many social problems and personal conflicts. People are not indifferent to their status; In an effort to gain a certain status, they experience their failures along the way quite deeply.

Since social statuses are unequal (located differently in the “coordinate system”). Depending on the position of social status in society relative to the position of other statuses, a person (individual) is given the opportunity to determine rights and responsibilities. For example, the status of parents arises only when the status of children exists.

Thus, a person is included in many social institutions, interacting with other people on various occasions, performing different functions each time.

The world of statuses is diverse; let’s consider only the typology.

Statuses can be formalized or informal.

The former, as a rule, are better secured and protected by law (the status of a factory director, city governor, etc.). A person occupying such a status has precisely defined rights, privileges, advantages and responsibilities. Such status arises within the framework of formal institutions, groups and has tangible advantages over informal statuses (the status of the leader of a group of friends, the informal leader of a team, etc.), which, as a rule, are diffuse in nature; they may or may not arise. Rights, obligations, and powers of this status are based not on laws or instructions, but on public opinion, which often makes them precarious. Hence the desire of people to be “protected” by formalized statuses - just as a scientist strives to confirm his qualifications with a scientific degree, title, in order to gain legal rights and privileges.

But besides them, there are many, so to speak, non-basic, episodic statuses, temporarily acquired by a person for the implementation of certain actions. These are the statuses of a pedestrian, passer-by, patient, witness, reader, listener, television viewer, participant in a demonstration, strike, crowd, etc. As a rule, these are temporary conditions. The rights and obligations of holders of such social statuses are often not registered in any way. They are generally difficult to detect, say, in a passerby. But they exist. Although they affect not the main, but the secondary traits of behavior and thinking. Thus, the status of a doctor of science determines a lot in the life of a given person, but his temporary status as a passer-by does not. Thus, a person has basic (determining his life) and non-basic (affecting the details of behavior) statuses.

Statuses can be prescribed (ascriptive) and achieved (acquired) statuses.

The prescribed (ascriptive) social status is determined by society, regardless of the efforts and merits of the individual. It is determined by ethnic origin, place of birth, family, etc. For example, a person born with black skin acquires the status of a Negro. Children who grew up in very wealthy (rich) families acquire the status of “golden youth”.

That is, the prescribed social status (together with all the rights, responsibilities and privileges), as a rule, is acquired from birth - nationality, gender, relationship status, age characteristics, etc. There may be other prescribed statuses - disabled. It is obvious that the prescribed social status can significantly influence a person's personality.

The achieved, acquired social status is determined by the efforts of the person himself, his actions (writer, director, academician, spouse, officer, emigrant), i.e. a status that requires special effort to achieve.

The example of an emigrant very clearly shows the principle of achieved status. A person who has emigrated (that is, who has made certain efforts and completed certain actions) to live in another country acquires the achieved status of an emigrant.

Some statuses combine prescribed and achieved elements. For example, obtaining a PhD in mathematics is an achievement. But once a new status is obtained, it remains forever, determining all the intentions and goals of a person as a prescribed status.

In a traditional society, whose social institutions are characterized by ascriptivity, the main statuses of society are ascriptive, inherited (and not achieved) in nature.

In such societies, ascriptivity, as the initial motivational principle, is recognized by all layers of society as the main basis for social status claims. And the king, and the shepherd, and the plowman, and the blacksmith consider their position justified and prepare their children to take their place.

The range and freedom of different statuses is an important characteristic of each status. Any individual decision regarding one’s own destiny consists in a constant choice of ways to overcome specific social inequality and in the desire to have appropriate conditions that ensure one’s competitiveness in life.

Social status, both providing certain rights and privileges, also imposes a significant number of obligations. With the help of statuses, relationships between people are ordered and regulated.

Inequality of statuses is subject to change, so in the 90s in our society there was a change in importance - some social statuses, such as qualifications, education, skill, creativity, and an increase in the importance of others, such as wealth, financial resources, the opportunity to “live beautifully” .

In modern society, achieved statuses acquire leading importance, the mastery of which is not inherited, but requires education and victory over competitors. Increasing the role of achieved statuses in the organization of social life means an increase in demand for energetic, competent people, an increase in the dynamics of social processes.

At the same time, a person sometimes achieves achieved status with the help of non-attainment principles; In this case, great importance is attached not to a person’s abilities and knowledge, but to his loyalty, personal devotion to the leader, and connections.

Traditionalist-ascriptive culture resists and forces social life to mimic, as a result of which statuses are attainable in form, and ascriptive motivations play the leading role in mastering them.

A person can have several statuses, but most often only one predetermines his position in society - the main status, which is reflected both in the external behavior and appearance of a person, and in his internal position.

It is a difficult task to determine the main status of a person, but it is the main status that primarily determines and, no less important, self-determines a person socially (“who am I, what have I achieved?”).

In most cases, the status of an individual associated with work or profession is of particular importance; property status can be of considerable importance. However, the signs listed above in an informal company of friends may be of secondary importance - here cultural level, education, and sociability can play a decisive role.

Consequently, one should distinguish between the basic, general hierarchy of personality statuses, which works in most situations in a given society, and the specific one, used in special conditions, for special people.

Having a specific hierarchy can lead to serious conflicts. The status of a person, defined by society as the main one for a given person, does not always coincide with the status, focusing on the generally accepted hierarchy, that the person himself considers to be the main one. For example, an entrepreneur, being confident that the main thing in his social characteristics is his property and financial status, encounters rejection by the highest circles, where he strives to get, due to other components, such as his “high birth”, level of education, and culture.

We can consider a place in the status hierarchy called rank. This is a place in the invisible hierarchy of social relations, characterized by public opinion, in which over time a hierarchy of statuses and social groups is developed, transmitted, supported, but, as a rule, no documents are recorded, where some are valued and respected more than others. Rank can be high, medium or low.

A highly paid official (high professional rank) will most likely have the same high family rank as a person who provides material wealth for the family. But it does not automatically follow from this that he will have high ranks in other groups - among friends, relatives, colleagues.

In addition to the main status, primarily associated with the profession, work (more precisely, its prestige), it is permissible to talk about a generalized status, otherwise called an index of social position, the value of which helps to make a holistic assessment of the social position of both one’s own and others in the system of social coordinates.

Often, the property status of an educated person elected to a high political post is immeasurably lower than the property status of those who quickly made a lot of money by engaging in economic scams, transactions, etc.

The social position index to some extent allows for a more comprehensive, comprehensive assessment of social position.

We can consider natural and professional-official social statuses.

The natural social status of an individual presupposes significant and relatively stable characteristics of a person (for example, woman, man, child, youth, old man, etc.)

Professional and official social status is the basic status of an individual, for an adult, most often, it is the basis of the acquired status. It records the social, economic, organizational and production position (banker, politician, teacher, technical director). The perception of management decisions made is associated with professional and official social status. Decisions that are identical in form and content can be perceived differently by subordinates (performers) depending on the authority and social status of the subject of the decision. The higher the social status and authority of the person (or governing body, colleague) making the decision, the more responsible the performer’s attitude to his instructions.

People have many social statuses, but the concept of “social status” also applies to profession. In this case, the concept of “social status” acts as a general indicator of the comparative position of a given profession among other professions.

The social status of a profession is characterized by official and (or) unofficial recognition of its necessity and popularity. There are two forms of profession status: economic and prestigious.

The economic component of the social status of a profession (economic status) depends, first of all, on the level of material remuneration expected when choosing and implementing a professional path (choice of profession, professional self-determination).

The prestigious component of the social status of a profession (prestigious status, prestige of the profession) is determined by the content (share of creative functions, creative character) of this type of work, the degree of popularity of the profession, and the possibility of personal self-realization (success, career). In socio-psychological terms, the fashion for “new professions” plays a certain role (sometimes significant) in establishing the prestige of a profession.

Statuses, entering into social relations not directly, but only indirectly (through their carriers), mainly determine the content and nature of social relations. A person views the world and treats others according to his status. The poor despise the rich, and the rich disdain the poor. Dog owners do not understand people who love cleanliness and order on their lawns. A professional investigator, although unconsciously, divides people into potential criminals, law-abiding and witnesses. A Ukrainian is more likely to show solidarity with a Ukrainian than with a Chinese or Tatar, and vice versa.

2. Concept and definition of social role

Role (French role) – the image embodied by the actor

A role is the expected behavior determined by a person’s status (Linton, cited in Merton, 1957).

A social role is an expectation (expectation) placed by society on an individual occupying a particular status. It does not depend on the personality itself, its desires, and exists, as it were, apart from and before the personality itself.

In other words: a social role is an expected pattern of behavior that corresponds to a certain social status and does not depend on the individual.

For each social role, behavioral characteristics are different. The limits are limited, but the very performance of the role of any status is a creative process. Children's status is usually subordinate to adults, who expect children to play subordinate roles. The status of soldiers is different from that of civilians; The role of soldiers is associated with risk and fulfillment of the oath, which cannot be said about other groups of the population.

Each social status usually includes a number of social roles. The set of roles corresponding to a given status is called a role set (R. Merton, 1957). So the teacher has one status, but the roles in relation to the head of the department and the student are different, i.e. with one status you can have many roles. Talcott Parsons introduced the concept of role pluralism. This is a combination of important long-term roles and temporary, situational roles.

An equally important problem is learning roles. Roles are learned through the process of socialization, and their number is constantly increasing.

Socialization is a fairly broad process that includes both the acquisition of skills, abilities, knowledge, and the formation of values, ideals, norms and principles of social behavior.

In early childhood, a person plays one role - a child who is taught certain rules of the game. Then the role of a kindergarten student and a member of the primary social group for playing together, spending time, relaxing, etc. is added to it. In the future, the child plays the role of a student, a member of a youth group, a participant in social activities, and a member of various interest groups.

Returning to the fact that each individual can have a large number of statuses, and those around him have the right to expect him to fulfill roles in accordance with these statuses. In this sense, status and role are two sides of the same phenomenon: if status is a set of rights, privileges and responsibilities, then a role is an action within the framework of this set of rights and responsibilities.

The social role consists of:

Role expectations and

Role-playing (games).

Note that there is no complete coincidence between role expectation and role performance. The quality of role performance depends on many conditions, among which the conformity of the role with the needs, interests and individual qualities of the individual is crucial.

Role expectations can be formal or informal. The most striking example of formal role expectations is laws. For example, the law on criminal liability for actions causing harm to other people. Other expectations, less formal, such as table manners, dress code, and politeness, are informal but also have a strong impact on our behavior.

Our roles are determined by what others expect of us. In our society (and most others), it is expected that parents should take care of their children, that an employee should do the work assigned to him, that close friends care about our problems. If there is a failure to perform a role according to our expectations, role conflict arises. The discrepancy between role expectations and role performance, the contradiction of role expectations of several roles (at least two) causes the emergence of role conflict. For example, parents and peers expect different behavior from a teenager, and he, playing the roles of son and friend, cannot simultaneously meet their expectations. Even more often, this conflict - a mismatch of roles - accompanies the life of an adult.

When a person’s actions correspond to role expectations, he receives social rewards (money, respect); failure to meet role expectations entails punishment (deprivation of material benefits, freedom, public attention, etc.). Rewards and punishments combined are called sanctions. Whether applied by one or more interacting individuals or by others, sanctions reinforce rules that determine what behavior is appropriate in a given situation (Goode, 1960).

Social roles can be institutionalized or conventional. Institutionalized: institution of marriage, family (social roles of mother, daughter, wife)

Conventional: accepted by agreement (a person can refuse to accept them).

Cultural norms are learned primarily through role learning. For example, a person who masters the role of a military man becomes familiar with the customs, moral norms and laws characteristic of the status of this role. Only a few norms are accepted by all members of society; the acceptance of most norms depends on the status of a particular individual.

What is acceptable for one status is unacceptable for another. Thus, socialization as the process of learning generally accepted ways and methods of actions and interactions is the most important process of learning role behavior, as a result of which the individual truly becomes a part of society.

The types of social roles are determined by the variety of social groups, types of activities and relationships in which the individual is included. Depending on social relations, social and interpersonal social roles are distinguished.

Social roles are associated with social status, profession or type of activity (teacher, student, student, salesperson). These are standardized impersonal roles, built on the basis of rights and responsibilities, regardless of who plays these roles. There are socio-demographic roles: husband, wife, daughter, son, grandson... Man and woman are also social roles, biologically predetermined and presupposing specific modes of behavior, enshrined in social norms and customs.

Interpersonal roles are associated with interpersonal relationships that are regulated at the emotional level (leader, offended, neglected, family idol, loved one, etc.).

In life, in interpersonal relationships, each person acts in some dominant social role, a unique social role as the most typical individual image, familiar to others. Changing a habitual image is extremely difficult both for the person himself and for the perception of the people around him. The longer a group exists, the more familiar the dominant social roles of each group member become to those around them and the more difficult it is to change the behavior pattern habitual to those around them.

Characteristics of roles

An attempt to systematize social roles was made by Talcott Parsons and his colleagues (1951). They believed that any role could be described using five basic characteristics:

1. Emotionality.

2. Method of receipt.

3. Scale.

4. Formalization.

5. Motivation

1. Emotionality. Some roles (for example, a nurse, a doctor, or a funeral home owner) require emotional restraint in situations that are usually accompanied by intense expression of feelings (we are talking about illness, suffering, death). Family members and friends are expected to show less reserved expressions of feelings.

2. Method of receipt. Some roles are conditioned by prescribed statuses - for example, child, youth or adult citizen; they are determined by the age of the person playing the role. Other roles are won; When we talk about a doctor of medicine, we mean a role that is not achieved automatically, but as a result of the individual’s efforts.

3. Scale. Some roles are limited to strictly defined aspects of human interaction. For example, the doctor and patient roles are limited to issues that directly relate to the patient's health. A broader relationship is established between a small child and his mother or father; Each parent is concerned about many aspects of their child’s life.

4. Formalization. Some roles involve interacting with people according to set rules. For example, a librarian is obliged to issue books for a certain period of time and demand a fine for each day of overdue from those who delay the books. When performing other roles, you may receive special treatment from those with whom you have a personal relationship. For example, we do not expect a brother or sister to pay us for a service rendered to them, although we might accept payment from a stranger.

What is the social status of an individual and how is it determined?

Social status is the position occupied by an individual or a social group in society or a separate subsystem of society. It is determined by characteristics specific to a particular society, which can be economic, national, age and other characteristics. Social status is divided according to skills, abilities, and education.

Alekss alekss

It is determined by your attitude in society - that is, by your position,
how will you define yourself in this big world of “adults” that you have entered...
do you think you are unique?
May be.. .
it may not be.. .
you are not the center of the earth, and there are the same ugly and handsome people around... .
the same people... and so we all have to live together in one lake

Status - it is a specific position in the social structure of a group or society, connected to other positions through a system of rights and responsibilities.

Sociologists distinguish two types of status: personal and acquired. Personal status is the position of a person that he occupies in the so-called small, or primary, group, depending on how his individual qualities are assessed in it. On the other hand, in the process of interaction with other individuals, each person performs certain social functions that determine his social status.

Social status is the general position of an individual or social group in society, associated with a certain set of rights and obligations. Social statuses can be prescribed and acquired (achieved). The first category includes nationality, place of birth, social origin, etc., the second - profession, education, etc.

In any society there is a certain hierarchy of statuses, which represents the basis of its stratification. Certain statuses are prestigious, others are the opposite. Prestige is society’s assessment of the social significance of a particular status, enshrined in culture and public opinion. This hierarchy is formed under the influence of two factors:

a) the real usefulness of the social functions that a person performs;

b) a value system characteristic of a given society.

If the prestige of any statuses is unreasonably overestimated or, conversely, underestimated, it is usually said that there is a loss of balance of statuses. A society in which there is a similar tendency to lose this balance is unable to ensure its normal functioning. Authority must be distinguished from prestige. Authority is the degree to which society recognizes the dignity of an individual, a particular person.

The social status of an individual primarily influences his behavior. Knowing the social status of a person, you can easily determine most of the qualities that he possesses, as well as predict the actions that he will carry out. Such expected behavior of a person, associated with the status that he has, is usually called a social role. A social role actually represents a certain pattern of behavior recognized as appropriate for people of a given status in a given society. In fact, the role provides a model showing exactly how an individual should act in a given situation. Roles vary in degree of formalization: some are very clearly defined, for example in military organizations, others are very vague. A social role can be assigned to a person either formally (for example, in a legislative act), or it can also be of an informal nature.

Any individual is a reflection of the totality of social relations of his era.

Therefore, each person has not one but a whole set of social roles that he plays in society. Their combination is called the role system. Such a variety of social roles can cause internal conflict of the individual (if some of the social roles contradict each other).

Scientists offer various classifications of social roles. Among the latter, as a rule, there are the so-called main (basic) social roles. These include:

a) the role of a worker;

b) the role of the owner;

c) the role of the consumer;

d) the role of a citizen;

d) the role of a family member.

However, despite the fact that the behavior of an individual is largely determined by the status that he occupies and the roles that he plays in society, he (the individual) nevertheless retains his autonomy and has a certain freedom of choice. And although in modern society there is a tendency towards unification and standardization of personality, its complete leveling, fortunately, does not occur. An individual has the opportunity to choose from a variety of social statuses and roles offered to him by society, those that allow him to better realize his plans and use his abilities as effectively as possible. A person’s acceptance of a particular social role is influenced by both social conditions and his biological and personal characteristics (health status, gender, age, temperament, etc.). Any role prescription outlines only a general pattern of human behavior, offering the choice of ways for the individual to carry it out.

In the process of achieving a certain status and fulfilling the corresponding social role, a so-called role conflict may arise. Role conflict is a situation in which a person is faced with the need to satisfy the demands of two or more incompatible roles.

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Social status, its features and types.

Social status- the position occupied by an individual or a social group in society or a separate subsystem of society. It is determined by characteristics specific to a particular society, which can be economic, national, age and other characteristics. Social status is divided according to skills, abilities, and education.

Types of statuses

Each person, as a rule, has not one, but several social statuses. Sociologists distinguish:

· natural status- the status a person received at birth (gender, race, nationality). In some cases, birth status may change: the status of a member of the royal family is from birth and as long as the monarchy exists.

· acquired (achieved) status- status that a person achieves through his own efforts (position, post).

· prescribed (attributed) status- a status that a person acquires regardless of his desire (age, status in the family); it can change over the course of his life. The prescribed status is either innate or acquired.

· Features of social status

· Status - this is a social position that includes a given type of profession, economic status, political leanings, and demographic characteristics. For example, the status of citizen I.I. Ivanov is defined as follows: “salesman” is a profession, “a wage worker receiving an average income” is an economic trait, “a member of the LDPR” is a political characteristic, “a man aged 25” is a demographic quality.

· Each status as an element of the social division of labor contains a set of rights and obligations.

Rights mean what a person can freely allow or allow in relation to other people. Responsibilities prescribe the status holder with some necessary actions: in relation to others, at his workplace, etc. Responsibilities are strictly defined, recorded in rules, instructions, regulations, or enshrined in custom. Responsibilities limit behavior to certain limits and make it predictable. For example, the status of a slave in the ancient world implied only duties and did not contain any rights. In a totalitarian society, rights and responsibilities are asymmetrical: the ruler and senior officials have maximum rights and minimum responsibilities; Ordinary citizens have many responsibilities and few rights. In our country during Soviet times, many rights were proclaimed in the constitution, but not all of them could be realized. In a democratic society, rights and responsibilities are more symmetrical. We can say that the level of social development of a society depends on how the rights and responsibilities of citizens are related and respected.

· It is important that the duties of an individual presuppose his responsibility for their high-quality implementation.

Thus, a tailor is obliged to sew a suit on time and with high quality; if this is not done, he must be punished somehow - pay a penalty or be fired. The organization is obliged under the contract to supply products to the customer, otherwise it incurs losses in the form of fines and penalties. Even in Ancient Assyria there was such a procedure (fixed in the laws of Hammurabi): if an architect built a building that subsequently collapsed and crushed the owner, the architect was deprived of his life.

This is one of the early and primitive forms of manifestation of responsibility. Nowadays, the forms of manifestation of responsibility are quite diverse and are determined by the culture of society and the level of social development. In modern society, rights, freedoms and responsibilities are determined by social norms, laws, and traditions of society.

· Thus, status- the position of an individual in the social structure of society, which is connected with other positions through a system of rights, duties and responsibilities.

· Since each person participates in many groups and organizations, he can have many statuses. For example, the mentioned citizen Ivanov is a man, a middle-aged man, a resident of Penza, a salesman, a member of the LDPR, an Orthodox Christian, a Russian, a voter, a football player, a regular visitor to a beer bar, a husband, a father, an uncle, etc. In this set of statuses that any person has, one is the main, key one. The main status is the most characteristic for a given individual and is usually associated with his main place of work or occupation: “salesman”, “entrepreneur”, “researcher”, “bank director”, “worker at an industrial enterprise”, “housewife”, etc. P. The main thing is the status that determines the financial situation, and therefore the lifestyle, the circle of acquaintances, and the manner of behavior.

· Specified(natural, prescribed) status determined by gender, nationality, race, i.e. characteristics given biologically, inherited by a person against his will and consciousness. Advances in modern medicine make some statuses changeable. Thus, the concept of biological sex, socially acquired, appeared. With the help of surgical operations, a man who has played with dolls since childhood, dressed like a girl, thought and felt like a girl, can become a woman. He finds his true gender, to which he was psychologically predisposed, but did not receive it at birth. Which gender - male or female - should be considered natural in this case? There is no clear answer. Sociologists also find it difficult to determine what nationality a person whose parents are of different nationalities belongs to. Often, when moving to another country as children, emigrants forget old customs and their native language and are practically no different from the native inhabitants of their new homeland. In this case, biological nationality is replaced by socially acquired nationality.

The status-role concept was developed in the works of American sociologists J. Mead And R. Minton .

The role theory of personality describes its social behavior with two main concepts: “social status” and “social role.”

So, according to this concept, each person occupies a certain place in society.

This place is determined by a number of social positions that imply the presence of certain rights and responsibilities.

It is these positions that are the social statuses of a person. Each person has several social statuses at the same time. However, one of the statuses is always the main or basic one. As a rule, the basic status expresses the position of a person.

Social status- an integral indicator of the social status of an individual, social group, covering profession, qualifications, position, nature of the work performed, financial situation, political affiliation, business connections, age, marital status, etc.

In sociology, there is a classification of social statuses into prescribed and acquired.

Prescribed status- this is a person’s position in society, occupied by him regardless of personal merit, but imposed by the social environment.

Most often, ascribed status reflects a person's innate qualities (race, gender, nationality, age).

Acquired status- This is a position in society achieved by the person himself.

However, a person can also have a mixed status, which combines both types.

A striking example of mixed status is marriage.

In addition to these types, natural and professional-official statuses are also distinguished.

Natural status of personality- a person’s place in the system of social relations, determined by the essential and relatively stable characteristics of a person.

Professional and official status is a social indicator that records the social, economic and production position of a person in society. Thus, social status denotes the specific place that an individual occupies in a given social system.

The concept of “social role” is closely related to the concept of “social status”.

Social role- this is a set of actions that a person occupying a given status in the social system must perform.

Moreover, each status involves performing not one, but several roles. A set of roles, the fulfillment of which is prescribed by one status, is called a role set. Obviously, the higher a person’s position in society, that is, the greater his social status, the more roles he performs.

Thus, the difference in the role set of the President of the state and the worker of a metal rolling plant is quite obvious. The systematization of social roles was first developed by Parsons, who identified five bases by which a particular role can be classified:

1) emotionality, that is, some roles involve a wide manifestation of emotionality, others, on the contrary, require its containment;

2) method of obtaining- depending on the type of status, they can be prescribed or achieved by the person independently;

3) scale- the scope of authority of one role is clearly established, while that of others is uncertain;

4) regulation- some roles are strictly regulated, such as the role of a civil servant, some are blurred (the role of a man);

5) motivation- performing a role for one’s own benefit or for the public good.

The implementation of a social role can also be viewed from several angles.

On the one hand, this is a role expectation, which is characterized by a certain behavior of a person depending on his status, which is expected by surrounding members of society.

On the other hand, this is role performance, which is characterized by the real behavior of a person, which he considers to be correlated with his status.

It should be noted that these two role aspects are not always the same. Moreover, each of them plays a huge role in determining a person’s behavior, since social expectations have a strong impact on a person.

The normal structure of a social role usually has four elements:

1) description of the type of behavior corresponding to this role;

2) instructions (requirements) associated with this behavior;

3) assessment of the performance of the prescribed role;

4) sanctions - the social consequences of a particular action within the framework of the requirements of the social system. Social sanctions can be moral in nature, implemented directly by a social group through its behavior (contempt), or legal, political, or environmental.

no role is a pure model of behavior. The main link between role expectations and role behavior is the character of the individual. That is, the behavior of a particular person does not fit into a pure scheme.

Anastasia Stepantsova

Another result of socialization is the acquisition of different statuses by people, i.e. certain positions in society. There are statuses social And private.

Social status- this 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. (student, pensioner, director, wife).

Depending on the role played by the individual himself in acquiring his status, two main types of social status are distinguished: prescribed And reached.

Prescribed status- this is one that is received from birth, by inheritance or by coincidence of life circumstances, regardless of the desire, will and efforts of a person (gender, nationality, race, etc.).

Achieved status– a status that is acquired thanks to the will and efforts of the individual himself (education, qualifications, position, etc.).

Personal status- this is a person’s position in a small (or primary) group, determined by how others treat him. (hardworking, diligent, friendly).

Also highlighted natural And professional and official statuses.

Natural status personality presupposes significant and relatively stable characteristics of a person (men and women, childhood, youth, maturity, old age, etc.).

Professional official- this is the basic status of the individual, for an adult it is most often the basis of the integral status. It records the social, economic, production and technical situation (banker, engineer, lawyer, etc.).

Social status denotes the specific place that an individual occupies in a given social system. Thus, it can be noted that social statuses are structural elements of the social organization of society, ensuring social connections between subjects of social relations. These relationships, 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 subjects of social relations, established in relation to the social functions provided, 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 presented in the form of 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 distributing members of society into these positions. The relationship between social statuses prescribed by society to an individual, regardless of effort and merit (prescribed positions), and statuses, the replacement of which depends on the person himself (achieved positions), is an essential characteristic of the social organization of society. Prescribed social statuses are predominantly those whose replacement occurs automatically, due to a person’s birth and in connection with such characteristics as gender, age, kinship, race, caste, etc.

The correlation 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 corresponding structure of social status. The personal qualities of individuals and individual examples of social advancement in general do not change this fundamental situation.

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Meaning of the term and general characteristics

The word “status” itself dates back to Ancient Rome. Then it had more of a legal connotation, rather than a sociological one, and denoted the legal status of an organization.

Nowadays, social status is a person’s position in a particular group and society as a whole, giving him certain rights, privileges, as well as responsibilities in relation to other members.

Examples of the social status of one person are a schoolboy, son, grandson, brother, member of a sports club, citizen, and so on.

This is based on his professional qualities, material and age, education and other criteria.

Types of social statuses, examples

Their range is quite wide. There are statuses received at birth, and others acquired during life. Those that society ascribes to a person, or those that he achieves through his own efforts.

Episodic - a passerby, a patient, a strike participant, a buyer, an exhibition visitor. That is, such statuses for the same person can change quite quickly and repeat periodically.

Prescribed social status: examples

Most of what is related to kinship relationships will also be considered as prescribed father, mother, sister, brother. And husband and wife are already acquired statuses.

Achieved status

Almost everyone who achieves has their own insignia. Examples:

for the military, security forces, internal troops - uniform and shoulder straps;
doctors wear white coats;
people who have broken the law have tattoos on their bodies.

Roles in society

It often happens that it is difficult for one person to combine several social roles. For example, a woman’s first role is a mother, wife, and her second role is a successful businesswoman. Both roles require an investment of effort, time, and full dedication. A conflict arises.

The status that a person has achieved forces him to pay attention not only to appearance and behavior, but also to choose his social circle, place of residence, and education.

Prestige

Not the least role in the destinies of people is played by such a concept as prestige (and positive, from the point of view of the majority, social status). We can easily find examples in the questionnaire that all students write before entering higher education institutions. They often make their choice based on the prestige of a particular profession. Nowadays, few boys dream of becoming an astronaut or pilot. And once upon a time it was a very popular profession. They choose between lawyers and financiers. This is how time dictates.

Conclusion: a person develops as an individual in the process of mastering different social statuses and roles. The brighter the dynamics, the more adapted to life the individual will become.