Social status as well. Social role and social status. Resolving internal conflicts

And accordingly, the owner of many different statuses. The entire set of human statuses is called status set. The status that the person himself or those around him consider to be the main one is called main status. This is usually a professional or family status or status in the group where the person achieved the greatest success.

Statuses are divided into prescribed(obtained by birth) and achieved(which are purchased purposefully). The freer a society, the less important the prescribed statuses become and the more important the achieved ones.

A person can have different statuses. For example, his status set could be: man, unmarried, candidate technical sciences, specialist in computer programming, Russian, city dweller, Orthodox, etc. A number of statuses (Russian, man) were received by him from birth - these are prescribed statuses. He acquired a number of other statuses (candidate of sciences, programmer) after putting some effort into it - these are achieved statuses. Let's assume that this person identifies himself primarily as a programmer; therefore, programmer is his main status.

Social prestige of a person

The concept of status is usually associated with the concept of prestige.

Social prestige - this is a public assessment of the significance of the position that a person occupies in.

The higher the prestige of a person’s social position, the higher he is valued social status. For example, the professions of economist or lawyer are considered prestigious; education received in good educational institution; high post; specific place of residence (capital, city center). If they talk about the high importance not of a social position, but specific person and his personal qualities, in this case they mean not prestige, but authority.

Social role

Social status is a characteristic of a person’s inclusion in the social structure. IN real life a person's status is manifested through the roles he plays.

Social role represents a set of requirements that society places on individuals occupying a specific social position.

In other words, if someone occupies a certain position in society, they will be expected to behave accordingly.

A priest is expected to behave in accordance with high moral standards, while a rock star is expected to act scandalously. If a priest begins to behave scandalously, and a rock star begins to read sermons, this will cause bewilderment, dissatisfaction and even condemnation of the public.

In order to feel comfortable in society, we must expect people to fulfill their roles and act within the rules prescribed by society: a university teacher will teach us scientific theories, not; the doctor will think about our health, not his earnings. If we did not expect others to fulfill their roles, we would be unable to trust anyone and our lives would be filled with hostility and suspicion.

Thus, if social status is a person’s position in social structure society with certain rights and responsibilities, then a social role is the functions performed by a person in accordance with his status: the behavior that is expected from the holder of this status.

Even with the same social status, the nature of the roles performed can vary significantly. This is due to the fact that the performance of roles is personal, and the roles themselves may have different variants execution. For example m with r. the owner of such a social status as the father of the family can treat the child in a demanding and strict manner (play his role in an authoritarian manner), can build relationships in the spirit of cooperation and partnership (democratic style of behavior) or can let events take their course, giving the child a wide degree of freedom (permissive style). In exactly the same way, different theater actors will play the same role in completely different ways.

Throughout life, a person's position in the social structure may change. As a rule, these changes are associated with a person’s transition from one social group to another: from unskilled workers to specialists, from rural residents to city dwellers, etc.

Features of social status

Status - it is a social position that includes a profession of this type, economic situation, political preferences, 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, “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 afford 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 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 individual’s duties presuppose his responsibility for their high-quality fulfillment. 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 individual’s position in, 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, native language and are practically no different from the indigenous inhabitants of their new homeland. In this case, biological nationality is replaced by socially acquired nationality.

New Status is a status that a person receives under certain conditions. Thus, the eldest son of an English lord after his death inherits this status. The kinship system has a whole set of acquired statuses. If innate statuses express consanguinity (“son”, “daughter”, “sister”, “brother”, “nephew”, “uncle”, “grandmother”, “grandfather”, “aunt”, “cousin”), then non-consanguineous ones relatives have acquired status. So, having married, a person can receive all his wife’s relatives as relatives. “Mother-in-law,” “father-in-law,” “sister-in-law,” “brother-in-law” are acquired statuses.

Achieved status - socially acquired by a person thanks to own efforts, desire, luck. Thus, a person acquires the status of a manager through education and perseverance. The more democratic a society is, the more statuses are achieved in the society.

Different statuses have their own insignia (symbols). In particular, the uniform of the military sets them apart from the masses civilian population; In addition, each military rank has its own differences: a private, a major, a general have different badges, shoulder straps, and headdresses.

Status image, or image, is a set of ideas about how a person should behave in accordance with his status. To correspond to a status image, a person must “not allow himself too much,” in other words, look the way others expect of him. For example, the president cannot oversleep a meeting with the leader of another country, university professors cannot sleep drunk in the entrance, as this does not correspond to their status image. There are situations when a person undeservedly tries to be “on an equal footing” with a person who has a different rank status, which leads to the manifestation of familiarity (amicoshonism), i.e. unceremonious, cheeky attitude.

Differences between people due to ascribed status are noticeable to varying degrees. Typically, each person, as well as a group of people, strives to take a more profitable position. social status. Under certain circumstances, a flower seller can become the deputy prime minister of the country, a millionaire. Others do not succeed because their assigned status (gender, age, nationality) interferes.

At the same time, some social strata are trying to improve their status by uniting in movements (women's movements, organizations such as the “union of entrepreneurs”, etc.) and lobbying their interests everywhere. However, there are factors that hinder attempts separate groups change your status. These include ethnic tensions, attempts by other groups to maintain the status quo, lack of strong leaders, etc.

Thus, under social status in sociology, we understand the position that a person (or social group) occupies in society. Since each person is a member of various, he is the owner of many statuses (i.e. the bearer of some status set). Each of the existing statuses is associated with a set of rights that determine what the status holder can afford, and obligations that prescribe the fulfillment concrete actions. In general, status can be defined as the position of an individual in the social structure of society, connected with other positions through a system of rights, duties and responsibilities.

Instructions

Pay attention to the clothes. As a rule, people with high social status oh, they dress in quite expensive stores, but at the same time their image does not scream about their financial situation. Everything is quite laconic, restrained, and tasteful.

Look at your wrists: an important factor that helps determine social status person is the presence of a watch. And not just their presence, but their brand and price. The same rule applies here as in previous paragraphs: the more expensive and authoritative, the higher the person’s position in.

Pay attention to the gestures of the person you are interested in. The more confident and laconic they are, the more power accumulates in his hands.

Manners are also worth noting. The rules must be strictly followed by people with high social status om and are often neglected by people belonging to lower social strata..

Look at the man's car. However, if the subject you are interested in drives an economy car, you should not immediately draw a conclusion about his social status e. Pay attention to the brand. BMV, Lexus and similar cars are often chosen by wealthy people.

You can also pay attention to your wallet. If it is cheap, then with a high probability we can say that in front of you is a person with a low social status ohm The opposite is evidenced by wallets with no compartment for coins.

Mark various accessories, such as a tie, cufflinks, etc. Pay attention to the pen the person is using. Both and those with high social status, they prefer metal and gold-plated handles to plastic handles.

Video on the topic

The status of a low-income family gives the right to a certain list of benefits and subsidies. Help with purchasing housing, preferential waiting lists for kindergartens, free trips to camps and simply one-time cash benefits - full list depends on the region of residence. There is one condition for receiving all these benefits: the income for each family member must be below the minimum established in a particular region.

You will need

- passports of adult family members;
- Marriage certificate;
- birth certificates of children;
- certificate of income drawn up according to the form;
- certificate of family composition;
- savings book.

Instructions

First, calculate your verified income and your spouse's income and divide it by the number of people in your family. If the resulting figure is lower than that established in your region, your family has every right to obtain status. Please note that you must work or be registered with the Employment Center. The exception is women who are caring for a child. If one of the parents does not have a valid reason, the family cannot qualify for low-income status.

Contact your district office social protection population. You can also get a list here necessary documents. Take a certificate form for the last three months to fill it out in the accounting department of your company. Please note that the certificate must be drawn up strictly according to the form; If it does not comply, the documents will not be accepted.

If you are registered with the Employment Center, obtain the appropriate certificate there. You must attach your work book to it. Request from the Unified Registration Center. Make copies of your marriage and children's birth certificates. Do not forget to register a savings book - it will be credited.

WITH complete package documents go to the Social Security Administration. Complete the application according to the template available on the department’s information boards. Please attach income certificates, originals and copies of passports, marriage and birth certificates, family composition certificates and a passbook to your application.

Find out which office you should contact. After submitting your documents, ask what certificates, when and where you can get them. Please note that different certificates can be issued in different offices. Don’t hesitate to immediately clarify any unclear points so that you don’t have to come back for the same question several times.

note

If you decide to apply for low-income family status, do not delay the process. Please note that some documents have a limited validity period.

Sources:

what documents do you need for a low-income family?

Social role is a model of behavior set by the social position of an individual in the prism of social, public and personal relationships. In other words, it is the behavior that is expected of you under certain conditions. Often several patterns of behavior collide social behavior, whose requirements conflict and contradict each other. Define social role possible after analyzing some details of behavior.

Instructions

Social roles are determined by several factors. The first of them is social. Types of roles can be: passerby, buyer, client. Define this role you can ask the question: “Who am I?” (or “Who is he/she?”).

Video on the topic

note

When communicating with a person, you need to take into account not only the prevailing social role (usually profession), but also others. This look helps to achieve optimal mutual understanding and sympathy of the interlocutor.

Society can be divided into levels, each of which is occupied by people with a certain status. This or that position on the social ladder leaves its mark on appearance a person, his manners, the type of activity he is engaged in, the breadth of needs. There are many more “signals” that make it possible to determine one’s social position.

Actually social statuses.

They do not exist in nature, they appear only in society. These include: economic, professional, political, cultural (including religious), territorial, etc.

Economic status is a status that we receive regardless of education, but thanks to the place occupied by this status in the economic system of division of labor (owner, wage worker, tenant, creditor).

Political status - we understand it as belonging to the state administrative apparatus or political associations (parties, movements). This status is aimed at retaining and efficient use authorities.

Professional status - any status for which one must undergo long-term or short-term training (for a single country the norm is about 40 thousand professional statuses).

Statuses in the field of culture consist of four basic spheres (elements): science, education, art, religion.

Territorial statuses. Citizens and people living in the village differ in their standard of living. Also territorial statuses are received by: migrants, emigrants, tourists, refugees, people without a specific place of residence.

Don't be confused! Private status and social status is not the same thing. If the social division of labor is responsible for the formation of social statuses, then personal ones are the result of the distribution of roles in a small group.

Personal (interpersonal) status– this is a person’s position in a family, sports team, brigade, circle of friends, etc., i.e. in a small group. It is acquired through individual qualities or merits and exists only in a narrow circle of people. Leader, outsider, life of the party or bore are examples of interpersonal statuses. Only his acquaintances know this side of a person.

Social status a person finds in a wide circle strangers through participation in public life. Some statuses (general, Orthodox, etc.) apply to the entire community of people. They are determined by the place of the individual in the social structure of society.

Social status in in the narrow sense- this is the position of a person that he automatically occupies as a representative of a large social group (professional, class, national). Until recently, blacks in the USA and South Africa were considered lower in social status than whites. As a result, any black person - talented or not, virtuous or evil - was treated with disdain. Personal qualities took a back seat to national ones. On the contrary, the merits and advantages of a white person were exaggerated in advance: when meeting someone or finding a job, they trusted him more. Another example is prejudice against women. Conventional wisdom believes that she will cope with leadership work worse than a man precisely because she is a woman.

The differences between the two types of statuses - social and personal - are clearly visible in the following example: eldest son and favorite son. This different statuses. The status of “favorite son” is the position of a relative specific family. In this family he is the favorite son. And in another, he is not loved at all, and in society he is not a favorite son. But the position of “eldest son” is a public or social characteristic.

What is "eldest son"? Depending on what rights and what responsibilities the “eldest son” status is given in each culture, the economic, political and social regime of a given society is structured differently.

Each of us has a set of social and personal statuses as we participate in many large and small groups. The latter include families, a circle of relatives and friends, a sports team, classroom, student group, hobby club, youth party. In them you can have high, medium or low status, that is, be a leader, independent, outsider.

So, for example: doctor N. has a high professional status, since his specialty is prestigious, but in the karate sports section, where he practices twice a week, he is treated as an outsider. Thus, social and personal statuses may or may not coincide.

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 takes whole line positions in society, each of which involves a number of rights and responsibilities. Social statuses are structural elements social organization companies providing social connections between subjects social relations. Society not only creates social positions - statuses, but also provides social mechanisms distribution of members of society among these positions.

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- the 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.

Status incompatibility

Status incompatibility occurs 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 person's status conflict with or interfere with the rights and obligations of another.

Examples: a scientist had to leave to work as a salesman at a commercial kiosk, an elderly man was used as an errand boy, a policeman had to become a racketeer, a minister had to participate in negotiations with terrorists. A highly paid official (high professional rank) will most likely also have a 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!

Literature

In English

Warner W.L., Heker M., Cells K. Social Class in America. A Manual co Procedure for Measurement of Social Status. Chicago, 1949.
Linton R. The Study of Man. N.Y., 1936

In Russian

2.2. Social statuses and roles(P. 54-59) in the book: Shkaratan, Ovsey Irmovich. Sociology of inequality. Theory and reality; National research University "Higher School of Economics". - M.: Publishing house. house High school Economics, 2012. - 526 p. - ISBN 978-5-7598-0913-5

Notes

Social status. Concept. Kinds

Naturally, labeling occurs in different ways. Therefore, social statuses are divided into prescribed and achieved. A person receives his prescribed status at birth, having almost no opportunity to change it during his life. The individual makes no effort to obtain such social status. Examples: gender, race, title of nobility, age, etc. C early childhood a person is taught to conform to a prescribed status: “a man should not cry,” “a girl should be beautiful,” and other behavioral stereotypes are designed to raise a harmonious member of society.

Personal status is the result of efforts aimed at obtaining it. Often, any type of social status reflects a person’s merits in a certain area. For example: master of sports, candidate of sciences, professor, husband, alcoholic, ballerina, etc. Often it is one of the achieved statuses that is fundamental in a person’s life and most fully reflects his aspirations and talents.

Group social status

Not only individual people, but also entire groups of people have their status in society. Castes, classes, all kinds of associations and professions are by no means equal to each other - each of them occupies its own unique niche in the hierarchy. No matter how modern cultural figures and politicians shout about equality, this is just a sweet lie designed to hide the harsh reality. After all, no one will argue that the social status of miners is immeasurably lower than that of politicians or businessmen.

As soon as a person becomes a member of a group, he immediately receives a lot of rights and responsibilities inherent in it. For example, when joining the police, an employee receives a number of privileges not available to ordinary citizens, but this status obliges him to act if he sees an offense, even if he is not on duty. The status of a social group obliges him to do this. Many groups are at the same level in the hierarchical ladder, while some are unattainably high for mere mortals. At the same time, the benefits that representatives of a profession or association bring to society do not in any way affect their rank in it.

Individual social status

Not only groups and associations of people have their own rank and weight. Each of them has its own ranking system, which determines the relationships between people. School experience teaches us that every class has its own bully, its own nerd, an excellent student, a joker, a leader - all this is the social status of an individual. However, each of the students has more than one status. Coming to school, children are first and foremost students, but at home each of them also becomes a son, sister, nephew, etc. Throughout life, everyone tries on great amount roles, the social status of an individual constantly changes depending on the team in which the person finds himself and his personal qualities.

In different circles, one and the same individual may occupy different positions. A strict and domineering boss, who holds his subordinates in an iron fist, may be under the thumb of a strict wife. It also happens the other way around, when a weak and indecisive person, unable to stand up for himself in a team, turns into a ruthless tyrant as soon as he crosses the threshold of his home. If a person's statuses are different groups differ significantly, then an internal contradiction arises, which often becomes the cause of conflicts.

Role conflict

In cases where a person occupies a high rank in one group, and in another is at the very bottom of the hierarchical ladder, conflict is inevitable. It can be internal, when an individual silently experiences discomfort, or it can develop into a clash with colleagues. Examples of role conflicts are ubiquitous, such as when old man is an errand boy for a young boss. Or when this boss is relaxing with friends who treat him with some disdain, not at all like his subordinates.

If a person’s social status is high, then he will try with all his might to maintain it. Naturally, there will always be people who are not happy with their rank, who want to rise higher and gain more weight in society. This gives rise to competition within the group, which allows the fittest and strongest members of society to rise to the top.

Resolving internal conflicts

Often, contradictions between roles lead to internal confrontation, which takes up a lot of time and effort. For example, during natural disaster the rescuer will first of all go to save his own family, obeying the role of parent and spouse. And only after he is convinced that his family is safe will it be time to perform his official duties.

The same thing happens with dealers selling alcohol or other drugs. As a parent, he does not want his child to be poisoned by this muck, but as a businessman, this person is unable to resist the sweet call of profit. Types of social statuses vary in their significance for the owner. The main thing is to choose the role that is the main one for this moment, thereby completely destroying the impending internal contradictions.

Social status of the family

Not only does an individual person occupy his own rank in the social hierarchy, each family also has its own status. Usually the position of a social unit depends on material well-being, but this is not always the case. The family of a military man or official occupies a special position in society, even if they are not burdened with wealth. In those countries where noble titles or castes have been preserved, belonging to a noble dynasty decides a lot.

In ancient times, wealthy merchants often married representatives of a poor but titled family in order to share with them the high social status of the family. Such a far-sighted move opened many doors for the rich merchant that were closed to commoners.

The influence of social status on personality

Roles in society are rarely superficial. These can only be those types of social statuses that are assigned for a short period of time: passerby, patient, buyer.

Basically, belonging to a certain role leaves a deep imprint on a person’s entire life. A special influence is exerted by the status to which the subject gives highest value. For example, professor, musician, athlete, Serial killer etc. Having taken on a serious role, a person gradually begins to change, acquiring the character traits and skills necessary to fulfill it.

Doctor, if he for a long time Having worked in this area, he evaluates people completely differently than a police officer. The surgeon will evaluate the person according to his parameters, formed by his professional activity. Likewise, an investigator, having worked for years among hardened criminals, will never be the same.

Expectations of others

By taking on a certain role, we in some way become its hostages. Since the social status of an individual is fixed, those around him know what to expect from this person. The stereotype will cling to you like a tick, not allowing you to take a single step to the side. After all, as soon as your behavior goes beyond what is expected, the pressure will begin to return the lost sheep to the fold. Great tool keeping people on track - a system of rewards and punishments.

Unfortunately, some types of social status are inevitable. There is no way to get rid of the status of a child, an old person, a man or a woman. From childhood, girls are taught to clean, cook, run a household, take care of themselves, and are instilled with the idea that they can only become successful as individuals by getting married successfully. If a young lady dreams of becoming a boxing or auto racing star, she will immediately encounter misunderstanding or ridicule; few will take her dream seriously. The same is true with age. No one will take seriously a child's attempts to go into business, and an old man trying to meet a young girl will cause disapproval from others.

The meaning of social status

Nowadays it is very fashionable to talk about how everyone around is equal, that everyone has the same rights and responsibilities. Of course, this is not true. Until now, the determining factor in the life of every member of society is social status. Examples of this are found everywhere.

Therefore, all types of social statuses - both group and personal - are as relevant today as they were a thousand years ago. However, do not forget that society puts labels on you, so they are only valid where there are people. Compliance with social status is just one of the quirks modern world, and not a monumental law of the universe. You can only play your role without getting used to it. From childhood we are taught that achieving prestige and high status in society is of paramount importance. But it is not at all necessary to accept such rules of the game. A man of low standing in society will go to prison for a trivial theft, while a banker can defraud millions of people with only a formal warning.