Social status is a person’s position in society. On the way to improving social status

All possible roles of a person in society as an individual cannot arise without a corresponding predetermining factor. In this case, it is the position of the individual in society, which is a complex system. At the same time, understanding what social status is and how it is related to the previous aspects is quite simple.

The role of man in society

Any modern resident is endowed with many rights and responsibilities, and therefore a certain number of specific roles. If we are talking about a child, then his main functions will be those that are included in the range of responsibilities in the family, school, public transport, in clubs, etc. If we consider the social status of a woman, then she tends to simultaneously perform the roles of wife, mother, daughter , employees, students, customers, friends and be in other, no less important forms. However, one cannot deny the fact that it would be somehow strange and unnatural to see an adult wealthy man sitting at a school bench, and a first-grader driving a trolleybus. Such actions go against the corresponding position occupied by a person in the world around him.

Determination of social status

Social status is the position of an individual in the social system - society, which is predetermined by the presence of appropriate opportunities, interests, knowledge, rights and responsibilities. As a rule, a self-sufficient, full-fledged person has several statuses simultaneously, realizing their components throughout his life.

Among the complex status set, one can distinguish the so-called superstatus, which is the main indicator of the integration of an individual into society. Often this criterion is considered to be profession, place of work or main type of employment. When meeting a person, we almost always think about what the stranger does for a living.
Other qualities and properties of the individual are also of interest. Although the decisive factor may be other factors, including nationality, religion or race, sexual orientation, past life experience or criminal record.

Varieties of position in society

When trying to recognize what social status is, you should familiarize yourself with its classification. Any position of an individual in the life of society can be classified into two fundamental types. The first type is performances prescribed to a person regardless of his desires, capabilities and financial components. These include gender, place of birth, national characteristics, ethnic origin. The second type is achieved social status or acquired, as they often talk about it. The achievement of his goals and peaks directly depends on the desire and abilities of a person. After all, husbands, leaders, doctors of science, football players, writers or engineers are not born, they are made.

Prescribed social status

The modern system of society is a very complex functioning formation, the institutions of which cease to work if any individual fails to fulfill the mass of responsibilities indicated by relations in individual social groups. With the goal of unanimously agreed upon fulfillment of the duties of the prescribed status from birth, a person goes through a long path of preparation and training to fulfill the assigned roles. The initial stage of personality formation takes place in early childhood according to additional criteria, which often serve as a formula for achieving success in the future. Age and gender criteria serve as the basis for role prescriptions in society. Following them are race, nationality, as well as religious and class gradations.

The first role learning that continues in childhood is some socialization processes depending on gender. In later life, they will have a huge impact on the formation and characteristics of the social status of an already established adult. For example, from the moment of birth, girls are destined for pink vests, many dolls and princesses. Young girls are gradually prepared for adult life, taught culinary tricks and the secrets of maintaining a home. It is not customary for little ladies to be raised in a boyish style. And although this type of parenting can sometimes be found, it is mostly considered bad form.

Features of the prescribed status

As for the education of boys, in adulthood it demonstrates the consequences of the educational process, which can be safely attributed to the opposite type. From a very early age, they know that it is better to be strong than weak, because they will have to protect timid girls, and then become a support and a strong shoulder for their entire family. Such methods, which contribute to the formation of personality, determine in the future the different social statuses of men and women.

It should be noted that many modern professions are relevant for representatives of both sexes. Some jobs can be done by women, and they can do them just as well as men, and vice versa. For example, in some states girls are not hired as domestic servants in wealthy homes. In particular, in the Philippines, only men are accepted to perform secretarial work, despite the fact that some hard work in the agricultural sector is amenable mainly to the weaker half of humanity.

Acquired position in society

What social status is can also be understood through the prism of achieved results. Each individual is given a wide choice of opportunities determined by prescribed statuses. Each person can acquire a new position in society using their individual abilities, preferences, diligence, or, oddly enough, luck. After all, Michael Young, the famous British sociologist, was quite successfully able to formulate a similar phenomenon. He said that the important titles of kings, lords and princesses are prescribed social statuses that are assigned to an individual regardless of the efforts he makes to achieve high ranks.

The acquired social status of a person in society is not given from birth; only persons suitable for this can acquire the corresponding position. Not all people born as men can acquire the status of husband or father. This will not happen automatically - it all depends on the actions, behavior and attitude to life of a particular individual. The formation of the desired status occurs through the use of talent, desire, determination and an active position.

The predominant importance of social statuses

Often in traditional societies, prescribed statuses are decisive, since further activity and the corresponding occupation of a particular public place depend on many factors related to the moment of birth. Men often try to be like their fathers and grandfathers, imitating them and wanting to adopt their skills in professions they have known since childhood. In addition, by nature a man is a hunter, fisherman and warrior. Naturally, it is quite difficult to literally realize this part of a man’s destiny in industrial societies, but having the freedom to choose occupations to achieve a particular position, incredible opportunities open up for today’s “breadwinners.”

Distribution in society by social status

For the successful functioning of the social system, a sufficient level of mobility of labor resources is required, which leads to a priority expression of orientation towards the personal characteristics of individuals, to replacing one status with another through the efforts made. Meanwhile, movement up the status ladder is under the constant control of the entire society in order to comply with the principles of justice, which allow only those people who have been able to truly prove themselves to acquire a high position in society. Those who could not find their successful “environment” will have to pay with uncompetitiveness and failure in new roles.
This implies a huge number of people who, being in the current situation, do not feel a sense of satisfaction.

How to achieve a high place in society?

Only a person who has gone through a long and difficult path can understand what a high-level social status is and how to use its privileges. It also happens that the acquired position subsequently obliges the individual to make changes not only in work activity, but also in everyday life, place of residence, circle of acquaintances and friends. When a person has to come face to face with difficulties that are significantly removed from the experience of his ancestors due to significant differences between his social status and the social position of his parents, the process of accepting new roles is predetermined by the emerging status.

An ideal society is considered to be one where the predominant number of social statuses are acquired. Isn't it fair if every person finds his place in the sun and strives for it, proving it with his abilities, work or talent? In addition, the opportunity to successfully prove oneself provides a chance to justify any significant shortcomings.

The absolutely opposite picture is in a society where in most cases a position in society is prescribed, but a person does not expect an increase in his status and does not make even the slightest effort to do so. People who earn little money doing low-prestige work do not feel guilty about having a low social status. Without comparing the current state of affairs with the situation of other, more ambitious and impetuous people, such an individual is not oppressed by a feeling of dissatisfaction, insecurity or fear of losing something.

Concept

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

Typology of social statuses

Ralph Linton introduced two concepts - ascriptive status (prescribed, ascribed, innate status) and achieved status (achieved, achieved, acquired status).

• Attributed status is the social status with which a person is born (natural status is determined by race, gender, nationality), or which will be assigned to him over time (inheritance of title, fortune, etc.).
• Achieved status is a social status that is achieved as a result of a person's own efforts.

If the position occupied by a person simultaneously has the properties of ascribed and achieved status, then they speak of mixed status.

Status set

Each person, as a rule, has not one, but several statuses. The set of social statuses is called a status set.

Social set- introduced by the American sociologist Merton.

The social set includes: social status and status set.

Model of status groups (classes) by L. Warner

As an example, we can cite L. Warner’s model of status groups:

• Higher class
  • The upper-upper class included the so-called old families.
  • The lower-upper class did not include old tribal families.
• Middle class
  • The upper-middle class consisted of property owners and professionals
  • The lower-middle class consisted of lower employees, clerks, clerks
• Lower class
  • Upper-lower class included workers
  • Lower-lower class - “social bottom”

Sources

• 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

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Man does not exist outside of society. We interact with other people and enter into various relationships with them. To indicate a person’s position among his own kind and the characteristics of an individual’s behavior in certain situations, scientists introduced the concepts of “social status” and “social role.”

About social status

The social status of an individual is not only a person’s place in the system of social relations, but also the rights and responsibilities dictated by his position. Thus, the status of a doctor gives the right to diagnose and treat patients, but at the same time obliges the doctor to observe labor discipline and conscientiously perform his work.

The concept of social status was first proposed by the American anthropologist R. Linton. The scientist made a great contribution to the study of the problems of personality and its interaction with other members of society.

Statuses exist in an enterprise, in a family, in a political party, in a kindergarten, in a school, in a university, in a word, wherever an organized group of people is engaged in socially significant activities and members of the group have certain relationships with each other.

A person is in several statuses at the same time. For example, a middle-aged man acts as a son, father, husband, engineer at a factory, member of a sports club, holder of an academic degree, author of scientific publications, patient in a clinic, etc. The number of statuses depends on the connections and relationships into which the individual enters.

There are several classifications of statuses:

1. Personal and social. A person occupies a personal status in a family or other small group in accordance with the assessment of his personal qualities. Social status (examples: teacher, worker, manager) is determined by the actions performed by the individual for society.
2. Main and episodic. Primary status is associated with the main functions in a person's life. Most often, the main statuses are family man and worker. Episodic are associated with a moment in time during which a citizen performs certain actions: a pedestrian, a reader in a library, a course student, a theater viewer, etc.
3. Prescribed, achieved and mixed. The prescribed status does not depend on the desires and capabilities of the individual, as it is given at birth (nationality, place of birth, class). What is achieved is acquired as a result of the efforts made (level of education, profession, achievements in science, art, sports). Mixed combines the features of the prescribed and achieved statuses (a person who has received a disability).
4. Socio-economic status is determined by the amount of income received and the position that an individual occupies in accordance with his well-being.

The set of all available statuses is called a status set.

Hierarchy

Society constantly evaluates the significance of this or that status and, on the basis of this, builds a hierarchy of positions.

Assessments depend on the benefits of the business in which a person is engaged, and on the system of values ​​​​accepted in the culture. Prestigious social status (examples: businessman, director) is highly appreciated. At the top of the hierarchy is the general status, which determines not only a person’s life, but also the position of people close to him (president, patriarch, academician).

If some statuses are unreasonably low, while others, on the contrary, are excessively high, then they speak of a violation of status balance. The trend towards its loss threatens the normal functioning of society.

The hierarchy of statuses can also be subjective. A person himself determines what is more important to him, in what status he feels better, what benefits he derives from being in one position or another.

Social status cannot be something unchanging, since people's lives are not static. The movement of a person from one social group to another is called social mobility, which is divided into vertical and horizontal.

Vertical mobility is spoken of when the social status of an individual increases or decreases (a worker becomes an engineer, a department head becomes an ordinary employee, etc.). With horizontal mobility, a person maintains his position, but changes his profession (to one of equal status), place of residence (becomes an emigrant).

Intergenerational and intragenerational mobility are also distinguished. The first determines how much children have increased or decreased their status in relation to the status of their parents, and the second determines how successful the social career of representatives of one generation is (types of social status are taken into account).

The channels of social mobility are school, family, church, army, public organizations and political parties. Education is a social elevator that helps a person achieve the desired status.

A high social status acquired by an individual or a decrease in it indicates individual mobility. If the status of a certain community of people changes (for example, as a result of a revolution), then group mobility takes place.

Social roles

While in one status or another, a person performs actions, communicates with other people, that is, plays a role. Social status and social role are closely interrelated, but differ from each other. Status is position, and role is socially expected behavior determined by status. If a doctor is rude and swears, and a teacher abuses alcohol, then this does not correspond to the status he holds.

The term “role” was borrowed from theater to emphasize the stereotypical behavior of people of similar social groups. A person cannot do as he wants. The behavior of an individual is determined by the rules and norms characteristic of a particular social group and society as a whole.

Unlike status, a role is dynamic and closely related to a person’s character traits and moral attitudes. Sometimes role behavior is adhered to only in public, as if putting on a mask. But it also happens that the mask fuses with its wearer, and the person ceases to distinguish between himself and his role. Depending on the situation, this state of affairs has both positive and negative consequences.

Social status and social role are two sides of the same coin.

Diversity of social roles

Since there are many people in the world and each person is an individual, it is unlikely that there will be two identical roles. Some role models require emotional restraint and self-control (lawyer, surgeon, funeral director), while for other roles (actor, teacher, mother, grandmother) emotions are very much in demand.

Some roles drive a person into strict frameworks (job descriptions, regulations, etc.), others have no framework (parents are fully responsible for the behavior of their children).

The performance of roles is closely related to motives, which are also different. Everything is determined by social status in society and personal motives. An official is concerned with promotion, a financier is concerned with profit, and a scientist is concerned with the search for truth.

Role set

A role set is understood as a set of roles characteristic of a particular status. Thus, a doctor of science is in the role of a researcher, teacher, mentor, supervisor, consultant, etc. Each role implies its own ways of communicating with others. The same teacher behaves differently with colleagues, students, and the rector of the university.

The concept of “role set” describes the whole variety of social roles inherent in a particular status. No role is strictly assigned to its bearer. For example, one of the spouses remains unemployed and for some time (and perhaps forever) loses the roles of colleague, subordinate, manager, and becomes a housewife (householder).

In many families, social roles are symmetrical: both husband and wife equally act as breadwinners, masters of the house and educators of children. In such a situation, it is important to adhere to the golden mean: excessive passion for one role (company director, businesswoman) leads to a lack of energy and time for others (father, mother).

Role Expectations

The difference between social roles and mental states and personality traits is that roles represent a certain historically developed standard of behavior. There are requirements for the bearer of a particular role. Thus, a child must certainly be obedient, a schoolboy or student must study well, a worker must observe labor discipline, etc. Social status and social role oblige one to act one way and not another. The system of requirements is also called expectations.

Role expectations act as an intermediate link between status and role. Only behavior that corresponds to status is considered role-playing. If a teacher, instead of giving a lecture on higher mathematics, starts singing with a guitar, then students will be surprised, because they expect other behavioral reactions from an assistant professor or professor.

Role expectations consist of actions and qualities. Taking care of the child, playing with him, putting the baby to bed, the mother performs actions, and kindness, responsiveness, empathy, and moderate severity contribute to the successful implementation of actions.

Compliance with the role being performed is important not only to others, but also to the person himself. A subordinate strives to earn the respect of his superior and receives moral satisfaction from a high assessment of the results of his work. The athlete trains hard to set a record. The writer is working on a bestseller. A person’s social status obliges him to be at his best. If an individual's expectations do not meet the expectations of others, then internal and external conflicts arise.

Role conflict

Contradictions between role holders arise either due to inconsistency with expectations, or due to the fact that one role completely excludes another. The young man more or less successfully plays the roles of son and friend. But the guy's friends invite him to a disco, and his parents demand that he stay at home. The emergency doctor's child falls ill, and the doctor is urgently called to the hospital because a natural disaster has occurred. The husband wants to go to the dacha to help his parents, and the wife books a trip to the sea to improve the health of the children.

Resolving role conflicts is not an easy task. Participants in the confrontation have to decide which role is more important, but in most cases compromises are more appropriate. The teenager returns from the party early, the doctor leaves his child with his mother, grandmother or nanny, and the spouses negotiate the timing of participation in dacha work and travel time for the whole family.

Sometimes the solution to the conflict is leaving the role: changing jobs, going to university, getting a divorce. Most often, a person understands that he has outgrown this or that role or that it has become a burden to him. A change of roles is inevitable as the child grows and develops: infant, toddler, preschooler, primary school student, teenager, young man, adult. The transition to a new age level is ensured by internal and external contradictions.

Socialization

From birth, a person learns the norms, patterns of behavior and cultural values ​​characteristic of a particular society. This is how socialization occurs and the individual’s social status is acquired. Without socialization, a person cannot become a full-fledged individual. Socialization is influenced by the media, cultural traditions of the people, social institutions (family, school, work collectives, public associations, etc.).

Purposeful socialization occurs as a result of training and upbringing, but the efforts of parents and teachers are adjusted by the street, the economic and political situation in the country, television, the Internet and other factors.

The further development of society depends on the effectiveness of socialization. Children grow up and occupy the status of their parents, taking on certain roles. If the family and the state do not pay enough attention to the upbringing of the younger generation, then degradation and stagnation occur in public life.

Members of society coordinate their behavior with certain standards. These may be prescribed norms (laws, regulations, rules) or unspoken expectations. Any non-compliance with standards is considered a deviation, or deviation. Examples of deviation are drug addiction, prostitution, alcoholism, pedophilia, etc. Deviation can be individual, when one person deviates from the norm, and group (informal groups).

Socialization occurs as a result of two interrelated processes: internalization and social adaptation. A person adapts to social conditions, masters the rules of the game, which are mandatory for all members of society. Over time, norms, values, attitudes, ideas about what is good and what is bad become part of the inner world of the individual.

People are socialized throughout their lives, and at each age stage, statuses are acquired and lost, new roles are learned, conflicts arise and are resolved. This is how personality development occurs.

Social status is the status of a person, determined by his origin, position, economic level, and gender. Thus, an individual can be assigned to a class. a person is divided into several levels. Let's look at them all.

Birth status is a certain status received by a person at birth. For example, this could be race, gender or nationality. The innate status remains with a person throughout his life, that is, it does not change. However, there are some exceptions. For example, the status of a member of the royal family, which is given at birth, can be revoked at the end of the monarchy.

The acquired social position is characterized by mobility. This is a position, post, financial level achieved through one’s own efforts. For example, a person from a poor family opens his own business and creates capital for himself. Or the individual receives a promotion.

There is also a prescribed position. That is, this is the status that a person receives regardless of his actions and desires. For example, this could be social status determined by origin or age. The status in question can be either acquired or congenital.

As already mentioned, mobility is characteristic of a person’s social status. That is, an individual can either climb the social ladder or descend it. Such mobility has a greater positive impact on society. This gives rise to healthy competition and the emergence of professionals.

A person's social mobility is influenced by many factors. Let's look at the main ones. It is possible to determine whether an individual will move up the social ladder by taking into account his background, educational level, and even the characteristics of his place of residence. Naturally, in order to change his status, a person must have certain personal qualities. In particular, this is the intellectual level, perseverance in achieving one’s goals, and the desire to climb the social ladder.

In developed countries, the middle class usually predominates. In Russia, 70% of people are in a lower socio-economic position. This includes not only people with low-paid jobs, but also disabled people, pensioners, and so on.

There is also such a thing as status incompatibility. This occurs when a person's socioeconomic status in a group is higher than that of another. This situation also occurs when the status rights of one individual interfere with the fulfillment of the duties of another. For example, a researcher had to change his career and get a job in a store, or an elderly person carries out assignments that are more intended for students.

Position in society is determined not only by position or financial status, but also by age, gender, skills, and education. In addition, the criteria for awarding a certain status to a person depend on the traditions of a particular country. People may belong to the same groups, but their social status may be very different. For example, one person may be the head of a company, and all the rest are just ordinary workers.

So, let's summarize. Each of us is assigned a certain social status from birth. Each individual stands on some rung of the hierarchical ladder under consideration. Social status is determined not only by position and earnings, as is often believed, but also by age, origin, gender, education, skills and much more.

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- 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.

· 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. Ivanova 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 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 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 grounds on 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 a person’s real behavior, which he considers to be correlated with his status.

It should be noted that these two role aspects do not always coincide. 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 position (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.

Date of publication: 2015-02-28; Read: 8983 | Page copyright infringement

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