social role - sample behavior of a person that society recognizes as appropriate for the holder of this status.

Social role- this is a set of actions that a person occupying this status must perform. A person must fulfill certain material values ​​in social system.

This is a model of human behavior, objectively set by the social position of the individual in the system of social, public and personal relations. In other words, a social role is "the behavior that is expected of a person occupying a certain status". Modern society requires the individual to constantly change the model of behavior to perform specific roles. In this regard, such neo-Marxists and neo-Freudians as T. Adorno, K. Horney and others made a paradoxical conclusion in their works: the “normal” personality of modern society is a neurotic. Moreover, in modern society, role conflicts that arise in situations where an individual is required to simultaneously perform several roles with conflicting requirements are widespread.

Irving Hoffman, in his studies of interaction rituals, accepting and developing the basic theatrical metaphor, paid attention not so much to role instructions and passive adherence to them, but to the processes of active construction and maintenance of the “appearance” in the course of communication, to areas of uncertainty and ambiguity in interaction , mistakes in the behavior of partners.

The concept of " social role” was proposed independently by American sociologists R. Linton and J. Mead in the 1930s, and the first interpreted the concept of “social role” as a unit of social structure, described in the form of a system of norms given to a person, the second - in terms of direct interaction between people , "role-playing game", during which, due to the fact that a person imagines himself in the role of another, social norms are assimilated and the social is formed in the individual. Linton's definition of a social role as a "dynamic aspect of status" was entrenched in structural functionalism and was developed by T. Parsons, A. Radcliffe-Brown, R. Merton. Mead's ideas were developed in interactionist sociology and psychology. With all the differences, both of these approaches are united by the idea of ​​a social role as a key point at which the individual and society merge, individual behavior turns into social, and the individual properties and inclinations of people are compared with the normative settings that exist in society, depending on which people are selected. to certain social roles. Of course, in reality, role expectations are never unambiguous. In addition, a person often finds himself in a situation of role conflict, when his different social roles are poorly compatible.

Types of social roles in society

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

• Social roles associated with social status, profession or type of activity (teacher, pupil, student, seller). These are standardized impersonal roles based on rights and obligations, regardless of who fills these roles. Allocate socio-demographic roles: husband, wife, daughter, son, grandson ... A man and a woman are also social roles that involve specific ways of behavior, enshrined in social norms and customs.
• Interpersonal roles associated with interpersonal relationships that are regulated at an emotional level (leader, offended, neglected, family idol, loved one, etc.).

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

Characteristics of social roles

The main characteristics of the social role are highlighted by the American sociologist Talcott Parsons. He proposed the following four characteristics of any role:

• Scale. Some roles may be strictly limited, while others may be blurred.
• By way of getting. Roles are divided into prescribed and conquered (they are also called achieved).
• According to the degree of formalization. Activities can proceed both within strictly established limits, and arbitrarily.
• By type of motivation. The motivation can be personal profit, public good, etc.

Role scale depends on the range of interpersonal relationships. The larger the range, the larger the scale. So, for example, the social roles of spouses have a very large scale, since a wide range of relationships is established between husband and wife. On the one hand, these are interpersonal relationships based on a variety of feelings and emotions; on the other hand, relations are regulated by normative acts and in a certain sense are formal. The participants in this social interaction are interested in the most diverse aspects of each other's lives, their relationships are practically unlimited. In other cases, when the relationship is strictly defined by social roles (for example, the relationship of the seller and the buyer), the interaction can be carried out only on a specific occasion (in this case, purchases). Here the scope of the role is reduced to a narrow range of specific issues and is small.

How to get a role depends on how inevitable the given role is for the person. So, the roles of a young man, an old man, a man, a woman are automatically determined by the age and sex of a person and do not require much effort to acquire them. There can only be a problem of matching one's role, which already exists as a given. Other roles are achieved or even won in the course of a person's life and as a result of purposeful special efforts. For example, the role of a student, researcher, professor, etc. These are almost all roles associated with the profession and any achievements of a person.

Formalization as a descriptive characteristic of a social role is determined by the specifics of interpersonal relations of the bearer of this role. Some roles involve the establishment of only formal relations between people with strict regulation of the rules of conduct; others, on the contrary, are only informal; still others may combine both formal and informal relationships. Obviously, the relationship of a traffic police representative with a violator of traffic rules should be determined by formal rules, and relationships between close people should be determined by feelings. Formal relationships are often accompanied by informal ones, in which emotionality is manifested, because a person, perceiving and evaluating another, shows sympathy or antipathy towards him. This happens when people interact for a while and the relationship becomes relatively stable.

These are the mechanisms of socialization. The concepts of social status, role and role behavior are distinguished.

Social status is the position of the subject in the system of interpersonal relations, which determines his duties, rights and privileges. It is established by society. Social relationships are confused.

The social role is associated with status, these are the norms of behavior of a person occupying a certain status.

Role behavior is a specific use of a social role by a person. This reflects his personal characteristics.

He proposed the concept of the social role of Mead at the end of the 19th - 20th centuries. A person becomes a Personality when they learn to enter the role of another person.

Each role has a structure:

1. Model of human behavior on the part of society.
2. A system of representing a person how he should behave.
3. The actual observable behavior of a person holding this status.

In case of mismatch between these components, a role conflict arises.

1. Inter-role conflict. A person is a performer of many roles, the requirements of which are incompatible or he does not have the strength, time to perform these roles well. At the heart of this conflict lies an illusion.

2. Intra-role conflict. When there are different requirements for the performance of one role by different representatives of social groups. The stay of intra-role conflict is very dangerous for the Personality.

The social role is the fixation of a certain position that this or that individual occupies in the system of social relations. A role is understood as “a function, a normatively approved pattern of behavior expected from everyone occupying a given position” (Kon). These expectations do not depend on the consciousness and behavior of a particular individual; their subject is not the individual, but society. What is essential here is not only and not so much the fixation of rights and obligations, but the connection of the social role with certain types of social activities of the Personality. The social role is “a socially necessary type of social Activity and a way of behavior of the Personality” (Bueva). A social role always bears the stamp of social assessment: society can either approve or disapprove of certain social roles, sometimes approval or disapproval can be differentiated by different social groups, role assessment can acquire completely different meanings in accordance with the social experience of a particular social group .

In reality, each individual performs not one but several social roles: he can be an accountant, a father, a trade union member, and so on. A number of roles are assigned to a person at birth, others are acquired during lifetime. However, the role itself does not determine the Activity and the behavior of each specific carrier in detail: everything depends on how much the individual learns, internalizes the role. The act of internalization is determined by a number of individual psychological characteristics of each specific bearer of a given role. Therefore, social relations, although they are essentially role-playing, impersonal relations, in reality, in their concrete manifestation, acquire a certain “personal coloring”. Each social role does not mean an absolute set of behavior patterns, it always leaves a certain "range of possibilities" for its performer, which can be conditionally called a certain "role performance style".

Social differentiation is inherent in all forms of human existence. The behavior of the Personality is explained by social inequality in society. It is affected by:

• social background;
• ethnicity;
• the level of education;
• position;
• prof. belonging;
• power;
• income and wealth;
• lifestyle, etc.

Role play is individual. Linton proved that the role has a socio-cultural conditionality.

There is also a definition that a social role is a social function of a Personality.

It should be noted that there are several points of view:

1. Shebutani is a conventional role. Separates the concepts of conventional role and social role.
2. A set of social norms that society encourages or forces to master.

Types of roles:

• psychological or interpersonal (in the system of subjective interpersonal relations). Categories: leaders, preferred, not accepted, outsiders;
• social (in the system of objective social relations). Categories: professional, demographic.
• active or actual - currently being executed;
• latent (hidden) - a person is potentially a carrier, but not at the moment
• conventional (official);
• spontaneous, spontaneous - arise in a specific situation, not due to requirements.

Relationship between role and behavior:

F. Zimbardo (1971) conducted an experiment (students and prison) and found that the role strongly influences the behavior of a person. The phenomenon of the absorption of a person's personality by a role. Role prescriptions shape human behavior. The phenomenon of deindividualization is the absorption of the Personality into a social role, the Personality loses control over its individuality (for example, jailers).

Role behavior is an individual fulfillment of a social role - society sets the standard of behavior, and the fulfillment of a role has a personal coloring. Mastering social roles is a part of the process of socialization of the Personality, an indispensable condition for the “growth” of the Personality in a society of its own kind. In role behavior, role conflicts can arise: inter-role (a person is forced to perform several roles at the same time, sometimes contradictory), intra-role (they arise when different requirements are imposed on the bearer of one role from different social groups). Gender roles: male, female. Professional roles: boss, subordinate, etc.

Jung. Persona - role (ego, shadows, self). Do not merge with the "persona", so as not to lose the personal core (self).

Andreeva. A social role is a fixation of a certain position that this or that individual occupies in the system of social relations. A number of roles are prescribed from birth (to be a wife/husband). A social role always has a certain range of possibilities for its performer - the “style of role performance”. By assimilating social roles, a person assimilates social standards of behavior, learns to evaluate himself from the outside and exercise self-control. The personality acts (is) the mechanism that allows you to integrate your "I" and your own life, to carry out a moral assessment of your actions, to find your place in life. It is necessary to use role behavior as a tool for adaptation to certain social situations.

Social role is a status-role concept, which is one of the most popular theories in sociology. Any person is a part of society, society and, in accordance with it, performs a number of functions, and therefore, in this concept, a person is a subject. Well-known American sociologists laid the foundations for the concept of personality, they were R. Minton, J. Mead and T. Parson, of course, each has individual merits for the contribution of their efforts and potential to the development of the status-role concept.

Social status and social role are the main two concepts that describe a person. An individual, occupying a certain place in society, is fixed by a social position and has certain rights and obligations. It is this position that defines a person. At the same time, a person has several statuses, one of which is the main or basic, that is, the main status is the profession or position of a person.

A social role is one that he performs within the framework of his social status in a particular social system. And given that one person has several statuses, then, accordingly, he performs several roles. The total set within the framework of one social status is a social set. A person performs more social roles if he has a much higher status and position in society.

The social role of a person working in a security agency is fundamentally different from the role set of the President of the country, this is all understandable and easy. In general, the roles were systematized for the first time by the American sociologist T. Parson, thanks to whom five main categories were identified that allow qualifying individual social roles:

1. A social role is something that is regulated in some cases. For example, the social role of a civil servant is strictly outlined, and the role of the fact that this employee is a man is very blurred and individual.
2. Some roles are extremely emotional, while others require rigor and restraint.
3. Social roles may differ in the way they are obtained. It depends on the social status, which is prescribed or achieved by a person independently.
4. The scale and scope of powers within one social role is clearly defined, while in others it is not even established.
5. The performance of the role is motivated by personal interests or for the sake of public duty.

It is important to remember that a social role is a model of behavior that is balanced between role expectation and a person's character. That is, this is not an exact mechanism and scheme, as expected from a particular social role, but role-specific behavior depending on the individual characteristics of a person. Once again, we will consolidate that the social role of a person is determined by a specific social status, expressed by a certain profession, field of activity. For example, a teacher, musician, student, salesman, director, accountant, politician. The social role of the individual is always assessed by society, approved or condemned. For example, the role of a criminal or a prostitute has a public censure.

In sociology, the concept of a social role has appeared since the end of the 19th century, although officially this term appeared only at the end of the 20th century within the framework of R. Linton's theory.

This science considers a society or other organized group as a collection of individuals with a certain status and behavior pattern. What is meant by the concepts of social statuses and roles, as well as what significance they have for a person, we will describe further and give examples.

Definition

For sociology, the term "social role" means a model of behavior expected from a person that would correspond to the rights and normative duties established by society. That is, this concept considers the relationship between the function of the individual and its position in society or interpersonal relationships.

It can also be said that a social role is a certain algorithm of actions prescribed to a person by society, which he must follow in order to carry out useful activities in society. At the same time, a person tries on a model of behavior or a prescribed algorithm of actions either voluntarily or forcibly.

For the first time such a definition appeared in 1936, when Ralph Linton proposed his concept of how an individual interacts with society in a limited algorithm of actions dictated by a particular community. This is how the theory of social roles appeared. It allows you to understand how a person can identify himself in certain social frameworks and how such conditions can affect the formation of him as a person.

Usually this concept is considered as one of the dynamic aspects of the status of the individual. Acting as a member of a society or group and taking responsibility for the performance of certain functions, a person must follow the rules established by this very group. This is expected of him by the rest of the community.

If we consider the concept of a social role on the example of an organization, then we can understand that the manager of an enterprise, training personnel, and persons receiving knowledge are an active organized community, in which the rules and regulations are prescribed for each participant. In an educational institution, the director gives orders to which teachers must obey.

In turn, teachers have the right to require students to comply with the rules prescribed for their social status by the standards of the organization (do homework, show respect for teachers, keep silence during lessons, etc.) At the same time, a certain freedom is acceptable for the social role of the student associated with the manifestation of his personal qualities.

For each participant in role relations, the prescribed normative requirements and individual shades of the status received by him are known. Therefore, the model of human behavior in a particular social circle is expected for the rest of the members of this group. This means that other members of the community can largely predict the nature of the actions of each of its members.

Classification and varieties

Within the framework of its scientific direction, this concept has its own classification. So, social roles are divided into types:

1. Social or conventional roles due to professional activities or a standardized system of relationships (educator, teacher, student, salesperson). They are built on the basis of community-prescribed rules, norms, and responsibilities. This does not take into account who exactly is the performer of a particular role.

In turn, this type is divided into the main socio-demographic models of behavior, where there are such social roles in the family as husband and wife, daughter, son, granddaughter, grandson, etc. If we take the biological component as a basis, then we can also distinguish such social roles of the individual as a woman / man.

2. Interpersonal - roles determined by the relationship of people in limited conditions and the individual characteristics of each of them. These include any relationship between people, including conflict, arising on the basis of emotional manifestations. In this case, the gradation may look like this: idol, leader, ignored, privileged, offended, etc.

The most illustrative examples here are: the selection of an actor to play a specific role, taking into account his external data, abilities, specific social and typical manifestations. Each actor tends to a certain role (tragedian, hero, comedian, etc.). A person tries on the most typical model of behavior or a kind of role that allows others to more or less suggest further actions of a person.

These types of social roles exist in every organized community, and there is a clear relationship between the duration of the group's existence and the likelihood of its typical manifestations in the behavior of the participants. It is worth noting that it is extremely difficult to get rid of the stereotype that has developed over the years, familiar to a person and society, over time.

Considering this topic, one cannot ignore the classification according to the characteristics of each specific role. They were able to highlight the well-known sociologist from America T. Parsons in order to get the most complete idea of ​​the term "social role of the individual." For each model, he proposed four distinctive properties at once.

1. Scale. This characteristic depends on the breadth of interpersonal relationships observed between members of a particular group. The closer the communication between people, the greater the significance in such relationships. Here is a good example of the relationship between husband and wife.

2. Method of receipt. Referring to this criterion, one can single out the roles achieved by a person and assigned to him by society. We can talk about behavioral patterns characteristic of different age categories or representatives of a certain gender.

Gender representations of a person regarding his role are fixed by the school. The biological characteristics of the individual and the gender stereotypes that have developed in society predetermine further formation under the influence of the environment.

It would be appropriate to note that at present the model of behavior is not so tied to the characteristic manifestations of a particular sex than before. Thus, the social role of a woman now includes not only the duties of a mother and a housewife, but also extends to other areas.

In turn, with the changing conditions of modern society, the concept of a male social role has also changed. However, the family model of behavior for both parties is theoretically balanced, but in fact it is unstable.

These are models prescribed by society for each person who will not have to make an effort to receive justification from the environment. As achieved roles, one can consider the results of an individual's activity, indicating his social status (for example, career growth).

3. The degree of formalization, on which the formation of the personality and its functions depend. Regarding this criterion, the social status of a person can be formed under the influence of regulatory requirements, or it can develop arbitrarily. For example, the relationship between people in the military unit is regulated by the charter, while friends are guided by personal feelings and emotions.

4. Type of motivation. Each person, when choosing a model of behavior, is guided by a personal motive. It can be financial gain, career advancement, the desire to be loved, etc. In psychology, there are two types of motivation - external, which arises under the influence of the environment, and internal, which the subject determines for himself.

The process of choosing and becoming a role

The role of a person in the social environment does not arise spontaneously. The process of its formation goes through several stages, culminating in the individual in society.

First, a person learns basic skills - by practicing, he applies the theoretical knowledge gained in childhood. Also, the initial stage includes the development of mental abilities, which will be improved throughout the life of a person.

At the next stage of development, the social personality is expected to be educated. Throughout almost the entire life, an individual receives new skills and knowledge from educators, teachers, educators and, of course, parents. As the individual grows older, the individual will receive new information from his environment, from the media and other sources.

An equally important component of the socialization of the individual is education. Here the main character is the person himself, choosing the most typical skills for himself and the direction for further development.

The next stage of socialization is protection. It implies a set of processes aimed at reducing the significance of factors that could injure a person in the process of his formation. Using certain social methods of protection, the subject will protect himself from the environment and conditions in which he will be morally uncomfortable.

The final phase is adaptation. In the process of socialization, a person has to adapt to his environment, learn to communicate with other members of society and maintain contact with them.

The processes by which an individual's social role and social status are determined are very complex. But without them, a person cannot become a full-fledged personality, which is why they are so significant in everyone's life. Sociologists argue that there are two phases that contribute to the adaptation of the individual to his social role:

• Adaptation. In this period, a person learns the rules and norms of behavior established by society. Mastering new laws, a person begins to behave accordingly.
• Interiorization. It provides for the adoption of new conditions and rules while abandoning the old foundations.

But "failures" in the process of socialization of the individual are also possible. Often they occur against the background of the unwillingness or inability of the subject to fulfill the conditions and requirements that the social role of a person in society provides.

Role conflicts are also related to the fact that each member of society tends to play several roles at once. For example, the requirements placed on a teenager by parents and peers will be different, and therefore his functions as a friend and son cannot meet the expectations of both the first and second.

The definition of conflict in this case is tantamount to a complex of complex emotional states. They can arise in the subject due to the discrepancy or inconsistency of the requirements placed on him by different social circles, of which he is a member.

At the same time, all the roles of a person are very important for him. At the same time, he can identify the significance of each of them in completely different ways. The individual manifestation of social roles by the subject has a specific shade, which directly depends on the acquired knowledge and experience, as well as on the desire and desire of a person to meet the expectations of the society of which he is a member. Author: Elena Suvorova

Some people confuse this concept with status. But these terms mean completely different manifestations. The concept of role was introduced by psychologist T. Parsons. K. Horney and I. Hoffman used it in their works. They revealed the characteristics of the concept in more detail and conducted interesting research.

Social role - what is it?

According to the definition, a social role is a behavior that society has found acceptable for people in a particular status. The social roles of a person change, depending on who he is at the moment. Society prescribes a son or daughter to behave in one way than, say, a worker, mother or woman.

What is meant by social role?

1. Behavioral reactions of a person, his speech, actions, deeds.
2. The appearance of the individual. He, too, must comply with the norms of society. A man dressed in a dress or a skirt in a number of countries will be perceived negatively, evenly, just like the head of the office, who comes to work in a dirty robe.
3. Individual motivation. The environment approves and reacts negatively not only to a person's behavior, but also to his inner aspirations. Motives are evaluated based on the expectations of other people, which are built on a generally accepted understanding. A bride who marries because of material gains will be perceived negatively in certain societies, they expect love and sincere feelings from her, and not commercialism.

The value of the social role in human life

Changing behavioral responses can be costly for an individual. Our social roles are determined by the expectations of other people, not justifying them, we risk remaining outcasts. A person who decides to break these peculiar rules is unlikely to build relationships with the rest of society. They will condemn him, try to change him. In some cases, such an individual is perceived as mentally abnormal, although the doctor did not make such a diagnosis.

Signs of a social role

This concept is also associated with the profession and type of human activity. This also affects how the social role is manifested. We expect different appearance, speech and actions from a university student and from a schoolchild. A woman, in our understanding, should not do what is included in the concept of normal behavior of a man. And a doctor has no right to act in a working environment in the same way as a salesman or engineer would act. The social role in the profession is manifested in appearance, the use of terms. Violating these rules can be considered a bad specialist.

How are social status and social role related?

These terms mean completely different things. But at the same time, social statuses and roles are closely related. The first gives a person rights and obligations, the second explains what kind of behavior society expects from him. A man who has become a father must support his child, and it is expected that he will devote time to communicating with his offspring. Expectations of the environment in this case can be very precise or fuzzy. It depends on the culture of the country where the person lives and is brought up.

Types of social roles

Psychologists divide the concept into 2 main categories - interpersonal and status-related. The former are associated with emotional relationships - the leader, the favorite in the team, the soul of the company. The social roles of the individual, dependent on the official position, are more determined by the profession, type of activity and family - husband, child, seller. This category is impersonal, behavioral reactions in them are defined more clearly than in the first group.

Each social role is different:

1. According to the degree of its formalization and scale. There are those where the behavior is written very clearly and those where the expected actions and reactions of the environment are described vaguely.
2. According to the method of receipt. Achieved are often associated with the profession, assigned with marital status, physiological characteristics. An example of the first subgroup is a lawyer, a leader, and the second is a woman, daughter, mother.

Individual role

Each person has several functions at the same time. Performing each of them, he is forced to behave in a certain way. The individual social role of a person is associated with the interests and motives of a person. Each of us perceives ourselves somewhat differently from how other people see us, so our own assessment of behavior and other people's perception of it can diverge greatly. For example, a teenager may consider himself quite mature, having the right to make a number of decisions, but for his parents he will still be a child.

Interpersonal roles of a person

This category is related to the emotional sphere. Such a social role of a person is often assigned to him by a certain group of people. An individual can be considered a merry fellow, a favorite, a leader, a loser. Based on the perception of the personality by the group, the environment expects a certain standard response from the person. If it is assumed that a teenager is not only a son and a student, but also a joker and a bully, his actions will be evaluated through the prism of these unofficial statuses.

Social roles in the family are also interpersonal. It is not uncommon for one of the children to have the status of a pet. In this case, conflicts between children and parents become pronounced and occur more often. Psychologists advise avoiding the assignment of interpersonal statuses within the family, because in this situation, its members are forced to restructure behavioral reactions, which leads to a change in personality, and not always for the better.

New social roles of youth

They appeared in connection with a change in social structure. The development of Internet communication has led to the fact that the social roles of young people have changed, become more variable. Development also contributed to this. Modern teenagers are more and more guided not by official statuses, but by those accepted in their society - punk, vaper. The appropriation of such perception can be group and individual.

Modern psychologists argue that the behavior that is considered normal for the environment is inherent not in a healthy person, but in a neurotic. With this fact, they associate an ever-increasing number of people who are not forced to turn to specialists for help.