Each person living in a society is included in many different social groups (family, study group, friendly company, etc.). In each of these groups, he occupies a certain position, has a certain status, certain requirements are imposed on him. Thus, one and the same person must behave in one situation like a father, in another - like a friend, in a third - like a boss, i.e. act in different roles. A social role is a way of people's behavior corresponding to accepted norms, depending on their status or position in society, in the system of interpersonal relations. The development of social roles is part of the process of socialization of the individual, an indispensable condition for the "growing" of a person into a society of his own kind. Socialization is the process and result of the assimilation and active reproduction of social experience by an individual, carried out in communication and activity. Examples of social roles are also gender roles (male or female behavior), professional roles. Observing social roles, a person learns social standards of behavior, learns to evaluate himself from the outside and exercise self-control. However, since in real life a person is involved in many activities and relationships, forced to perform different roles, the requirements for which may be contradictory, there is a need for some mechanism that would allow a person to maintain the integrity of his "I" in the conditions of multiple connections with the world (i.e. e. to be yourself, playing various roles). A personality (or rather, a formed substructure of orientation) is just that mechanism, a functional organ that allows you to integrate your "I" and your own life, to carry out a moral assessment of your actions, to find your place not only in a separate social group, but also in life. in general, to work out the meaning of one's existence, to refuse one in favor of the other. Thus, a developed personality can use role-playing behavior as a tool for adapting to certain social situations, while at the same time not merging, not identifying with the role. The main components of the social role constitute a hierarchical system in which three levels can be distinguished. The first is peripheral attributes, i.e. those, the presence or absence of which does not affect either the perception of the role by the environment or its effectiveness (for example, the civil status of a poet or a doctor). The second level involves role attributes that affect both perception and effectiveness (for example, long hair for a hippie or poor health for an athlete). At the top of the three-level gradation are the attributes of the role, which are decisive for the formation of a person's identity. The role concept of personality emerged in American social psychology in the 1930s. (C. Cooley, J. Mead) and became widespread in various sociological currents, primarily in structural-functional analysis. T. Parsons and his followers consider personality as a function of the multitude of social roles that are inherent in any individual in a particular society. Charles Cooley believed that personality is formed on the basis of many interactions of people with the outside world. In the process of these interactions, people create their "mirror self", which consists of three elements: 1. how we think others perceive us ("I'm sure people pay attention to my new hairstyle"); 2. how we think they react to 3. what they see ("I'm sure they like my new hairstyle"); 4. how we respond to the perceived reaction of others ("Apparently, I will always comb my hair like this"). This theory places importance on our interpretation of the thoughts and feelings of others. American psychologist George Herbert Mead went further in his analysis of the process of development of our "I". Like Cooley, he believed that the "I" is a social product, formed on the basis of relationships with other people. In the beginning, as young children, we are unable to explain to ourselves the motives behind the behavior of others. Having learned to comprehend their behavior, children thus take the first step in life. Having learned to think about themselves, they can think about others; the child begins to acquire a sense of his "I". According to Mead, the process of personality formation includes three distinct stages. The first is imitation. At this stage, children copy the behavior of adults without understanding it. Then follows the game stage, when children understand behavior as the performance of certain roles: a doctor, a firefighter, a race car driver, etc.; in the course of the game they reproduce these roles.
social status
social status (from lat. status- position, state) of the individual - this is the position of a person in society, which he occupies in accordance with his age, gender, origin, profession, marital status.
social status - it is a certain position in the social structure of a group or society, connected with other positions through a system of rights and obligations.
Sociologists distinguish several varieties of social statuses:
1) The statuses determined by the position of the individual in the group are personal and social.
personal status the position of a person that he occupies in the so-called small, or primary, group is called, depending on how his individual qualities are evaluated in it.
On the other hand, in the process of interaction with other individuals, each person performs certain social functions that determine him. social status.
2) Statuses determined by the time frame, the impact on the life of the individual as a whole - the main and non-main (episodic).
Main status determines the main thing in a person’s life (most often this is the status associated with the main place of work and family, for example, a good family man and an irreplaceable worker).
Episodic (non-main) social statuses affect the details of human behavior (for example, a pedestrian, a passenger, a passer-by, a patient, a participant in a demonstration or strike, a reader, a listener, a viewer, etc.).
3) Statuses acquired or not acquired as a result of free choice.
Prescribed (assigned) status - a social position that is prescribed in advance to an individual by society, regardless of the merits of the individual (for example, nationality, place of birth, social origin, etc.).
mixed status has the features of prescribed and achieved statuses (a person who has become disabled, the title of academician, Olympic champion, etc.).
Reachable ( acquired) acquired as a result of free choice, personal efforts and is under the control of a person (education, profession, material wealth, business connections, etc.).
In any society, there is a certain hierarchy of statuses, which is the basis of its stratification. Certain statuses are prestigious, others are vice versa. This hierarchy is formed under the influence of two factors:
a) the real usefulness of those social functions that a person performs;
b) the system of values characteristic of a given society.
If the prestige of any statuses is unreasonably high or, on the contrary, underestimated, it is usually said that there is a loss of status balance. A society in which there is a similar tendency to lose this balance is unable to ensure its normal functioning.
Prestige - it is an assessment by society of the social significance of a particular status, enshrined in culture and public opinion.
Each individual can have a large number of statuses. The social status of the individual primarily affects its behavior. Knowing the social status of a person, one 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 commonly called a social role.
social role It is a status oriented behavior pattern.
social role - it is a pattern of behavior recognized as appropriate for people of a given status in a given society.
Roles are determined by people's expectations (for example, the notion that parents should take care of their children, that an employee should conscientiously carry out the work entrusted to him, has taken root in the public mind). But each person, depending on specific circumstances, accumulated life experience and other factors, fulfills a social role in his own way.
Applying for this status, a person must fulfill all the role requirements assigned to this social position. Each person has not one, but a whole set of social roles that he plays in society. The totality of all the roles of a person in society is called role system or role set.
Role set (role system)
role set - a set of roles (role complex) associated with one status.
Each role in the role set requires a specific manner of behavior and communication with people and is thus a collection of relationships unlike any other. The role set includes basic (typical) and situational social roles.
Examples of basic social roles:
1) a worker;
2) owner;
3) consumer;
4) a citizen;
5) family member (husband, wife, son, daughter).
social roles can be institutionalized and conventional.
Institutionalized Roles: institution of marriage, family (social roles of mother, daughter, wife).
Conventional Roles accepted by agreement (a person may refuse to accept them).
Social roles are associated with social status, profession or type of activity (teacher, pupil, student, seller).
A man and a woman are also social roles, biologically predetermined and involving specific ways of behavior, fixed by social norms or customs.
Interpersonal roles are associated with interpersonal relationships that are regulated on an emotional level (leader, offended, family idol, loved one, etc.).
Role behavior
From the social role as a model of behavior, one should distinguish the real role behavior, which means not socially expected, but the actual behavior of the performer of a particular role. And here much depends on the personal qualities of the individual, on the degree of assimilation of social norms by him, on his beliefs, attitudes, and value orientations.
Factors determining the process of implementing social roles:
1) biopsychological capabilities of a person, which may contribute to or hinder the performance of a particular social role;
2) the nature of the role adopted in the group and the features of social control, designed to monitor the implementation of role-playing behavior;
3) personal pattern, defining a set of behavioral characteristics necessary for the successful performance of the role;
4) group structure, its cohesion and degree of identification of the individual with the group.
In the process of implementing social roles, certain difficulties may arise associated with the need for a person to perform many roles in various situations. → in some cases, the discrepancy between social roles, the emergence of contradictions and conflict relations between them.
Role conflict and its types
Role conflict - a situation in which a person is faced with the need to satisfy the requirements of two or more incompatible roles.
Types of role conflicts:
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Type name |
His essence |
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Intra-role |
A conflict in which the requirements of the same role contradict each other (for example, the role of parents involves not only kind, affectionate treatment of children, but also demanding, strictness towards them). |
|
Interrole |
A conflict that arises in situations where the requirements of one role conflict with the requirements of another (for example, the requirements of a woman's main job may come into conflict with her household duties). |
|
Personal-role |
A conflict situation when the requirements of a social role are contrary to the interests and life aspirations of the individual (for example, professional activity does not allow a person to reveal and show his abilities). |
QUESTIONS:
1. Establish a correspondence between status types and their examples: for each position given in the first column, select the corresponding position in the second column.
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TYPES OF STATUS |
|||
|
heir to the throne |
prescribed |
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|
world champion |
achieved |
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department head in a company |
2. When applying for a job, citizen A. filled out a questionnaire in which she indicated that she was a specialist with a higher education, comes from a family of employees, is married, has two children. Name one prescribed and two achieved statuses of citizen A., which she noted in the questionnaire. On the example of one of the named achieved statuses, indicate the status rights and obligations.
1. The prescribed status is a woman.
2. Achieved statuses - a specialist with a higher education, a married lady and a mother of two children.
3. As the mother of her children, she is obliged to bear moral and legal responsibility for them, to ensure a decent standard of living. Just like the mother of her children, she has the right to choose an educational institution for them, with whom they communicate, etc.
44. Social status and social role.
social status- the social position occupied by a social individual or social group in society or a separate social subsystem of society. It is determined by characteristics specific to a particular society, which can be economic, national, age and other characteristics. Social status is divided by skills, abilities, education.
Each person, as a rule, has not one, but several social statuses. Sociologists distinguish:
natural status- the status received by a person at birth (sex, race, nationality, biological stratum). In some cases, birth status may change: the status of a member of the royal family - from birth and as long as the monarchy exists.
acquired (achieved) status- the status that a person achieves due to his mental and physical efforts (work, connections, position, post).
prescribed (assigned) status- the status that a person acquires regardless of his desire (age, status in the family), it can change over the course of life. Prescribed status can be congenital or acquired.
social role is a set of actions that a person occupying a given status in the social system must perform. Each status usually includes a number of roles. The set of roles resulting from the published status is called a role set.
Social role should be considered in two aspects: role expectation and role performance. There is never a perfect match between these two aspects. But each of them is of great importance in the behavior of the individual. Our roles are defined primarily by what others expect of us. These expectations are associated with the status that the person has. If someone does not play a role in accordance with our expectation, then he enters into a certain conflict with society.
For example, a parent should take care of children, a close friend should be not indifferent to our problems, etc.
Role requirements (prescriptions, provisions and expectations of appropriate behavior) are embodied in specific social norms grouped around social status.
The main link between role expectations and role behavior is the character of the individual.
Because each person plays multiple roles in many different situations, conflict can arise between roles. A situation in which a person is faced with the need to satisfy the requirements of two or more incompatible roles is called role conflict. Role conflicts can arise both between roles and within one role.
For example, a working wife finds that the demands of her main job may conflict with her domestic duties; or a married student must reconcile the demands on him as a husband with the demands made on him as a student; or a police officer sometimes has to choose between doing his job or arresting a close friend. An example of a conflict occurring within the same role is the position of a leader or public figure who publicly proclaims one point of view, and in a narrow circle declares himself a supporter of the opposite, or an individual who, under pressure of circumstances, plays a role that does not meet either his interests or his interests. internal settings.
As a result, we can say that every personality in modern society, due to inadequate role training, as well as constantly occurring cultural changes and the multiplicity of roles played by it, experiences role tension and conflict. However, it has mechanisms of unconscious defense and conscious involvement of social structures in order to avoid the dangerous consequences of social role conflicts.
45. Social inequality. Ways and means to overcome it Inequality in society can have 2 sources: natural and social. People differ in physical strength, endurance, etc. These differences lead to the fact that they achieve results and thus occupy a different position in society. But over time, natural inequality is supplemented by social inequality, which consists in the possibility of obtaining social benefits that are not associated with a contribution to the public domain. For example, unequal pay for equal work. Ways to overcome: due to the conditional nature of the social. inequality, it can and must be abolished in the name of equality. Equality is understood as personal equality before God and the law, equality of opportunities, living conditions, health, etc. Currently, supporters of the theory of functionalism believe that the social. inequality is a tool that helps ensure that the most important and responsible tasks are carried out by people who are talented and prepared. Supporters of the theory of conflicts believe that the views of the functionalists are an attempt to justify the statuses that have developed in society and such a situation in which people who control social values have the opportunity to receive benefits for themselves. The question of social inequality is closely intertwined with the concept of social. justice. This concept has 2 interpretations: objective and subjective. Subjective interpretation comes from the attribution of social. justice to legal categories, with the help of which a person gives an assessment that approves or condemns the processes taking place in society. The second position (objective) comes from the principle of equivalence, i.e. reciprocity in relationships between people.
| " |
A social role is a certain set of actions or a model of a person's behavior in a social environment, which is determined by his status or position. Depending on the change in the environment (family, work, friends), the social role also changes.
Characteristic
The social role, like any concept in psychology, has its own classification. The American sociologist Talcott Parsons identified several characteristics that could be used in describing the social role of an individual:
Stages of formation
A social role is not created in a minute or overnight. The socialization of the individual must go through several stages, without which normal adaptation in society is simply not possible.
First of all, a person must learn certain basic skills. This includes practical skills that we learn from childhood, as well as thinking skills that improve along with life experience. The main stages of learning begin and take place in the family.
The next step is education. This is a long process and we can say that it does not end throughout life. Education is carried out by educational institutions, parents, the media and much more. A huge number of factors are involved in this process.
Also, the socialization of the individual is not possible without education. In this process, the main thing is the person himself. It is the individual who consciously chooses the knowledge and skills that he wants to possess.
The following important stages of socialization: protection and adaptation. Protection is a set of processes that are primarily aimed at reducing the significance for the subject of any traumatic factors. A person intuitively tries to protect himself from moral discomfort by resorting to various mechanisms of social protection (denial, aggression, repression, and others). Adaptation is a kind of mimicry process, thanks to which the individual adapts to communicate with other people and maintain normal contacts.
Kinds
Personal socialization is a long process during which a person acquires not only his personal experience, but also observes the behavior and reactions of the people around him. Naturally, the process of socialization takes place more actively in childhood and adolescence, when the psyche is most susceptible to environmental influences, when a person is actively looking for his place in life and himself. However, this does not mean that changes do not occur at an older age. New social roles appear, the environment changes.
Distinguish between primary and secondary socialization. The process of forming the personality itself and its qualities is called primary, and the secondary already refers to professional activity.
Socialization agents are groups of people, individuals who have a direct impact on the search and formation of social roles. They are also called institutions of socialization.
Accordingly, the agents of socialization are primary and secondary. The first group includes family members, friends, a team (kindergarten and school), as well as many other people who influence the formation of personality throughout their conscious life. They play the most important role in the life of every person. This can be explained not only by the informative and intellectual influence, but also by the emotional underpinnings of such close relationships. It is during this period that those qualities are laid that in the future will influence the conscious choice of secondary socialization.
Parents are considered to be one of the most important agents of socialization. The child, even at an unconscious age, begins to copy the behavior and habits of his parents, becoming like him. Then dad and mom become not only an example, but they themselves actively influence the formation of personality.
Secondary agents of socialization are members of society who participate in the growth and development of a person as a professional. These include employees, managers, customers, and people who are related to the individual in his line of duty.
Processes
Personal socialization is a rather complex process. It is customary for sociologists to separate two phases, which are equally important for the search and formation of each of the social roles.
- Social adaptation is a period during which a person gets acquainted with the rules of behavior in society. A person adapts, learns to live according to new laws for him;
- The phase of internalization is no less important, since this time is necessary for the full acceptance of new conditions and their inclusion in the value system of each individual. It must be remembered that in this phase there is a denial or leveling of certain old rules and foundations. This is an inevitable process, since often some norms and roles contradict existing ones.
If at any of the phases there was a “failure”, then role conflicts may appear in the future. This is due to the inability or unwillingness of the individual to fulfill his chosen role.
behavior expected from someone who has a certain social status. It is limited by the totality of rights and obligations corresponding to this status.
Great Definition
Incomplete definition ↓
ROLE SOCIAL
a set of requirements imposed by the society on persons occupying certain social. positions. These requirements (prescriptions, wishes and expectations of appropriate behavior) are embodied in specific social. norms. The system of social sanctions of a positive and negative nature is aimed at ensuring the proper execution of requirements related to R.s. Arising in connection with a specific social. position given in society. structure, R.s. at the same time - a specific (normatively approved) way of behavior, obligatory for individuals performing the corresponding R.s. R.s performed by an individual become a decisive characteristic of his personality, without losing, however, their social-derived and, in this sense, objectively inevitable character. In the aggregate, R.s performed by people personify the dominant societies. relations. Social in their genesis, the requirements of the role become a structural element of the human personality in the course of the socialization of individuals and as a result of the internalization (deep internal assimilation) of the norms that characterize R.s. To internalize a role means to give it its own, individual (personal) definition, to evaluate and develop a certain attitude towards the social. position that forms the corresponding R.s. In the course of the internalization of the role, socially developed norms are evaluated through the prism of attitudes, beliefs, and principles shared by the individual. Society imposes R.s on an individual, but its acceptance, rejection, or performance always leaves an imprint on a person's real behavior. Depending on the nature of the requirements contained in the normative structure of R.s, the latter are divided into at least three categories: norms of proper (mandatory), desirable and possible behavior. Compliance with the mandatory regulatory requirements of R.s is ensured by the most serious negative sanctions, most often embodied in laws or other legal regulations. character. The norms of roles that embody the desired (from the point of view of about-va) behavior are most often provided with negative sanctions of an extra-legal nature (non-compliance with the charter of a public organization entails exclusion from it, etc.). In contrast, role standards, which formulate possible behavior, are provided primarily with positive sanctions (voluntary performance of the duties of those who need help entails an increase in prestige, approval, etc.). In the normative structure of the role, four constructive elements can be distinguished - description (of the type of behavior that is required from a person in this role); prescription (requirement in connection with such behavior); assessment (cases of fulfillment or non-fulfillment of the requirements of the role); sanction (favorable or unfavorable social consequences of actions within the framework of the requirements of R.c). See also: Role theory of personality, Theory of roles. Lit.: Yakovlev A.M. Sociology of economic crime. M., 1988; Solovyov E.Yu. Personality and law//The past interprets us. Essays on the history of philosophy and culture. M, 1991. S, 403-431; Smelzer N. Sociology M., 1994. A.M. Yakovlev.
Great Definition
Incomplete definition ↓
