The concept of a social role is closely related to the function that a person performs in society, with his rights and obligations to others. Over the entire period of its existence, social science has been enriched by several definitions. Some relate this concept to social status, which brings it closer to status. Others suggest this is expected behavior.

Let's give examples of social roles, so it will be easier to understand what exactly is being discussed. Let's say there is a school. Who is in it? Teacher, students, director. In the public sense, a teacher must know his subject well, be able to explain it, prepare for each lesson, and be demanding. It has certain tasks and it fulfills its function. And the social status and social role of the individual depends on how well he does it.

At the same time, the teacher can be more demanding, harsh, or gentle, good-natured. Some limit themselves exclusively to teaching their subject, while others begin to participate more actively in the life of their wards. Someone accepts gifts from their parents, others - categorically not. All these are shades of the same role.

What is included in the concept of a social role?

Social roles are essential to society as they enable us to interact with big amount people without receiving a huge amount of information about who they are. When we see a doctor, a postman, a policeman in front of us, we have certain expectations. And when they make excuses, it contributes to order.

Moreover, the same person may have a large number of different roles: in the family - father, husband, in a friendly company - shirt-guy, at work - the head of the security department, etc. Moreover, the more an individual has the opportunity to switch, the richer and more varied his life.

The diversity of social roles is especially noticeable in adolescence, when a person is trying to understand what is close to him. He can figure out for a long time how they are connected with each other, with status, prestige, with the reaction of society, with family comfort, etc. As the teenager develops a more mature and distinct awareness of what he needs , he begins to grow up.

And at the same time in adolescence there is a transition from one role to another. And in a certain interval, it seems to freeze on the edge. A teenager manages to get out of the state of a child, but not yet fully enter the life of an adult. Which is often perceived rather negatively.

Social role theory

A well-known researcher in sociology, the American Merton was the first to draw attention to the fact that any social status presupposes not one, but a whole set of social roles. This formed the basis of the corresponding theory.

Now in science, such a set is called a role-playing set. It is believed that the richer he is, the better for the realization of the person himself. But if that one has a small number of roles or only one, then in this case we are talking about pathology. Or, at least, about strong isolation from society.

How is a Role Set different from many Roles? The fact that the first refers to only one social status. But the second is more fragmented. In general, sociological focus groups are still conducting research on how a change in one position affects the status in the family, how much, why.

Scientists are now actively checking whether the following judgments are correct: the social role of a man at work does not in any way affect his position in the family. As you might guess, the answers received are also carefully analyzed in order to understand the reasons.

Types of social roles

So what kinds of social roles are there in general? There is a division associated with views. This is the expected role, that is, what one is tuned in to in the family, at work, etc. The second type is the subjective social role of the individual. Roughly speaking, what everyone expects from himself, internal installations... And, finally, the role played, a characteristic of what happened.

However, the classification of social roles is not limited to this. They are divided into prescribed (woman, daughter, Russian) and achievable (student, lawyer, professor). Also distinguish between the types of social formal and informal roles. In the first case, everything is strictly regulated: a military man, an official, a judge. In the second - the soul of the company, a lone wolf, best friend- a lot of unspoken, and often spontaneously.

It should be borne in mind that each role is influenced by the social attitude and how the carrier understands the tasks assigned to him. A seller in the UK and in Iran on the market are two big differences.

The concept of a social role in development

Keep in mind that a lot is changing quite actively today. So, the social role of women in modern society in the family, at work, etc. has become completely different compared to what it was 100 years ago. And the same applies to men, adolescents, representatives of various groups. What today is considered a permitted behavior, even a few decades ago, could severely offend others.

Why do you need to track this dynamics? In order to understand what kind of world we live in, where we are going, what types of social roles we will have to deal with in the future. Scientists are already collecting opinions, for example, whether the following judgments are correct: marriage as an institution has outlived its own, children cannot be physically punished, animals have the right to criminal protection from violence.

What do these trends show? Analyzing the opinion of many, one can see the needs of society. And to understand exactly where we will come, because the existing social demand will sooner or later be satisfied. In the present, social scientists state the growing importance of law in the life of the majority.

For example, many newlyweds, filling out the questionnaire, whether the following judgments are correct, indicated that they really signed a marriage contract. What seemed like a shocking detail from the world of oligarchs 15 years ago has now affected the middle class.

Varieties of social statuses

Since the issue of social role is very closely related to status, you need to at least briefly deal with this concept. And are the following judgments correct: role and status are the same or very close concepts? As you will be able to see shortly, we are talking about different concepts.

So, they consider personal status, the one that a person receives in the primary group, and social, he acquires it later, achieving something with his mind, behavior, work. Sociologists also highlight the main, basic status with which many people associate themselves in the first place, and temporary, secondary ones. They arise for a short time, situationally.

It should be noted that roles and statuses in society are not equal to each other. There is a certain hierarchy due to the system of values ​​and the importance of the owner of this or that status, how important he is for society, how much and what he can influence.

All this directly concerns the issue of prestige. And the more important this or that status is, the harder a person tries when performing a certain role, as a rule.

Social role

Social role- a model of human behavior, objectively set by the social position of an individual in the system of social, social and personal relations. A social role is not something outwardly related to social status, but an expression in action of the agent's social position. In other words, a social role is "the behavior that is expected of a person holding a certain status."

History of the term

The concept of "social role" was proposed independently of each other by American sociologists R. Linton and J. Mead in the 1930s. in terms of direct interaction of people, "role play", during which, due to the fact that a person presents himself in the role of another, the assimilation of social norms takes place and the social is formed in the personality. Linton's definition of "social role" as a "dynamic aspect of status" was fixed 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 nodal point at which the individual and society meet, individual behavior turns into social, and the individual properties and inclinations of people are compared with the normative attitudes prevailing in society, depending on what happens selection of people for 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" turn out to be poorly compatible. Modern society requires an individual to constantly change his behavior model in order to fulfill specific roles. In this regard, such neo-Marxists and neo-Freudians as T. Adorno, K. Horney and others in their works made a paradoxical conclusion: the “normal” personality of modern society is a neurotic. Moreover, in modern society, role conflicts are widespread, arising in situations when an individual is required to simultaneously perform several roles with conflicting requirements. Irwin Hoffman, in his studies of interaction rituals, accepting and developing the basic theatrical metaphor, paid attention not so much to role-playing prescriptions and passive adherence to them, but to the very processes of active construction and maintenance. " appearance»In the course of communication, into zones of uncertainty and ambiguity in interaction, mistakes in the behavior of partners.

Definition of the concept

Social role- a dynamic characteristic of a social position, expressed in a set of behavioral models consistent with social expectations (role expectations) and set by special norms (social prescriptions) addressed from the corresponding group (or several groups) to the owner of a certain social position. Holders of a social position expect that the implementation of special prescriptions (norms) will result in regular and therefore predictable behavior, which can be guided by the behavior of other people. This enables regular and continuously planned social interaction (communicative interaction).

Types of social roles

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.

In life, in interpersonal relationships, 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 familiar image both for the person himself and for the perception of the people around him. The longer a group exists, the more familiar the dominant social roles of each member of the group become for those around it, and the more difficult it is to change the stereotype of behavior habitual for those around them.

Social role characteristics

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

• By scale... Some of the roles can be severely limited, while others are blurred.
• By way of receiving... Roles are divided into prescribed and conquered (also called achievable).
• By the degree of formalization... Activity can proceed both within strictly established frameworks and arbitrarily.
• By types of motivation... Personal profit, public good, etc. can act as motivation.

Role scope depends on the range of interpersonal relationships. The larger the range, the larger the scale. For example, the social roles of spouses are very large in 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. Participants in this social interaction are interested in the most different aspects of each other's life, their relationship is practically unlimited. In other cases, when the relationship is strictly defined by social roles (for example, the relationship between the seller and the buyer), interaction can only take place on a specific occasion (in this case, a purchase). Here the scale of the role is reduced to a narrow circle of specific issues and is small.

How to get a role depends on how inevitable this role is for a person. So, the roles young man, old man, men, women are automatically determined by the age and gender of the person and do not require special efforts for their purchase. There can only be the problem of matching your role, which already exists as a given. Other roles are achieved or even conquered 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 practically 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 the interpersonal relations of the bearer of this role. Some roles presuppose the establishment of only formal relations between people with rigid regulation of the rules of behavior; others, on the contrary, are only informal; still others can combine both formal and informal relationships. It is obvious that the relationship of a traffic police representative with a traffic offender should be determined by formal rules, and the relationship between loved ones - 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.

Motivation depends on the needs and motives of the person. Different roles are driven by different motives. Parents, caring for the welfare of their child, are guided primarily by a sense of love and care; the leader works in the name of the cause, etc.

Role conflicts

Role conflicts arise when the duties of the role are not fulfilled due to subjective reasons (unwillingness, inability).

see also

Bibliography

• "Games People Play" by E. Bern

Notes (edit)

Links

Wikimedia Foundation. 2010.

• Chachba, Alexander Konstantinovich
• Fantozzi (film)

See what "Social role" is in other dictionaries:

SOCIAL ROLE- a normatively approved, relatively stable pattern of behavior (including actions, thoughts and feelings) reproduced by an individual depending on social status or position in society. The concept of "role" was introduced independently of each other ... ... The latest philosophical dictionary

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social role- socialinis vaidmuo statusas T sritis Kūno kultūra ir sportas apibrėžtis Laikymasis normų, nustatančių, kaip turi elgtis tam tikros socialinės padėties žmogus. atitikmenys: angl. social role mode vok. soziale Rolle, f rus. role; social role ... Sporto terminų žodynas

social role- socialinis vaidmuo statusas T sritis Kūno kultūra ir sportas apibrėžtis Socialinio elgesio modelis, tam tikras elgesio pavyzdys, kurio tikimasi iš atitinkamą socialinę padėtį užimančio žmogaus. atitikmenys: angl. social role mode vok. soziale ... ... Sporto terminų žodynas

Social role- (see Social role) ... Human ecology

Social role- Normally approved by the society way of behavior expected from everyone holding a given social position. Social roles typical for a given society are assimilated by a person in the process of his socialization. S.r. directly related to ... ... Dictionary of Sociolinguistic Terms

SOCIAL ROLE- See the role ... Explanatory dictionary in psychology

Certain social roles and statuses characterize various relationships and determine the behavior of people.

A social role is a way of people behaving in accordance with accepted norms, depending on their status or position in society, in the system of interpersonal relations. Any human behavior is stimulated by something and someone, has its own direction, is accompanied by some actions (physical, mental, verbal, etc.).

The assimilation of social roles is part of the process of socialization of the individual, an indispensable condition for a person's "growing" into a society of his own kind. Socialization is the process and result of assimilation and active reproduction of social experience by an individual, carried out in communication and activity. Learning social roles, a person learns social standards of behavior, learns to evaluate himself from the outside and exercise self-control. Thus, a developed personality can use role behavior as an instrument of adaptation to certain social situations, at the same time not merging, not identifying with the role.

Social roles are subdivided into institutionalized ones, i.e. institute of marriage, family; social. roles of mother, daughter; wife and conventional: accepted by agreement, although a person may not accept them.

Describing the role-playing sociotypic behavior of a person, sociologists and social psychologists characterize a person precisely as a representative of a particular group, profession, nation, class, or another social whole. relations with the group, what the goals and objectives of the group's joint activities mean for it, various personality qualities are manifested.

Social roles are diverse, and the larger their set, the more complex the society. However, roles are not a simple jumble of inner harmony. They are organized, interconnected by countless threads. There are two main levels of organization, ordering of roles: institutions and communities. Thanks to these social formations, roles are interconnected, their reproduction is ensured, guarantees of their stability are created, specific norms regulating role interactions are formed, sanctions are developed, complex systems of social control arise.

The social role "focuses on the universal, universal requirements for the behavior of a person in a particular social position." Moreover, these two concepts describe the same phenomenon from different points of view. Status describes the position of a person in the social structure, and the role determines its dynamic aspect. Role is a dynamic aspect of status. Education, as an established system, offers a set of ready-made statuses and roles that can fluctuate within a certain scale of admissible invariants.

With regard to social stratification, education plays a dual role. Social stratification describes the social inequality of people, fixes the structural inequality of people, “the conditions under which social groups have unequal access to such social benefits as money, power, prestige, education, information, professional career, self-realization, etc.”. Thus, education as a synonym for the word "diploma" is one of the criteria for building the social stratification of a particular society. According to the degree of accessibility of individual members of society to education, we can talk about a qualitative characteristic of inequality prevailing in a particular society. On the other hand, education is a separate stratum of society. The social stratum has a certain qualitative homogeneity. It is a collection of people who occupy a similar position in the hierarchy and lead a similar lifestyle. Belonging to a stratum has two components - objective (the presence of objective indicators characteristic of a given social stratum) and subjective (identifying oneself with a certain stratum).

Social status as an element of the social organization of society is complexly coordinated and ranked relative to the dominant system of values, which gives them special significance in public opinion. Social mobility characterizes “a change in social status, i.e. the movement of an individual (or social group) between different positions in the system of social stratification. A number of researchers consider educational institutions to be the main means of stimulating and perpetuating social inequality. Nevertheless, there is no doubt that in the modern conditions of the development of society (acceleration of scientific progress, intensification of the rate of knowledge renewal, an increase in the volume of incoming information), a high-quality education is required.

These categories allow you to describe the vertical movement of an individual. But education appears at all levels: global, national, regional. This consideration makes it possible to reveal the presence of additional functions performed by education.

However, this model of education as a social institution turns out to be rather schematic, since it does not reflect the conditions in which a particular institution finds itself. In addition, it is built synchronously and does not allow us to identify the dynamics of the development of education in the time perspective.

The modern social, economic, political, cultural context in which education is located is characterized in terms of two processes: regionalization and globalization. It is customary to consider them as multidirectional and leading to different results. However, this opinion can also be accused of schematism.

Social role is a status-role concept that 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, in connection with which, in this concept, a person is a subject. Famous American sociologists laid the foundations of the concept of personality, they were R. Minton, J. Mead and T. Parson, of course, each has individual merit for the contribution of his 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 consolidated 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 the person.

The social role is that he performs within the framework of his social status in a specific social system. And given that one person has several statuses, then, accordingly, he performs several roles. The general aggregate 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-playing set of the President of the country, this is all clear and easy. In general, for the first time, the American sociologist T. Parson systematized the roles, thanks to whom five main categories were identified that make it possible to qualify 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 delineated, and the role of the fact that this employee is a man is very vague and individual.
2. Some roles are extremely emotional, while others require strictness and restraint.
3. Social roles can differ in the way they are acquired. It depends on the social status, which is prescribed or achieved by a person independently.
4. The scope and scope of authority 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 a public duty.

It is important to remember that a social role is a model of behavior, balanced between the expectation of the role and the character of the person. That is, it is not an exact mechanism and scheme, as expected from a specific social role, but role behavior is specific depending on the individual characteristics of a person. Let us reaffirm that the social role of a person is determined by a specific social status, expressed by a certain profession, sphere 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 is publicly condemned.

A social role is the behavior expected of someone who has a certain social status. Social roles are a set of requirements imposed on an individual by society, as well as actions that must be performed by a person holding a given status in the social system. A person can have many roles.

The status of children is usually subordinate to adults, and children are expected to be deferential to the latter. The status of soldiers is different from that of civilians; the role of soldiers is associated with risk taking and taking oaths, which is not the case for other populations. The status of women is different from that of men, and therefore they are expected to behave differently from men. Each individual can have a large number of statuses, and those around him have the right to expect him to perform roles in accordance with these statuses. In this sense, status and role are two sides of the same phenomenon: if status is a set of rights, privileges and obligations, then a role is an action within this set of rights and obligations. The social role consists of a role expectation (expectation) and the performance of this role (play).

Social roles can be institutionalized and conventional.

Institutionalized: the institution of marriage, family (social roles of mother, daughter, wife)

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

Cultural norms are learned mainly through role learning. For example, a person who masters the role of a military man becomes familiar with the customs, moral norms and laws characteristic of the status of this role. Only a few norms are accepted by all members of society, the adoption of most norms depends on the status of a particular person. What is acceptable for one status turns out to be unacceptable for another. Thus, socialization as a process of teaching the generally accepted ways and methods of action and interaction is the most important process of teaching role behavior, as a result of which the individual really becomes a part of society.

Types of social roles

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

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

In life, in interpersonal relationships, 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 familiar image both for the person himself and for the perception of the people around him. The longer a group exists, the more familiar the dominant social roles of each member of the group become for those around it, and the more difficult it is to change the stereotype of behavior habitual for those around them.

The main characteristics of the social role

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

By scale. Some of the roles can be severely limited, while others are blurred.

By the method of receipt. Roles are divided into prescribed and conquered (also called achievable).

By the degree of formalization. Activity can proceed both within strictly established frameworks and arbitrarily.

By types of motivation. Personal profit, public good, etc. can act as motivation.

The scope of the role depends on the range of interpersonal relationships. The larger the range, the larger the scale. For example, the social roles of spouses are very large in 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. Participants in this social interaction are interested in the most different aspects of each other's life, their relationship is practically unlimited. In other cases, when the relationship is strictly defined by social roles (for example, the relationship between the seller and the buyer), interaction can only take place on a specific occasion (in this case, a purchase). Here the scale of the role is reduced to a narrow circle of specific issues and is small.

The way of getting a role depends on how inevitable the given role is for a person. So, the roles of a young man, old man, man, woman are automatically determined by the age and gender of a person and do not require special efforts to acquire them. There can only be the problem of matching your role, which already exists as a given. Other roles are achieved or even conquered in the course of a person's life and as a result of purposeful special efforts. For example, the role of a student, research assistant, professor, etc. These are almost all roles related to the profession and any achievements of a person.

Formalization as a descriptive characteristic of a social role is determined by the specifics of the interpersonal relations of the bearer of this role. Some roles presuppose the establishment of only formal relations between people with rigid regulation of the rules of behavior; others, on the contrary, are only informal; still others can combine both formal and informal relationships. It is obvious that the relationship of a traffic police representative with a traffic offender should be determined by formal rules, and the relationship between loved ones - 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.

Motivation depends on the needs and motives of the person. Different roles are driven by different motives. Parents, caring for the welfare of their child, are guided primarily by a sense of love and care; the leader works in the name of the cause, etc.