Concept social role is closely related to the function that a person performs in society, with his rights and responsibilities to others. Social science has been enriched with several definitions throughout its existence. Some correlate this concept with social position, which brings it closer to status. Others suggest that this is expected behavior.

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

At the same time, the teacher can be more demanding, tough, or soft, good-natured. Some limit themselves exclusively to teaching their subject, while others begin to participate more actively in the lives of their students. Some people accept gifts from their parents, others absolutely do not. These are all shades of the same role.

What does the concept of social role include?

Social roles are necessary for society because they allow 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 promotes order.

Moreover, the same person may have a large number of different roles: in the family - father, husband, friendly company- a 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 is.

The variety of social roles is especially noticeable in adolescence, when a person tries to understand what is close to him. He can spend quite a long time figuring out how they are connected to each other, to status, prestige, to the reaction of society, to family comfort, etc. As the teenager develops a more mature and clear 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 he seems to freeze on the edge. The teenager manages to emerge from the state of a child, but has not yet fully entered the life of an adult. Which is often perceived quite 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 set. It is believed that the richer it is, the better for the realization of the person himself. But if he has a small number of roles or only one, then in this case we are talking about pathology. Or, at least, about severe isolation from society.

How is a role set different from a set of roles? Because the first applies only to one social status. But the second one is more scattered. In general, sociological focus groups are still conducting research on how a change in one position affects status in the family, to what extent, and why.

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

Types of social roles

So, what types of social roles are there anyway? There is a division related to representations. This is the expected role, that is, what they are set up for in the family, at work, etc. The second type is the subjective social role of the individual. Roughly speaking, what everyone expects from himself is internal installations. And, finally, the role played, the characteristics of what happened.

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

It is worth considering that each role is influenced by social attitudes and how the bearer understands the tasks assigned to him. A seller in the UK and a seller in Iran on the market are two very different things.

The concept of social role in development

Please note that many things are changing quite rapidly today. Thus, 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, teenagers, representatives of various groups. What is considered acceptable behavior these days would have severely offended others just a few decades ago.

Why do you need to track these dynamics? To understand what kind of world we live in, where we are moving, 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 true: marriage as an institution has outlived its usefulness, children cannot be physically punished, animals have the right to criminal protection from violence.

What do these trends show? By analyzing the opinions of many, one can see the needs of society. And understand exactly where we will end up, because the existing social demand will sooner or later be satisfied. Nowadays, social scientists note the growing importance of law in the lives of the majority.

For example, many newlyweds, when filling out a questionnaire asking whether the following judgments were correct, indicated that they had actually signed a marriage contract. What only 15 years ago seemed a shocking detail from the world of oligarchs has now affected representatives of the middle class.

Varieties of social statuses

Since the issue of social role is very closely related to status, it is necessary to at least briefly understand this concept. And are the following judgments true: are role and status the same thing or very similar concepts? As you will see shortly, we are talking about different concepts.

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

It should be noted that roles and statuses in society are not equivalent to each other. There is a certain hierarchy, determined by the system of values ​​and the significance of the holder of a particular status, how important he is for society, how much and what he is capable of influencing.

All this directly relates to the issue of prestige. And the more important a particular status is, the harder a person tries to perform a certain role, as a rule.

Social status of a person- This social status, which he occupies in the structure of society. Simply put, it is the place that an individual occupies among other individuals. This concept was first used by the English jurist Henry Maine in the mid-19th century.

Each person simultaneously has several social statuses in different social groups. Let's look at the main types of social status and examples:

1. Natural status. As a rule, the status received at birth is unchanged: gender, race, nationality, class or estate.
2. Acquired status. What a person achieves in the course of his life with the help of knowledge, skills and abilities: profession, position, title.
3. Prescribed status. The status that a person acquires due to factors beyond his control; for example - age (an elderly man cannot do anything about the fact that he is elderly). This status changes and changes over the course of life.

Social status gives a person certain rights and responsibilities. For example, having achieved the status of a father, a person receives the responsibility to take care of his child.

The totality of all the statuses a person has in the world this moment, called status set.

There are situations when a person in one social group occupies high status, and in the other - low. For example, on the football field you are Cristiano Ronaldo, but at the desk you are a poor student. Or there are situations when the rights and responsibilities of one status interfere with the rights and responsibilities of another. For example, the President of Ukraine, who is engaged in commercial activities, which he has no right to do under the constitution. Both of these cases are examples of status incompatibility (or status mismatch).

The concept of social role.

Social role- this is a set of actions that a person is obliged to perform according to the achieved social status. More specifically, it is a pattern of behavior that results from the status associated with that role. Social status is a static concept, but social role is dynamic; as in linguistics: status is the subject, and role is the predicate. For example, the best football player in the world in 2014 is expected to play well. Good game- this is the role.

Types of social role.

generally accepted system of social roles developed by American sociologist Talcott Parsons. He divided types of roles according to four main characteristics:

By role scale (that is, by range possible actions):

• broad (the roles of husband and wife involve a huge number of actions and varied behavior);
• narrow (roles of seller and buyer: gave money, received goods and change, said “thank you,” a couple more possible actions and, in fact, that’s all).

How to get a role:

• prescribed (roles of men and women, young man, old man, child, etc.);
• achieved (the role of a schoolchild, student, employee, employee, husband or wife, father or mother, etc.).

By level of formalization (officiality):

• formal (based on legal or administrative norms: police officer, civil servant, official);
• informal (that arose spontaneously: the roles of a friend, “the soul of the party,” a merry fellow).

By motivation (according to the needs and interests of the individual):

• economic (the role of the entrepreneur);
• political (mayor, minister);
• personal (husband, wife, friend);
• spiritual (mentor, educator);
• religious (preacher);

In the structure of a social role, an important point is the expectation of others of a certain behavior from a person according to his status. In case of failure to fulfill one’s role, various sanctions are provided (depending on the specific social group) up to and including depriving a person of his social status.

Thus, the concepts social status and role are inextricably linked, since one follows from the other.

Types of social roles are determined by diversity social groups, types of activities and relationships in which the individual is involved. Depending on the public relations distinguish social and interpersonal social roles.

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

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

In life, in interpersonal relationships, each person acts in some dominant social role, a unique social role as the most typical individual image, familiar to others. Changing a habitual image is extremely difficult 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 group member become to those around them and the more difficult it is to change the behavior pattern habitual to those around them.

An attempt to systematize social roles was made by Talcott Parsons and his colleagues (1951). 3 They believed that any role could be described using five basic characteristics:

1. Emotionality.

2. Method of receipt.

3. Scale.

4. Formalization.

5. Motivation

1. Emotionality. Some roles (such as nurse, doctor, or owner funeral home) require emotional restraint in situations usually accompanied by violent expressions of feelings ( we're talking about about illness, suffering, death). Family members and friends are expected to show less reserved expressions of feelings.

2. Method of receipt. Some roles are conditioned by prescribed statuses - for example, child, youth or adult citizen; they are determined by the age of the person playing the role. Other roles are won; When we talk about a doctor of medicine, we mean a role that is not achieved automatically, but as a result of the individual’s efforts.

3. Scale. Some roles are limited to strictly defined aspects of human interaction. For example, the doctor and patient roles are limited to issues that directly relate to the patient's health. A broader relationship is established between a small child and his mother or father; Each parent is concerned about many aspects of their child’s life.

4. Formalization. Some roles involve interacting with people according to set rules. For example, a librarian is obliged to issue books for a certain period of time and demand a fine for each day of overdue from those who delay the books. When performing other roles, you may receive special treatment from those with whom you have a personal relationship. For example, we do not expect a brother or sister to pay us for a service rendered to them, although we might accept payment from a stranger.

5. Motivation. Different roles are driven by different motives. It is expected, say, that an enterprising person is absorbed in his own interests - his actions are determined by the desire to obtain maximum profit. But it is assumed that the employee social sphere like the Unemployment Compensation Bureau works primarily for the public good, not for personal gain.

According to Parsons, every role includes some combination of these characteristics. For example, the role of a prostitute. Usually these ladies do not show any feelings towards their clients. This role is achieved rather than prescribed, since it is acquired on the basis of certain activities. It is strictly limited to sex offered for money. Typically, prostitutes serve their clients in accordance with accepted rules - a set fee for a certain type of service. Prostitutes work for their own benefit - sexual services for personal gain.

While performing roles, a person, as a rule, experiences emotional and moral experiences, may come into conflict with other people, experience a moral crisis, and duality. This gives rise to discomfort, uncertainty, and psychological distress, which are signs of role tension.

The main causes of role stress are primarily role conflicts.

Just as the forms, reasons, and situations that give rise to role tension are diverse, so are the ways to overcome them. We are not talking about overcoming the fundamental principles, the root causes of psychological stress in the course of role behavior - we are only talking about ways to overcome stress and possible depression.

One such way is the method of rationalizing role expectations, which creates illusory but seemingly rational excuses for failure.

Rationalization of role expectations can reduce aspirations, transfer aspirations from one prestigious status to another, but in a different area (for example, from production to family, and vice versa).

The essence of the principle of separation of roles, as a way to overcome role tensions, is the conscious differentiation of the rules, techniques, norms inherent in the performance of one role, from the norms, patterns of behavior inherent in another role.

The principle of role hierarchization can also play a huge role in overcoming serious psychological experiences generated by the clash of role predictions. “What is more important to me – children, family, or science?” Faced with such a dilemma, a person finds himself in a dead end, the way out of which is for the individual to choose one of these roles as a priority. And in conflict situations you should follow the instructions of the preferred role.

Role regulation is the conscious, purposeful actions of a society, nation, team, family, the purpose of which is to overcome the psychological stress of the individual caused by role conflict.

One of the forms of role regulation, associated with the approval (propaganda) by government bodies and the media of new standards of role behavior (could play a significant role in establishing in our society a model of an entrepreneur, farmer, etc., increasing their prestige).

The influence of social role on personality development

The influence of social role on personality development is quite large. Personality development is facilitated by its interaction with persons playing a range of roles, as well as by its participation in the largest possible role repertoire. The more social roles an individual is able to reproduce, the more adapted to life he is. Thus, the process of personality development often acts as the dynamics of mastering social roles.

It is equally important for any society to prescribe roles according to age. Adaptation of individuals to constantly changing age and age statuses- an eternal problem. Before an individual has time to adapt to one age, another one immediately approaches, with new statuses and new roles. As soon as a young man begins to cope with the embarrassment and complexes of youth, he already stands on the threshold of maturity; As soon as a person begins to show wisdom and experience, old age comes. Each age period is associated with favorable opportunities for the manifestation of human abilities, moreover, it prescribes new statuses and requirements for learning new roles. At a certain age, an individual may experience problems associated with adapting to new role status requirements. A child who is said to be older than his age, that is, has reached the status inherent in the older age category, usually does not fully realize his potential childhood roles, which negatively affects the completeness of his socialization. Often such children feel lonely and defective. At the same time, the status of an immature adult is a combination of adult status with attitudes and behavior characteristic of childhood or adolescence. Such a person usually has conflicts when performing roles appropriate to his age. These two examples show unsuccessful adaptation to the age statuses prescribed by society.

Mastering a new role can make a huge difference in changing a person. In psychotherapy, there is even a corresponding method of behavior correction - image therapy (image - image). The patient is asked to enter a new image, to play a role, as in a play. In this case, the responsibility function is not borne by the person himself, but by his role, which sets new patterns of behavior. A person is forced to act differently based on a new role. Despite the conventionality of this method, the effectiveness of its use was quite high, since the subject was given the opportunity to release suppressed drives, if not in life, then at least during the game. The sociodramatic approach to the interpretation of human actions is widely known. Life is viewed as a drama, each participant in which plays his own specific role. Playing roles gives not only a psychotherapeutic, but also a developmental effect.

Social role is the fixation of a certain position occupied by one or another individual in the system of social relations.

There are 2 types of social relations in society: formal (conventional) – regulated by legislation and social status; informal (interpersonal) – regulated by feelings.

Social role - social required type social activities and the way of behavior of an individual bearing the stamp of social evaluation.

The concept of social role was first proposed by American sociologists R. Linton and J. Mead. (in the 30s of the last century)

Each individual performs not one, but several social roles.

Types of social roles:

1. formal social roles (teacher, cook)

2. interpersonal social roles (friend, leader, enemy)

3. socio-demographic roles (mother, man, sister)

Characteristics of a social role

The main characteristics of a social role are highlighted by the American sociologist T. Parsons: scale, method of obtaining, emotionality, formalization, 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 have a very large scale, since the widest range of relationships is established between husband and wife.

The way a role is acquired depends on how inevitable the role is for the person. Thus, the roles of a young man, an old man, a man, a woman are automatically determined by the age and gender of a person and do not require special efforts to acquire them. Other roles are achieved or even won during a person's life and as a result of special efforts.

Social roles differ significantly in their level of emotionality. Each role carries within itself certain possibilities for the emotional manifestation of its subject.

Formalization as a descriptive characteristic of a social role is determined by the specifics of interpersonal relationships of the bearer of this role. Some roles involve the establishment of only formal relationships between people with strict regulation of rules of behavior; others are only informal; still others may combine both formal and informal relationships.

Motivation depends on the needs and motives of a person. Different roles are driven by different motives. Parents, caring for the well-being of their child, are guided primarily by a feeling of love and care; the leader works for the sake of the cause, etc.

All social roles are subject to public assessment (not the individual, but the type of activity) and are associated with rights and responsibilities. If there is harmony of rights and responsibilities, it means that a person has correctly learned his social role.

The influence of social role on personality development

The influence of social role on personality development is great. Personality development is facilitated by its interaction with persons playing a range of roles, as well as by its participation in the largest possible role repertoire. The more social roles an individual is able to reproduce, the more adapted to life he is. The process of personality development often acts as the dynamics of mastering social roles.

Role conflicts

Role conflict is a situation in which an individual with a certain status is faced with incompatible expectations.

The situation of role conflict is caused by the fact that the individual is unable to fulfill the requirements of the role.

In role theories, it is customary to distinguish between two types of conflicts: inter-role and intra-role.

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

This science considers society or other organized group as a collection of individuals with a certain status and pattern of behavior. What is meant by the concepts of social statuses and roles, as well as what meaning 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 responsibilities established by society. That is, this concept considers the connection between the function of an individual and its position in society or interpersonal relationships.

We can also say 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. In this case, a person tries on a model of behavior or a prescribed algorithm of actions either voluntarily or forcibly.

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

Usually this concept is considered as one of the dynamic aspects of an individual’s status. When acting as a member of a society or group and accepting responsibility for performing certain functions, a person must follow the rules established by that very group. This is what the rest of the community expects from him.

If we consider the concept of a social role using the example of an organization, we can understand that the manager of an enterprise, training staff, and persons receiving knowledge are an active organized community, the norms and rules of which are prescribed for each participant. IN educational institution the principal gives orders that teachers must obey.

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

For each participant in role relationships, the prescribed regulatory requirements and the individual shades of the status he has received are known. Therefore, the model of human behavior in a particular social circle is expected for other 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. Thus, social roles are divided into types:

1. Social or conventional roles determined professional activity or a standardized system of relationships (educator, teacher, student, seller). They are built on the basis of rules, norms and responsibilities prescribed by the community. This does not take into account who exactly is performing a particular role.

In turn, this type is divided into basic socio-demographic patterns 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, we can also distinguish such social roles of the individual as woman/man.

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

The most obvious examples here are: the selection of an actor to play a specific role, taking into account his external data, abilities, and specific social and typical manifestations. Each actor tends to play a certain role (tragic, hero, comedian, etc.). A person tries on the most typical model of behavior or a unique role, which allows others to, to one degree or another, predict the person’s future actions.

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

Considering this topic, we cannot ignore the classification according to the characteristics of each specific role. The famous American sociologist T. Parsons was able to identify them in order to get the most complete understanding of the term “social role of the individual.” For each model, he immediately proposed four distinctive properties.

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 more significance there is in such relationships. Here you can give a clear example of the relationship between a husband and wife.

2. Method of receipt. Referring to this criterion, we can identify 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.

A person’s gender ideas regarding his role are reinforced by school. The biological characteristics of the individual and the gender stereotypes established in society predetermine further formation under the influence of the environment.

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

In turn, with changing conditions modern society The concept of the 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 every person who will not have to make any effort to receive justification from the environment. The achieved roles can be considered the results of an individual’s activities, indicating his social status (for example, career growth).

3. The degree of formalization on which the formation of personality and its functions depends. Regarding this criterion, the social status of an individual can be formed under the influence of regulatory requirements, or it can develop arbitrarily. For example, relationships between people in a military unit are regulated by regulations, 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. This could be financial gain, promotion career ladder, 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 is determined by the subject himself.

The process of choosing and becoming a role

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

First, a person learns basic skills - through practice, he applies the theoretical knowledge acquired in childhood. Also included in the initial stage is the development of thinking abilities, which will be improved throughout later life person.

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

An equally important component of individual socialization 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 traumatize a person in the process of his formation. Using certain social techniques 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 the social role and social status of an individual are determined are very complex. But without them, a person cannot become a full-fledged person, which is why they are so significant in everyone’s life. Sociologists argue that there are two phases that contribute to an individual’s adaptation to his social role:

• Adaptation. During this period, a person learns the rules and norms of behavior established by society. By mastering new laws, a person begins to behave accordingly.
• Interiorization. It provides for the acceptance of new conditions and rules while simultaneously abandoning old principles.

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

Role conflicts are also associated with the fact that each participant in society tends to play several roles at once. For example, the demands 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 former and the latter.

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

At the same time, all a person’s roles are very important to 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 the person to meet the expectations of the society of which he is a member. Author: Elena Suvorova