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. relationship. 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 mandatory regulatory requirements R.s is provided by the most serious sanctions of a negative nature, 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.). Four roles can be distinguished in the normative structure. structural element- 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.s). 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 ↓

social role- this is a certain set of actions or a model of human behavior in a social environment, which is determined by its 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. These include practical skills that we learn from childhood, as well as thinking skills that improve along with getting 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, resorting to various mechanisms. 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 youth, when the psyche is most susceptible to influences environment 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, team ( kindergarten and schools), 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.

1. 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;
2. 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.

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 a person who occupies a given status in the social system must perform. A person can have many roles.

The status of children is usually subordinate to adults, and children are expected to be respectful towards the latter. The status of soldiers is different from that of civilians; the role of soldiers is associated with risk and fulfillment of the oath, which cannot be said about other groups of the population. 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 others 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 duties, then a role is an action within this set of rights and duties. The social role consists of: role expectation (expectation) and 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 acquired mainly through role training. For example, a person who masters the role of a military man joins the customs, moral standards and laws specific to the status of that 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 is unacceptable for another. Thus, socialization as a process of learning the generally accepted ways and methods of actions and interactions is essential process learning role-playing behavior, as a result of which the individual really becomes part of society.

Types of social roles

Types of social roles are determined by diversity social groups, activities and relationships in which the person is included. Depending on the public relations allocate social and interpersonal social roles.

Social roles are associated with social status, profession or type of activity (teacher, pupil, student, seller). These are standardized impersonal roles based on rights and obligations, regardless of who fills these roles. Allocate socio-demographic roles: husband, wife, daughter, son, grandson ... Man and woman are also social roles, biologically predetermined and involving specific ways of behavior, fixed by 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 relations, each person acts in some kind of dominant social role, a kind of social role as the most typical individual image familiar to others. It is extremely difficult to change the habitual image both for the person himself and for the perception of the people around him. The longer the group exists, the more familiar the dominant social roles of each member of the group become for others and the more difficult it is to change the stereotype of behavior familiar to others.

The main characteristics of the social role

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

By scale. Some roles may be strictly limited, while others may be blurred.

According to the method of receipt. Roles are divided into prescribed and conquered (they are also called achieved).

Degree of formalization. Activities can proceed both within strictly established limits, and arbitrarily.

By type of motivation. Personal profit can serve as motivation, public good etc.

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

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

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

Motivation depends on the needs and motives of a person. Different roles are due to different motives. Parents, caring for the welfare of their child, are guided primarily by a feeling of love and care; the leader works for the cause, and so on.

The social role is interpreted as an expectation, activity, representation, stereotype, social function, a set of norms, etc.

In addition, there are two main role characteristics(aspect):

1) role expectation- what is expected of me

2) role performance- what I will actually perform.

A certain consistency of role expectation with role performance serves as a guarantee of optimal social interaction.

Types of social roles determined by the variability of social groups, types of activities and relationships in which the individual is included.

Classification of social roles according to Gerhard:

1. Status - changeable with the greatest difficulty, prescribed to us from birth.

Man Woman

age roles

The role of a citizen of one's country

2. Positional - are determined by the professional and qualification division of labor in society. (Physicists, chemists, journalists; senior and junior researchers; professors, categories of actors). More defined than status. Status, in turn, are superimposed on positional.

3. Situational - performed in a given situation. Pedestrian, shopper, etc. More degrees of freedom. The difference in their number can lead to conflict.

Classification of positional roles at work according to Brown:

1. Landmark.

2. Approver, emotional leader.

3. Unique roles due to the characteristics of the person. For example, a scapegoat.

T. Parsons. Approach to the problem of social roles. Characteristics of social role analysis:

1. Emotionality (the doctor and the cemetery attendant must be restrained).

2. Method of obtaining (methods are achieved (student) and prescribed).

3. Scale (optician, salesperson or friend, parent).

4. Formalization. Formalized roles contain a specific structure of actions. Librarian and friend - behavior regarding a borrowed book.

5. Motivation. The motive is always there, but we are not always aware of it.

T. Shibutani. Classification of social roles:

1. Conventional. People agree on the rules for their implementation (teacher and student).

2. Interpersonal. Informal, personalized. How to behave with this or that person.

Depending on social relations, there are social and interpersonal social roles.

Social roles are connected with social status, profession or type of activity (teacher, pupil, student, seller). In interactionist concepts, such roles are called conventional(convention - agreement). These are standardized impersonal roles based on rights and obligations, regardless of who fills these roles. Allocate socio-demographic roles: husband, wife, daughter, son, grandson ... A man and a woman are also social roles ( gender roles), biologically predetermined and suggesting specific behaviors.

Interpersonal roles are connected 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 habitual image both for the person himself and for the perception of the people around him.

According to the degree of manifestation, they are distinguished active and latent roles.

Active roles are conditioned a specific social situation and are performed at a given time (teacher in the lesson).

Latent rollers manifest themselves in the actual situation, although the subject is potentially the bearer of this role (teacher at home).

Each of us is carriers a large number latent social roles.

According to the way of assimilation, the roles are divided into:

prescribed(Determined by age, gender, nationality).

Acquired(which the subject learns in the process of socialization).

Highlighted the main characteristics of the social role American sociologist T. Parsons. These include:

- scale;

- method of obtaining;

- emotionality;

- formalization;

- motivation.

Scale roles depends on the range of interpersonal relationships. The larger the range, the larger the scale (for example, the social roles of the spouses are very large scale, the seller - the buyer: the interaction is carried out on a specific occasion - purchases - the scale is small).

How to get a role depends on how inevitable the given role is for the person.

The roles of a young man, an old man, a man, a woman are determined and do not require much effort to acquire them. Other roles are achieved in the process of a person's life and as a result of purposeful efforts: student, academician, writer, etc.

Emotion level: each role carries certain possibilities for the emotional manifestation of its subject.

There are roles that prescribe emotional restraint and control: investigator, surgeon, and so on. Conversely, actors are required to be more emotional.

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

(traffic inspector to the violator only formal).

Motivation depends on the needs and motives of the person. Different roles are due to different motives. Parents, caring for the welfare of their child, are guided primarily by a feeling of love and care; the leader works for the cause, and so on.

There is no doubt that the influence of the social role on the development of the individual is quite large. The development of personality is promoted by its interaction with persons playing whole line roles, as well as her participation in the maximum possible role repertoire. The more social roles an individual is able to play, the more adapted to life he is. Thus, the process of personality development often acts as the dynamics of mastering social roles.

(Additional Information, off the record)

Learning a new role can go a long way in changing a person. In psychotherapy, there is even an appropriate method of behavior correction - imagotherapy (imago - image). The patient is offered to enter into a new image, to play a role as in a performance. At the same time, the function of responsibility is not borne by the person himself, but by his role, which sets new pattern behaviors. A person is forced to act differently, based on a new role. At the origins of imagotherapy is the method of psychodrama D. Moreno. He treated people for neurosis, giving them the opportunity to play those roles that they would like to, but could not play in life.

12. Social expectations of personality

EXPECTATIONS - a social psychology term used to denote the expectation of something in interpersonal relationships, for example, the assessment of an individual's actions by other people

Expectations are essentially conditioned individual features personality, objective activity and organizational structure groups, group norms, standards of the totality of socio-psychological expectations, being internally accepted by the personality, form part of its value orientations.

Interpersonal communication gives psychological meaning to expectation - expectation acts as a motive for human behavior

Expectations play a regulatory role in the student group: on the one hand, they provide adaptation, adaptation of the student to his fellow students, and on the other hand, public opinion, the standards of behavior accepted in the student environment, through expectation, they appropriately project the consciousness and actions of each member of the student group, contribute to adaptation groups to individuals.

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

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

Definition

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Classification and varieties

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

The process of choosing and becoming a role

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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