What are the statuses in society? Attributed and achieved statuses

Status - it is a specific position in the social structure of a group or society, connected to other positions through a system of rights and responsibilities.

Sociologists distinguish two types of status: personal and acquired. Personal status is the position of a person that he occupies in the so-called small, or primary, group, depending on how his individual qualities are assessed in it. On the other hand, in the process of interaction with other individuals, each person performs certain social functions that determine his social status.

Social status is the general position of an individual or social group in society, associated with a certain set of rights and obligations. Social statuses can be prescribed and acquired (achieved). The first category includes nationality, place of birth, social origin, etc., the second - profession, education, etc.

In any society there is a certain hierarchy of statuses, which represents the basis of its stratification. Certain statuses are prestigious, others are the opposite. Prestige is society’s assessment of the social significance of a particular status, enshrined in culture and public opinion. This hierarchy is formed under the influence of two factors:

a) the real usefulness of those social functions that a person performs;

b) a value system characteristic of a given society.

If the prestige of any statuses is unreasonably overestimated or, conversely, underestimated, it is usually said that there is a loss of balance of statuses. A society in which there is a similar tendency to lose this balance is unable to ensure its normal functioning. Authority must be distinguished from prestige. Authority is the degree to which society recognizes the dignity of an individual, specific person.

The social status of an individual primarily influences his behavior. Knowing the social status of a person, you can easily determine most of the qualities that he possesses, as well as predict the actions that he will carry out. Such expected behavior of a person, associated with the status that he has, is usually called social role. A social role actually represents a certain pattern of behavior recognized as appropriate for people of a given status in a given society. In fact, the role provides a model showing exactly how an individual should act in a given situation. Roles vary in degree of formalization: some are very clearly defined, for example in military organizations, others are very vague. A social role can be assigned to a person either formally (for example, in a legislative act), or it can also be of an informal nature.

Any individual is a reflection of the entire population public relations of his era.

Therefore, each person has not one but a whole set of social roles that he plays in society. Their combination is called the role system. Such a variety of social roles can cause internal conflict of the individual (if some of the social roles contradict each other).

Scientists suggest various classifications social roles. Among the latter, as a rule, there are the so-called main (basic) social roles. These include:

a) the role of a worker;

b) the role of the owner;

c) the role of the consumer;

d) the role of a citizen;

d) the role of a family member.

However, despite the fact that the behavior of an individual is largely determined by the status that he occupies and the roles that he plays in society, he (the individual) nevertheless retains his autonomy and has a certain freedom of choice. And although in modern society there is a tendency towards unification and standardization of personality, its complete leveling, fortunately, does not occur. An individual has the opportunity to choose from a variety of social statuses and roles offered to him by society, those that allow him to better realize his plans and use his abilities as effectively as possible. On a person’s acceptance of this or that social role influenced by both social conditions and his biological and personal characteristics (health status, gender, age, temperament, etc.). Any role prescription outlines only general scheme human behavior, offering to make a choice of ways to fulfill it by the individual himself.

In the process of achieving a certain status and fulfilling the corresponding social role, a so-called role conflict may arise. Role conflict is a situation in which a person is faced with the need to satisfy the demands of two or more incompatible roles.

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Social status, its features and types.

Social status- the position occupied by an individual or a social group in society or a separate subsystem of society. It is determined by characteristics specific to a particular society, which can be economic, national, age and other characteristics. Social status is divided according to skills, abilities, and education.

Types of statuses

Each person, as a rule, has not one, but several social statuses. Sociologists distinguish:

· natural status- the status a person received at birth (gender, race, nationality). In some cases, birth status may change: the status of a member of the royal family is from birth and as long as the monarchy exists.

· acquired (achieved) status- the status that a person achieves through his own efforts (position, post).

· prescribed (attributed) status- a status that a person acquires regardless of his desire (age, status in the family); it can change over the course of his life. The prescribed status is either innate or acquired.

· Features of social status

· Status - it is a social position that includes a profession of this type, economic situation, political preferences, demographic characteristics. For example, the status of citizen I.I. Ivanov is defined as follows: “salesman” is a profession, “a wage worker receiving an average income” is an economic trait, “a member of the LDPR” is a political characteristic, “a man aged 25” is a demographic quality.

· Each status as an element of the social division of labor contains a set of rights and obligations.

Rights mean what a person can freely afford or allow in relation to other people. Responsibilities prescribe the status holder with some necessary actions: in relation to others, at his workplace, etc. Responsibilities are strictly defined, recorded in rules, instructions, regulations, or enshrined in custom. Responsibilities limit behavior to certain limits and make it predictable. For example, the status of a slave in the ancient world implied only duties and did not contain any rights. In a totalitarian society, rights and responsibilities are asymmetrical: the ruler and senior officials have maximum rights and minimum responsibilities; Ordinary citizens have many responsibilities and few rights. In our country in Soviet time Many rights were proclaimed in the constitution, but not all of them could be realized. In a democratic society, rights and responsibilities are more symmetrical. We can say that the level of social development of a society depends on how the rights and responsibilities of citizens are related and respected.

· It is important that the duties of an individual presuppose his responsibility for their high-quality implementation.

Thus, a tailor is obliged to sew a suit on time and with high quality; if this is not done, he must be punished somehow - pay a penalty or be fired. The organization is obliged under the contract to supply products to the customer, otherwise it incurs losses in the form of fines and penalties. Even in Ancient Assyria there was such a procedure (fixed in the laws of Hammurabi): if an architect built a building that subsequently collapsed and crushed the owner, the architect was deprived of his life.

This is one of the early and primitive forms of manifestation of responsibility. Nowadays, the forms of manifestation of responsibility are quite diverse and are determined by the culture of society and the level of social development. In modern society, rights, freedoms and responsibilities are determined by social norms, laws, and traditions of society.

· Thus, status- the position of an individual in the social structure of society, which is connected with other positions through a system of rights, duties and responsibilities.

· Since each person participates in many groups and organizations, he can have many statuses. For example, the mentioned citizen Ivanov is a man, a middle-aged man, a resident of Penza, a salesman, a member of the LDPR, an Orthodox Christian, a Russian, a voter, a football player, a regular visitor to a beer bar, a husband, a father, an uncle, etc. In this set of statuses that any person has, one is the main, key one. The main status is the most characteristic for a given individual and is usually associated with his main place of work or occupation: “salesman”, “entrepreneur”, “researcher”, “bank director”, “worker at an industrial enterprise”, “housewife”, etc. P. The main thing is the status that determines the financial situation, and therefore the lifestyle, the circle of acquaintances, and the manner of behavior.

· Specified(natural, prescribed) status determined by gender, nationality, race, i.e. characteristics given biologically, inherited by a person against his will and consciousness. Advances in modern medicine make some statuses changeable. Thus, the concept of biological sex, socially acquired, appeared. With the help of surgical operations, a man who has played with dolls since childhood, dressed like a girl, thought and felt like a girl, can become a woman. He finds his true gender, to which he was psychologically predisposed, but did not receive it at birth. Which gender - male or female - should be considered natural in this case? There is no clear answer. Sociologists also find it difficult to determine what nationality a person whose parents are of different nationalities belongs to. Often, when moving to another country as children, emigrants forget old customs and their native language and are practically no different from the native inhabitants of their new homeland. In this case, biological nationality is replaced by socially acquired nationality.

The status-role concept was developed in the works of American sociologists J. Mead And R. Minton .

Role theory of personality describes it social behavior two basic concepts: “social status” and “social role”.

So, according to this concept, each person occupies a certain place in society.

This place is determined by a number of social positions that imply the presence of certain rights and responsibilities.

It is these positions that are the social statuses of a person. Each person has several social statuses at the same time. However, one of the statuses is always the main or basic one. As a rule, the basic status expresses the position of a person.

Social status- an integral indicator of the social status of an individual, social group, covering profession, qualifications, position, nature of the work performed, financial situation, political affiliation, business connections, age, marital status, etc.

In sociology, there is a classification of social statuses into prescribed and acquired.

Prescribed status- this is a person’s position in society, occupied by him regardless of personal merit, but imposed by the social environment.

Most often, ascribed status reflects a person's innate qualities (race, gender, nationality, age).

Acquired status- This is a position in society achieved by the person himself.

However, a person can also have a mixed status, which combines both types.

A striking example of mixed status is marriage.

In addition to these types, natural and professional-official statuses are also distinguished.

Natural status of personality- a person’s place in the system of social relations, determined by the essential and relatively stable characteristics of a person.

Professional and official status is a social indicator that records the social, economic and production position of a person in society. Thus, social status denotes the specific place that an individual occupies in a given social system.

The concept of “social role” is closely related to the concept of “social status”.

Social role- this is a set of actions that a person occupying a given status in the social system must perform.

Moreover, each status involves performing not one, but several roles. A set of roles, the fulfillment of which is prescribed by one status, is called a role set. Obviously, the higher a person’s position in society, that is, the greater his social status, the more roles he performs.

Thus, the difference in the role set of the President of the state and the worker of a metal rolling plant is quite obvious. The systematization of social roles was first developed by Parsons, who identified five grounds on which a particular role can be classified:

1) emotionality, that is, some roles involve a wide manifestation of emotionality, others, on the contrary, require its containment;

2) method of obtaining- depending on the type of status, they can be prescribed or achieved by the person independently;

3) scale- the scope of authority of one role is clearly established, while that of others is uncertain;

4) regulation- some roles are strictly regulated, such as the role of a civil servant, some are blurred (the role of a man);

5) motivation- performing a role for one’s own benefit or for the public good.

The implementation of a social role can also be viewed from several angles.

On the one hand, this is a role expectation, which is characterized by a certain behavior of a person depending on his status, which is expected by surrounding members of society.

On the other hand, this is role performance, which is characterized by a person’s real behavior, which he considers to be correlated with his status.

It should be noted that these two role aspects do not always coincide. Each of them plays great value in a person’s determination of his behavior, since social expectations have a strong impact on a person.

The normal structure of a social role usually has four elements:

1) description of the type of behavior corresponding to this role;

2) instructions (requirements) associated with this behavior;

3) assessment of the performance of the prescribed role;

4) sanctions - the social consequences of a particular action within the framework of the requirements of the social system. Social sanctions can be moral in nature, implemented directly by a social group through its behavior (contempt), or legal, political, or environmental.

no role is a pure model of behavior. The main link between role expectations and role behavior is the character of the individual. That is, the behavior of a particular person does not fit into a pure scheme.

Anastasia Stepantsova

Another result of socialization is the acquisition of different statuses by people, i.e. certain positions in society. There are statuses social And private.

Social status- this is the position of an individual (or group of people) in society in accordance with his gender, age, origin, property, education, occupation, position, marital status, etc. (student, pensioner, director, wife).

Depending on the role played by the individual himself in acquiring his status, two main types of social status are distinguished: prescribed And reached.

Prescribed status- this is one that is received from birth, by inheritance or by coincidence of life circumstances, regardless of the desire, will and efforts of a person (gender, nationality, race, etc.).

Achieved status– a status that is acquired thanks to the will and efforts of the individual himself (education, qualifications, position, etc.).

Personal status- this is a person’s position in a small (or primary) group, determined by how others treat him. (hardworking, diligent, friendly).

Also highlighted natural And professional and official statuses.

Natural status personality presupposes significant and relatively stable characteristics of a person (men and women, childhood, youth, maturity, old age, etc.).

Professional official- this is the basic status of the individual, for an adult it is most often the basis of the integral status. It records the social, economic, production and technical position (banker, engineer, lawyer, etc.).

Social connections between subjects of social relations, established in relation to the social functions provided, form certain points of intersection in the vast field of social relations. These points of intersection of connections in the field of social relations are social statuses.
From this point of view, the social organization of society can be presented in the form of a complex, interconnected system of social statuses occupied by individuals who, as a result, become members of society, citizens of the state.
Society not only creates social status, but also provides social mechanisms for distributing members of society into these positions. The relationship between social statuses prescribed by society to an individual, regardless of effort and merit (prescribed positions), and statuses, the replacement of which depends on the person himself (achieved positions), is an essential characteristic of the social organization of society. Prescribed social statuses are predominantly those whose replacement occurs automatically, due to a person’s birth and in connection with such characteristics as gender, age, kinship, race, caste, etc.

The correlation in the social structure of prescribed and achieved social statuses is, in essence, an indicator of the nature of the economic and political power, there is a question about the nature of the social formation that imposes on individuals the corresponding structure of social status. The personal qualities of individuals and individual examples of social advancement in general do not change this fundamental situation.

Date of publication: 2015-02-28; Read: 8983 | Page copyright infringement

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Another result of socialization is the acquisition of different statuses by people, i.e. certain positions in society. There are statuses social And private.

Depending on the role played by the individual himself in acquiring his status, two main types of social status are distinguished: prescribed And reached.

Achieved status– a status that is acquired thanks to the will and efforts of the individual himself (education, qualifications, position, etc.).

Personal status- this is a person’s position in a small (or primary) group, determined by how others treat him. (hardworking, diligent, friendly).

Also highlighted natural And professional and official statuses.

Natural status personality presupposes significant and relatively stable characteristics of a person (men and women, childhood, youth, maturity, old age, etc.).

Social status denotes the specific place that an individual occupies in a given social system. Thus, it can be noted that social statuses are structural elements of the social organization of society, ensuring social connections between subjects of social relations. These relationships, ordered within the framework of social organization, are grouped in accordance with the socio-economic structure of society and form a complex coordinated system. Social connections between subjects of social relations, established in relation to the social functions provided, form certain points of intersection in the vast field of social relations. These points of intersection of connections in the field of social relations are social statuses.
From this point of view, the social organization of society can be presented in the form of a complex, interconnected system of social statuses occupied by individuals who, as a result, become members of society, citizens of the state.
Society not only creates social status, but also provides social mechanisms for distributing members of society into these positions. The relationship between social statuses prescribed by society to an individual, regardless of effort and merit (prescribed positions), and statuses, the replacement of which depends on the person himself (achieved positions), is an essential characteristic of the social organization of society. Prescribed social statuses are predominantly those whose replacement occurs automatically, due to a person’s birth and in connection with such characteristics as gender, age, kinship, race, caste, etc.

The correlation in the social structure of prescribed and achieved social statuses is, in essence, an indicator of the nature of economic and political power; there is a question about the nature of the social formation that imposes on individuals the corresponding structure of social status. The personal qualities of individuals and individual examples of social advancement in general do not change this fundamental situation.

R. Merton

Social status is:

2) achieved (attainable), i.e. that which a person himself achieves during his life, making certain efforts (profession, material wealth, political influence, etc.)

d.). Sometimes a person may have a mixed social status, but most often a person has several statuses, since he is a member of different social groups (for example, a man is a boss at work, but at home he is a kind and caring father). But still, basically, a person’s social status and his position in society are determined by one, the most basic status. In most cases, it is determined by place of work.

It is important to understand the following:

Social statuses, their types

In everyday conversation, the word “status” is used to denote the position of an individual, determined by his economic position, influence and prestige. Man is social; he interacts with various social groups. Entering many social groups at the same time, he occupies a different position in each of them. To analyze the degree of inclusion of an individual in various groups, as well as positions, cat. he ranks in each of them, using the concept of social status. Status is understood as the social position of a person within a group or society, associated with certain of his rights and responsibilities; this is the rank or position of an individual in this group. . It is with the help of statuses that we identify each other in various social structures. Mother, mayor, priest, friend, boss, man, captain, child, Yakut, customer, professor and convict - all these are statuses.

Social status is a characteristic of a social position; the presence of an internally substantive side of status means that the social status characterizes what rights, responsibilities, privileges, and powers are assigned to those who perform a particular function. The presence of an external nomination form means that the SS has its own nomination: teacher, doctor, president, cleaner, grandfather, daughter, etc. In sociology, it is important that the status of a daughter is not just the status of a family relationship, but also a certain subordination to parents, the obligation to listen to their opinion, material and legal dependence on them. The total sum of all statuses - a status set - illustrates the individuality of a person and his place in the system of social relations; the totality of all statuses is organized into hierarchical rows (they are connected and subordinate to each other). Types of statuses: 1. acquired congenitally, innate - assigned (nationality, gender, race), i.e. a status inherited from birth, innate, is called ascribed (ascriptive). The generally accepted criteria for ascribed status are age and gender. For example, by law you cannot get driver license, get married, participate in elections or receive a pension before reaching the required age. Race, religion, family and socioeconomic status are also generally accepted grounds for determining a person's status.

We obtain other statuses through individual choice and competition, this is 2.

achieved (acquired) The status acquired by an individual in society thanks to his own efforts is called achieved. No society can ignore the difference of individuals, so the success or failure of an individual is reflected in giving him a certain status based on a particular achievement. A professor, a choir director, a doctor, an actor, a university student, a priest, a policeman, a pickpocket, a company president, a trainer, and a scuba diver are all examples of achieved status. There are statuses 3. statuses associated with the kinship system, some kinship statuses are acquired (adoption, baptism). Statuses can be formalized and unformalized: formalized ones are protected by law (plant director, regional governor), a similar status arises within the framework of formal institutions, groups, so a person seeks to “protect” himself with a formal status, unformalized ones are statuses that are not based on laws (the leader of a group of friends, informal team leader). In addition to the main status associated with the profession, it is appropriate to talk about the generalized status, otherwise called. social position index – a holistic assessment of the social positions of both one’s own and others in the system of social coordinates.

Of the many statuses, it is first of all necessary to determine the main status, what exactly self-determines a person socially. Of particular importance in this is the status of the individual associated with work, profession, and property status is of no small importance. However, in an informal group of friends, these signs may be of secondary importance - here the cultural level, education, and sociability can play a decisive role. Therefore, it is necessary to distinguish the basic, general hierarchy of personality statuses, cat. works in most situations in a given society, and a specific one, used in special conditions, for special people. So, the main status is a key status that determines the social position and importance of a person, associated with certain of his rights and responsibilities. For children, the main status is age; similarly, in many societies the primary status is gender. The basic status forms the frame within which our goals are formulated and our training takes place. Statuses in society are hierarchized, the accepted hierarchy of statuses represents the basis social stratification, social prestige (respect, recognition) of statuses is a hierarchy of statuses shared by society and enshrined in culture and public opinion. The prestige of status is shared by society; any restructuring of social institutions is associated with changes in the hierarchy of statuses.

Each person in society has certain relationships, performs certain duties and has some rights. All this is an indicator of the position in society that an individual occupies and the social status that he or she possesses. Social status determines the position of a group and its members in certain areas of human life.

A person’s position in society is determined by his profession, nationality, age, and marital status. (All these defining R. Merton called a “status set.”) One person has many statuses, as he participates in many groups and organizations. He is a man, a father, a husband, a son, a teacher, a professor, a doctor of science, a middle-aged man, a member of the editorial board, an Orthodox Christian, etc. One person can occupy two opposite statuses, but in relation to different people: for his children he is a father , and for his mother a son.

Social status is:

1) prescribed (attributed), i.e., one that a person receives regardless of his desire and most often from birth (gender, nationality, age);

2) achieved (attainable), i.e. that which a person himself achieves during his life, making certain efforts (profession, material wealth, political influence, etc.). Sometimes a person may have a mixed social status, but most often a person has several statuses, since he is a member of different social groups (for example, a man is a boss at work, but at home he is a kind and caring father).

Social role and social status.

But still, basically, a person’s social status and his position in society are determined by one, the most basic status. In most cases, it is determined by place of work.

To determine the social status of a person, the assessment of existing positions in the society in which a person lives, and the determination of the prestige and authority of these positions are of great importance.

Social status is a certain position in the social structure of a group or society, connected to other positions through a system of rights and responsibilities. The status “teacher” makes sense only in relation to the status “student”, but not in relation to the salesman, pedestrian or engineer. To them he is just an individual.

With the help of social status, relationships in a group are regulated, norms and rules of behavior are established for representatives of groups that correspond to a certain status.

In various eras of our society, the defining indicator was: under capitalism - income, money, under socialism - the labor contribution of the employee. By performing certain duties, a person occupies a certain status in society and begins to fulfill those social roles in society that correspond to this social status.

It is important to understand the following:

1) social statuses are interrelated with each other, but do not interact with each other;

2) only subjects (holders, bearers) of statuses interact with each other, i.e. people;

3) it is not statuses that enter into social relations, but their bearers;

4) social relations connect statuses, but these relations are realized through people – status holders.

Status group and lifestyle

In review different definitions Status I have so far focused on status as the individual’s position in society. However, from a sociological point of view, status is much more interesting as an attribute of social groups or collectives. Therefore, we need to move from definitions of individual status to the concept of group status, community status and collective lifestyles. While the American sociological tradition has often focused on individual status, the tradition stemming from Weber has been more interested in the origins, maintenance, and social consequences of status groups and status communities as cohesive and militant social collectivities. In his book Economy and Society, Weber recognized different meanings concepts of status and prestige, but, in my opinion, he considered only two aspects of status particularly seriously. First, the concept of status as a system of "estates" whereby society (especially the feudal system) was divided on the basis of legal, social and cultural privileges, giving rise to divided, different caste-like groups. Status groups become estates when their privileges crystallize into a system of legal and economic immunities resulting from external control or regulation, protected by custom, religion and law.

Secondly, Weber was interested in analyzing the historical and social functions of status groups or status communities, which are collectives that have a similar lifestyle, a common moral system, mutual language or culture, religious differences. As a result, these common features cultures give rise to isolated, internally solidary communities organized to protect or expand their ability to enjoy cultural and social benefits and privileges. From this perspective, social stratification creates, maintains and distributes various forms of power in society through the mechanisms of political monopoly, cultural reproduction and social exclusion. The idea that status differences are maintained through cultural exclusivity was particularly developed in the sociology of culture by Pierre Bourdieu. From the perspective of these sociological approaches, we can derive two corresponding concepts of status: status as a lifestyle (cultural status) and status as political-legal rights (civil component of status).

Weber defined status position (Stadische Lage) as an effective social claim to nobility (honour) or respect in the form of positive and negative privileges. Status is usually based on a particular lifestyle, formal training, or formal prestige derived from a particular occupation. Status, moreover, is maintained and expressed through the ranking of living and nutritional conditions, through the monopoly of privileged access to power and wealth, through the social solidarity generated by marriage, and, finally, through certain customs and status conventions. By status group he understood a set of social subjects (actors) who, in a broader social environment, successfully claim specific honor (honour) and enjoy certain social privileges. Status groups are communities that have privileged access to scarce resources, especially if those resources entail cultural, moral, or symbolic attributes.

Following Frank Parkin, we can note that status groups or communities usually arise as a result of social and political usurpation, causing a collective struggle to increase access to scarce resources and thereby strengthen a collective position in the honor system. Weber went on to compare economic classes and status communities in terms of their internal solidarity and militancy. Unlike economic classes, status groups are characteristic social groups of a communal nature, which involves the reproduction of a typical lifestyle and cultural heritage. Economic classes, on the other hand, are simply aggregates of individuals bound together by exchange and other economic relations.

Social statuses and social roles

Consequently, status communities are organized as communities for the purpose of protecting and strengthening their social privileges and rights.

The implications of these formal definitions enabled Weber to undertake a series of comparative historical studies of social structure and social change. Weber wanted to show that economic wealth is not the only criterion of social power and influence. In addition, he wanted to explore societies in which prestige achieved through education or culture was more significant than power based on ownership of the means of production. For example, in his study of Chinese society, Weber emphasized the political and cultural status of the educated. He wrote that “for twelve centuries, social rank in China was determined more by job qualifications than by wealth. This qualification, in turn, was determined by education and especially by examination. China has made education literally the sole measure of social prestige, giving it a greater role than was the case in Europe during the humanist period or in Germany.”

In Weber's view, this cultural layer contributed to the strengthening of social stability and traditionalism in China, since there were similarities between the Confucian ethics of the layer and the lifestyle of civil officials. In The Religion of India, Weber showed how religious beliefs about pollution played an important role in the organization and maintenance of the caste system. These examples highlight the fact that Weber preferred to conduct a historical study of power relations in human society rather than engage in formal development of the conceptual distinctions between class, status and party. In subsequent sociology, Weber's emphasis on the importance of history was lost. But static categorization of different strata or segments is no substitute for historical sociology.

Weber's development of the idea of status groups has been used to contrast Marx's analysis of economic class. Weber wanted to show that status groups were more cohesive and socially and politically conscious than economic classes, which Weber defined as aggregates operating in the market. Status groups depend crucially on the maintenance of exclusive lifestyles aimed at preserving certain cultural monopolies. Status groups seek to reproduce themselves through educational mechanisms in order to prevent the social mobility of outsiders and to emphasize their exclusivity and particularism. It is useful to compare T. Veblen’s book “The Theory of the Leisure Class” with Weber’s interpretation of status groups:

“For Weber, as for Veblen, the function of prestige consumption, that is, to emphasize a pragmatically meaningless style of consumption requiring many years of study, was to prevent mobility and institutionalize the privileges of those who had risen to the top in previous years or eras.” . Therefore, status groups are determined by a specific lifestyle.”

Thus, a status group is a community of individuals who have organized themselves to maintain or expand their social privileges through the mechanism of social closure in order to protect existing monopoly privileges from outsiders. ...The existence of status groups inevitably causes social conflict and social struggle, although these forms of social struggle can often be disguised or hidden.

Conflict sociology

One great controversy in sociology has arisen over the question of whether social relations are characterized primarily by agreement or conflict. Social cohesion theories seek to explain how social order is formed, and they typically argue that social stability is created by shared values and expectations. Representatives of conflict sociology are impressed more by the prevalence of conflict, tension and disorder than by the areas of agreement and consensus. If we look from our time, then many of these disputes now seem to be somewhat unproductive, since at the level common sense it is clear that all social relations give rise to both agreement and conflict. However, in the analysis of status groups and status struggles there are strong arguments for the approach of conflict sociology, since in this work I argue that status by its very nature entails endless struggle over the distribution of limited resources, especially cultural ones. Conflict sociology in its most developed form provides a general and theoretically important approach to social relations.

…The historical development of status stratification in the United States differed from the development of class systems in Europe in a number of important ways. First of all, the United States did not inherit the feudal nobility, and migration played a key role in the formation of a sense of individual success as the main component of the value system, while the social system was organized into separate competing ethnic communities. These historical differences partly explain the difference in approaches to social stratification in American and European sociology. While European social theory was primarily interested in the role of economic classes in industrial society, American sociologists were more interested in studying the social mobility of individuals, analyzing the structure of occupations, and the subjective perception of prestige.

In the American context, Weber's conflictual approach to status privileges was transformed and superseded by the "Warner school of sociology." The concepts of "status" and "class" were conflated, and the importance of conflict in the formation of consciousness was ignored. Social stratification was now seen as a continuous gradation of positions, which were equivalent to ranking by prestige. Individuals were seen as moving through these ranked positions through their personal efforts; the concept of socially exclusive status groups seeking to monopolize resources was abandoned in favor of an image of America as a classless society with greater opportunities for social mobility. The emphasis on class conflict and status group competition, essential elements in the dynamic process of historical transformation of society (as we noted in the sociology of both Marx and Weber), was supplanted by the emphasis on consensus in the study of communities by the Warner school and the structural-functionalist theory of stratification. .Davis and W.Moore. Of course, these approaches to social stratification in American sociology were eventually widely criticized because, for example, the functionalist approach to status ignored significant inequalities, the role of the interests that they generated, the monopolization of resources, and the large-scale intergroup conflicts that occur in American life.

Having outlined the variety of definitions and approaches to status, I would now like to articulate my own approach more clearly. First, I especially emphasize the political and legal features of the concept of status. As I have already noted, in Latin this word originally meant a legal position or position in society, according to which a citizen could claim various forms of relief from political and tax obligations. Therefore, by status I mean, first of all, a set of socio-political claims to society, which gives an individual (or, more sociologically speaking, a group) certain benefits and privileges, distinguishing him from among other individuals or groups. These socio-political claims concern scarce resources, especially education, culture and symbolic resources. This cultural aspect of status gives rise to a second dimension: the concept of status as a culturally specific lifestyle that distinguishes in society a status group with a special identity. In feudal societies, access to privileges was organized exclusively through classes (clergy, nobility and simple people), which had their own cultural and value systems. In modern society, struggles over social privileges and distinctive symbols are more fluid and open, involving countless groups, collectives and strata.

By emphasizing the socio-political aspect, it is easier to maintain a clearer line between status and the idea of economic class, since class refers to the system of economic inequality in society, using the categories of production, ownership and consumption. Therefore, I would prefer to use the concept of "economic class" as an equivalent to "social class". ...On the one hand, I want to distinguish between economic classes and status communities, and on the other, I believe that class and status analyzes are far from mutually exclusive things, they are most effectively used in combination... My analysis of social stratification shows the economic structure of society (classes) , distribution legal rights(citizenship) and the organization of prestige and honor in terms of “cultural capital” (status as a culturally distinctive lifestyle).

Although the reader has probably already felt that the idea of status is surrounded by rather difficult terminological complexities, nevertheless, for the purposes of analysis, I introduce another distinction in this work: between status communities and status columns or blocks. The status community is, so to speak, the true form of a durable community (or, in sociological language, a Gemeinschaft relationship); these are communities where individuals share common attributes, such as language, culture, or ethnicity, over a relatively long period of time. For example, the Welsh community in South Australia or the Irish community in New York are, in my terminology, status communities of established, internally solidary collectives. Conversely, status columns (columns) or blocks are rather associations or organizations (Gesellschaft relations) in which individuals create organizational structures to achieve special purposes, such as receiving benefits or tax benefits. An example of a status column is all persons belonging to single-parent households who claim benefits or other benefits in the welfare state. Other examples are pensioners' associations, consumer advocacy groups, disabled soldiers' charities... These are lobbying groups that often form associations in the name of civil rights to put pressure on local or national governments. Thus, status columns emerge to achieve very limited and perhaps short-term political and social goals, while status communities tend to be stable, multidimensional, complex, primary groups.

Status columns or blocs become involved in status politics, which includes claims to the state for social rights by groups experiencing some discrimination and appealing to modern, universalist legislation. Since egalitarian universalism is the main criterion of modern democracies, citizens will experience different forms of inequality in terms of status characteristics such as age, gender or nationality. Where these status columns become recipients of state aid, we have a status policy... In the political and legal sense, I mean by status (a set of social requirements for a public economy or state) modern citizenship...

B. Turner. Status (From the book: Bryan S.Turner. Status. Open University, Milton Keynes, 1988). /Translation from English. and editing by V.I. Ilyina. Available from URL: http://www.socnet.narod.ru/library/authors/Ilyin/hrest/terner.htm

L. Warner
Social class and social structure

Social status— the position of an individual or social group in the social system.

Status rank- the position of the individual in the social hierarchy of statuses, on the basis of which the status worldview is formed.

Status set- a set of several status positions that an individual simultaneously occupies.

Ideas about social status

The concept of “social status” was first used in science by an English philosopher and lawyer of the 19th century. G. Main. In sociology, the concept of status (from the Latin status - position, condition) is used in different meanings. The dominant idea is of social status as the position of an individual or a social group in a social system, which is characterized by certain distinctive features (rights, responsibilities, functions). Sometimes social status refers to a set of such distinctive features. In ordinary speech, the concept of status is used as a synonym for prestige.

In modern scientific and educational literature it is defined as: o the position of the individual in the social system, associated with certain rights, responsibilities and role expectations;

the position of the subject in the system of interpersonal relations,
defining his rights, duties and privileges;
the position of the individual in the system of interpersonal relations, due to his psychological influence on group members;
the relative position of the individual in society, determined by his functions, responsibilities and rights;
the position of a person in the structure of a group or society, associated with certain rights and responsibilities;
an indicator of the position occupied by an individual in society;
the relative position of an individual or social group in a social system, determined by a number of characteristics characteristic of a given system;
the position occupied by an individual or a social group in society or a separate subsystem of society, determined by characteristics specific to a particular society - economic, national, age, etc.;
the place of an individual or group in the social system in accordance with their characteristics - natural, professional, ethnic, etc.;
a structural element of the social organization of society, which appears to the individual as a position in the system of social relations;
the relative position of an individual or group, determined by social (economic status, profession, qualifications, education, etc.) and natural characteristics (gender, age, etc.);
a set of rights and responsibilities of an individual or social group associated with their performance of a certain social role;
prestige characterizing the positions of an individual or social groups in a hierarchical system.

Each person in society performs certain social functions: students study, workers produce material goods, managers manage, journalists report on events taking place in the country and the world. To perform social functions, certain responsibilities are imposed on the individual in accordance with his social status. The higher a person’s status, the more responsibilities he has, the stricter the requirements of society or a social group for his status responsibilities, the greater the negative consequences of violating them.

Status set is a set of status positions that each individual occupies simultaneously. In this set, the following statuses are usually distinguished: ascriptive (assigned), achieved, mixed, main.

The social status of an individual was relatively stable due to the class or caste structure of society and was secured by the institutions of religion or law. In modern societies, individuals' status positions are more fluid. However, in any society there are ascriptive (assigned) and achieved social statuses.

Assigned status- this is a social status received “automatically” by its bearer due to factors beyond his control - by law, birth, gender or age, race and nationality, consanguinity system, socio-economic status of parents, etc. For example, you cannot get married, participate in elections, or obtain a driver's license before reaching the required age. Ascribed statuses are of interest to sociology only if they are the basis for social inequality, i.e. influence social differentiation and social structure of society.

Achieved status - it is a social status acquired by its bearer through his own efforts and merits. Level of education, professional achievements, career, title, position, socially successful marriage - all this affects the social status of an individual in society.

There is a direct connection between ascribed and achieved social statuses. Achieved statuses are acquired mainly through competition, but some achieved statuses are largely determined by ascriptive ones. Thus, the opportunity to obtain a prestigious education, which in modern society is a necessary prerequisite for high social status, is directly related to the advantages of family origin. On the contrary, the presence of a high achieved status largely compensates for the low ascriptive status of an individual due to the fact that no society can ignore the real social successes and achievements of individuals.

Mixed social statuses have signs of being ascribed and achieved, but achieved not at the request of a person, but due to a combination of circumstances, for example, as a result of job loss, natural disasters or political upheavals.

Main social status The individual is determined primarily by his position in society and his way of life.

manner of behavior. When talking about a stranger, we first ask: “What does this person do? How does he make a living? The answer to this question says a lot about a person, therefore in modern society the main status of an individual is, as a rule, professional or official.

Personal status manifests itself at the level of a small group, for example, a family, a work team, or a circle of close friends. IN small group the individual functions directly and his status is determined by personal qualities and character traits.

Group status characterizes an individual as a member of a large social group as, for example, a representative of a nation, religion or profession.

Concept and types of social status

The substantive difference between them boils down to the fact that they perform a role, but have a status. In other words, a role presupposes the possibility of a qualitative assessment of how well an individual meets role requirements. Social status - This is the position of a person in the structure of a group or society, which determines certain rights and obligations. Speaking about status, we abstract from any qualitative assessment of the person who occupies it and his behavior. We can say that status is a formal-structural social characteristic of a subject.

Like roles, there can be many statuses and, in general, any status presupposes a corresponding role and vice versa.

Main status - key of the entire set of social statuses of an individual, primarily determining his social position and significance in society. For example, the main status of a child is age; in traditional societies, the main status of a woman is gender; in modern society, as a rule, the main status becomes professional or official. In any case, the main status acts as a decisive factor in the image and standard of living and dictates behavior.

Social status can be:

prescribed- received from birth or due to factors independent of its bearer - gender or age, race, socio-economic status of parents. For example, by law you cannot obtain a driver's license, get married, vote in elections or receive a pension before reaching the required age;
achievable- acquired in society thanks to the efforts and merits of the individual. A person’s status in society is affected by the level of education, professional achievements, career, and a socially successful marriage. No society can ignore the real successes of an individual, therefore the existence of an achieved status carries the opportunity to significantly compensate for the low ascribed status of the individual;
private- manifests itself at the level of a small group in which the individual functions directly (family, work team, circle of close friends), it is determined by his personal qualities and character traits;
group- characterizes an individual as a member of a large social group - a representative of a class, nation, profession, a bearer of certain gender and age characteristics, etc.

Based on sociological surveys, it has been established that the majority of Russians are currently more satisfied with their position in society than dissatisfied. This is a very significant positive trend in recent years, since satisfaction with one’s position in society is not only an essential prerequisite for social stability, but also a very important condition for people to feel comfortable in their socio-psychological state as a whole. Among those who rate their place in society as “good,” almost 85% believe that their lives are going well. This figure depends little on age: even in the group over 55 years old, about 70% share this opinion. Among those who are dissatisfied with their social status, the picture turned out to be the opposite - almost half of them (with 6.8% of the population as a whole) believe that their life is going badly.

Status hierarchy

The French sociologist R. Boudon considers social status as having two dimensions:

horizontal, which forms a system of social contacts and mutual exchanges, both real and simply possible, that develop between the bearer of status and other individuals who are at the same level of the social ladder;
vertical, which is formed by contacts and exchanges that arise between the bearer of status and individuals located at higher and lower levels.

Based on this idea, Boudon defines social status as a set of equal and hierarchical relationships maintained by an individual with other members of society.

Status hierarchy is characteristic of any organization. Indeed, without responsibility, organization is impossible; It is precisely due to the fact that all members of the group know the status of each that the links of the organization interact. However, the formal structure of an organization does not always coincide with its informal structure. Such a gap between hierarchies in many organizations does not require sociometric research, but is visible to a simple observer, since the establishment of a status hierarchy is the answer not only to the question “Who is the most important here?”, but also to the question “Who is the most authoritative, the most competent, the most popular among employees? Real status is largely determined by personal qualities, qualifications, charm, etc.

Many modern sociologists pay attention to the functional dissonance that arises due to the discrepancy between hierarchical and functional statuses. Such a discrepancy may arise due to individual compromises, when management orders acquire the character of a “stream of consciousness,” providing subordinates with a “zone of free action.” The result can be generally positive and manifest itself in increased flexibility of the organization's response, or negative, expressed in functional chaos and confusion.

Status confusion acts as a criterion for social disorganization and, possibly, as one of the reasons for deviant behavior. The connection between violations of the status hierarchy and the state of anomie was considered by E. Durkheim and suggested that discord in the status hierarchy in industrial society takes two forms.

Firstly, the expectations of the individual in connection with his position in society and the counter expectations of other members of society directed towards the individual become largely uncertain. If in a traditional society everyone knew what to expect and what awaited them, and in accordance with this was well aware of their rights and responsibilities, then in an industrial society, due to the growing division of labor and instability labor relations the individual is increasingly faced with situations for which he did not foresee and for which he is not prepared. For example, if in the Middle Ages studying at a university automatically meant a sharp and irreversible increase in social status, now no one is surprised by the abundance of unemployed university graduates willing to take any job.

Secondly, status instability affects the structure of social rewards and the level of individual satisfaction with one’s life.

To understand what determines the status hierarchy in traditional - pre-industrial - societies, one should turn to modern societies of the East (except for caste ones). Here you can find three important element, influencing the social status of the individual - gender, age and belonging to a certain “class”, which assign to each member of society his rigid status. At the same time, the transition to another level of the status hierarchy is extremely difficult due to a number of legal and symbolic restrictions. But even in traditionalist-oriented societies, the spirit of entrepreneurship and enrichment, the personal favor of the ruler influence the distribution of statuses, although the legitimation of status occurs through reference to the traditions of ancestors, which in itself reflects the weight of the ascribing elements of status (the antiquity of the clan, the personal valor of the ancestors, etc. ).

In modern Western society, the status hierarchy can be viewed from the standpoint of either meritocratic ideology as fair and inevitable recognition of personal merit, talents and abilities, or holistic sociologism as a result strictly determined by social processes. But both theories offer a very simplified understanding of the nature of status, and there remain aspects that cannot be explained in the context of either of them. For example, if status is entirely determined by personal qualities and merits, then how can we explain the presence of formal and informal status hierarchies in almost any organization?

Within an organization, this duality refers to the discrepancy between competence and power, observed in different forms and at different levels, when decisions are made not by competent and impartial experts, but by “capitalists” who are guided by the logic of self-interest, or by “soulless technocrats.” The discrepancy between professional qualifications and material and status remuneration is also inexplicable. Inconsistencies in this area are often denied or suppressed in the name of the meritocratic ideal of “merit status.” For example, in modern Russian society, the situation of low material remuneration and, as a consequence, low prestige and status of highly educated and highly intelligent people has become typical: “The profession of physicist in the USSR in the 1960s. enjoyed high prestige, while accountants enjoyed low prestige. In modern Russia they have changed places. IN in this case prestige is strongly linked to the economic status of these occupations.”

Because systems are more complex and subject to faster evolution, the mechanism for assigning status remains uncertain. Firstly, the list of criteria involved in determining status is very extensive. Secondly, it is becoming increasingly difficult to reduce the totality of various status attributes belonging to each individual to a single symbol, as in traditional societies, where it was enough to say “this is the son of such and such” for the person’s social status, his material level, circle of acquaintances and friends. In traditional societies, personality and status were very closely linked. These days, personality and status tend to diverge. Personal identity is no longer given: she herself builds it with her own efforts throughout her life. Therefore, our perception of ourselves as individuals is split into many aspects in which our social status is manifested. Personal identity is felt not so much through connection with a fixed status, but through a sense of self-worth and uniqueness.

Status set. Any person holds several positions, as he participates in many groups and organizations. Each person can be characterized by a status set (the totality of all statuses of a given individual).

It turns out that not only an artist or a psychologist, but also a sociologist can paint an accurate portrait of a person. An artist has a brush and paints to depict an exact copy of a person, a sociologist has a questionnaire and statuses. Having listed all the statuses of a person, we will get his status portrait. This portrait is a practical cry real person, but expressed in the language of sociology.

A change in status is called social mobility. It can be vertical (the transition of an individual from one stratum to another) and horizontal (within one stratum).

Examples of horizontal: divorce and remarriage, changing jobs while maintaining professional status, the transition of a believer from one denomination to another. Examples of vertical: the transition of a worker to the rank of foreman, the defense of a dissertation by a scientist, the election of a politician to an elected position, the transformation of an opposition party into a ruling party or vice versa.

Vertical can come in two forms:

individual penetration;

the collective rise or fall of a social group in a system of relations with other groups.

For example, the social position of Christian bishops in the Roman Empire before 325 was quite low. After the adoption of Christianity as the official religion, a group of high church hierarchs rose to the very top of the social pyramid. Channels (ladders) of vertical mobility can be school and other educational institutions, church, army, etc.

Statuses determined by the position of an individual in a group:

1) social status - the position of a person in society, which he occupies as a representative of a large social group (profession, class, nationality, gender, age, religion).

Professional - job status - the basic status of an individual, fixes the social, economic and production-technical position of a person (banker, engineer, lawyer, etc.).

2) Personal status - the position that a person occupies in a small group, depending on how he is assessed by his individual qualities.

Personal status plays a primary role among familiar people. For people we know, it is not the characteristics of where you work and your social status that are important, but our personal qualities.

3) Main status - the status by which an individual is distinguished by others, determines the lifestyle, circle of acquaintances, manner of behavior with which a person is identified by other people or with which he identifies himself. For men, most often - status associated with work, profession, for women - housewife, mother. Although other options are possible.

The main status is relative: it is not uniquely associated with gender, profession, or race. The main thing is status, which determines the style and lifestyle, circle of acquaintances, and behavior.

Acquired due to the presence or absence of free choice:

1) Attributed status - the social status with which a person is born (innate, natural status determined by race, gender, nationality), or which will be assigned to him over time (inheritance of title, fortune, etc.).

Natural status is the essential and most stable characteristics of a person (men and women, childhood, youth, maturity, etc.).

The ascribed status does not coincide with the innate one. Only three social statuses are considered innate: gender, nationality, race (i.e. biologically inherited); (negro - innate, characterizing race; man - innate, describing gender; Russian - innate, showing nationality).

2) Achieved (acquired) status - social status that is achieved as a result of a person’s own efforts, desire, free choice, or acquired through luck and luck.
3) Mixed status has the characteristics of something prescribed and achieved, but not achieved at the request of a person: disabled person, refugee, unemployed, emperor, Chinese of American origin.

Political upheavals, coups d'etat, social revolutions, wars can change or even cancel some statuses of huge masses of people against their will and desire.

The title of academician is at first achievable, but later it turns into an ascribed one, because is considered lifelong.

A person behaves (performs an action) in one way or another, being in a social connection, interacting with different social groups: family, street, educational, labor, army, etc. To characterize the degree of inclusion of the individual in various social connections and groups, as well as the position he occupies in them, his functional responsibilities in these groups the concept of social status is used.

Social status is the responsibilities and rights of a person in the system of social connections, groups, systems. It includes the responsibilities (roles-functions) that a person must perform in a given social community (educational group), connection (educational process), system (university). Rights are those duties that other people, a social connection, a social system must fulfill in relation to a person. For example, the rights of a student at a university (and at the same time the responsibilities of the university administration towards him) are: the presence of highly qualified teachers, educational literature, warm and bright classrooms, etc. And the rights of the university administration (and at the same time the responsibilities of the student) are the requirements for the student attend classes, study educational literature, take exams, etc.

In different groups, the same individual has different social status. For example, a talented chess player in a chess club has a high status, but in the army he may have a low one. This is a potential cause of frustration and interpersonal conflicts. Characteristics of social status are prestige and authority, which represent recognition of the individual’s merits by others.

Prescribed (natural) are statuses and roles imposed by society on an individual, regardless of his efforts and merits. Such statuses are determined by the ethnic, family, territorial, etc. origin of the individual: gender, nationality, age, place of residence, etc. Prescribed statuses have a huge impact on the social status and lifestyle of people.

Acquired (achieved) are the status and role achieved through the efforts of the person himself. These are the statuses of professor, writer, astronaut, etc. Among the acquired statuses, there is a professional position, which captures the professional, economic, cultural, etc. position of the individual. Most often, one leading social status determines a person’s position in society; this status is called integral. Quite often it is determined by position, wealth, education, sports success, etc.

A person is characterized by a set of statuses and roles. For example: man, married, professor, etc. statuses form the status set of a given individual. This set depends both on natural statuses and roles, and on acquired ones. Among the many statuses of a person at each stage of his life, one can single out the main one: for example, the status of a schoolboy, student, officer, husband, etc. In an adult, status is usually associated with profession.

In a class society, the status set has a class character and depends on social class this person. Compare, for example, the status set of the “new” Russian bourgeoisie and workers. These statuses (and roles) for representatives of each social class form a hierarchy according to the degree of value. Inter-status and inter-role distance arises between statuses and roles. It is also characteristic of statuses and roles in terms of their social significance.

In the process of life, a person’s status set and roles change. It occurs as a result of both the development of the needs and interests of the individual and the challenges of the social environment. In the first case, a person is active, and in the second, he is reactive, showing a reflexive reaction to the influence of the environment. For example, a young man chooses which university to enter, and once in the army, he is forced to adapt to it, counting the days until demobilization. A person has the inherent ability to increase and complicate his status and role set.

Some philosophers see the meaning of individual life in the self-realization of one’s abilities and needs, the elevation of one’s status and role set. (In particular, the above system of needs according to Maslow comes from this.) What is the reason this phenomenon? It is due to the fact that, on the one hand, self-realization is embedded in the “foundation” of a person - in his freedom, ambitions, and competitiveness. On the other hand, external circumstances often elevate or lower people in the status set. As a result, people who are able to mobilize their abilities and will move throughout their lives from one status level to another, moving from one social stratum to another, higher one. For example, a schoolchild - a student - a young specialist - a businessman - the president of a company - a pensioner. The last stage of the status set, associated with old age, usually puts an end to the process of maintaining the status set.

Adaptation of a person to his age and changing social status is an important and complex problem. Our society is characterized by weak socialization towards old age (and retirement). Many find themselves unprepared for old age and defeat in the fight against age and disease. As a result, retirement, leaving the workforce for a family that was considered a secondary social group, was usually accompanied by severe stress, role conflicts, illness and premature death.

The social behavior of an individual, community, institution, organization depends not only on their social status (rights and responsibilities), but also on the surrounding social environment, consisting of the same social subjects. They expect certain social behavior in accordance with their needs and "other-oriented." In this case, social behavior takes on the character of a social role.

A social role is behavior that (1) stems from a person’s social status and (2) is expected by others. As an expected behavior, a social role includes a set of social norms that determine the expected sequence of actions of a subject that is adequate to his social status. For example, a talented chess player is expected to play professionally, a president is expected to be able to formulate the interests of the country and realize them, etc. Therefore, a social role can be defined as behavior that corresponds to the social norms accepted in a given society.

How does a subject's social environment force him to follow certain norms that lead to the behavior expected by that environment? First of all, socialization and the education of such norms are of enormous importance. Further, in society there is a mechanism of sanctions - punishments for failure to fulfill a role and rewards for its fulfillment, i.e. for compliance with social norms. This mechanism operates throughout a person’s life.

Social status and role are closely interrelated; it is no coincidence that in European sociology they are often not distinguished. “Status” in this sense of the word is equivalent to role, although it is the latter term that is more widely used,” write English sociologists. The behavioral side of social status, expressed in roles, allows them to be distinguished: social status can include several roles. For example, the status of a mother includes the roles of nurse, doctor, educator, etc. The concept of role also allows us to highlight the mechanism for coordinating the behavior of different subjects in social communities, institutions, and organizations.

Strict fulfillment of social roles makes people's behavior predictable, streamlines social life, and limits its chaos. Role learning - socialization - begins in early childhood with the influence of parents and loved ones. At first it is of an unconscious nature for the child. He is shown what and how to do, and is encouraged for performing the role correctly. For example, little girls play with dolls and help their mothers with housework; boys play with cars, help their fathers with repairs, etc. Teaching girls and boys develops different interests, abilities, and roles in them.

The expected behavior is ideal because it comes from a theoretical situation. Therefore, real role behavior, i.e., must be distinguished from a social role. performance of a role in specific conditions. For example, a talented chess player may play poorly for certain reasons, that is, fail to cope with his role. Role behavior usually differs from the social role (expected behavior) in many ways: abilities, understanding, conditions for implementing the role, etc.

Role performance is determined primarily by role requirements, which are embodied in social norms grouped around a given social status, as well as sanctions for fulfilling the role. A person's roles are significantly influenced by the situation in which he finds himself - first of all, by other people. The subject models role expectations - orientations, primarily in relation to other people with whom he is associated in the situation. These people act as an additional member of mutual role orientations. In these role expectations, a person can focus on himself (his worldview, character, abilities, etc.). Parsons calls this role expectation-orientation attributive (ascriptive). But role expectations-orientations may relate to the results of another’s activities. Parsons calls this role expectation achievement. Attribute-achievement orientation is important point status-role behavior.

In the process of socialization, a person learns to perform different roles: child, pupil, student, comrade, parent, engineer, military man, pensioner, etc. Role training includes: 1) knowledge of one’s responsibilities and rights in a given area of social activity; 2) acquisition of psychological qualities (character, mentality, beliefs) corresponding to this role; 3) practical implementation of role-playing actions. Learning the most important roles begins in childhood with the formation of attitudes (good and bad), orienting towards a certain sequence of actions and operations. Children play different roles and imitate the everyday behavior of those around them. They are aware of their rights and responsibilities: children and parents, comrades and enemies, etc. Gradually, awareness of the causes and results of their actions comes.

Each status, as an element of the social division of labor, contains a set of rights and obligations. Rights mean what a person can freely afford or allow in relation to other people. Responsibilities prescribe the status holder with some necessary actions: in relation to others, at his workplace, etc. Responsibilities are strictly defined, recorded in rules, instructions, regulations, or enshrined in custom. Responsibilities limit behavior to certain limits and make it predictable. For example, the status of a slave in the ancient world implied only duties and did not contain any rights. In a totalitarian society, rights and responsibilities are asymmetrical: the ruler and senior officials have maximum rights and minimum responsibilities; Ordinary citizens have many responsibilities and few rights. In our country during Soviet times, many rights were proclaimed in the constitution, but not all of them could be realized. In a democratic society, rights and responsibilities are more symmetrical. We can say that the level of social development of a society depends on how the rights and responsibilities of citizens are related and respected.

It is important that the individual’s duties presuppose his responsibility for their high-quality fulfillment. Thus, a tailor is obliged to sew a suit on time and with high quality; if this is not done, he must be punished somehow - pay a penalty or be fired. The organization is obliged under the contract to supply products to the customer, otherwise it incurs losses in the form of fines and penalties. Even in Ancient Assyria there was such a procedure (fixed in the laws of Hammurabi): if an architect built a building that subsequently collapsed and crushed the owner, the architect was deprived of his life. This is one of the early and primitive forms of manifestation of responsibility. Nowadays, the forms of manifestation of responsibility are quite diverse and are determined by the culture of society and the level of social development. In modern society, rights, freedoms and responsibilities are determined by social norms, laws, and traditions of society.

Thus, status is the position of an individual in the social structure of society, which is connected with other positions through a system of rights, duties and responsibilities.

Since each person participates in many groups and organizations, he can have many statuses. For example, the mentioned citizen Ivanov is a man, a middle-aged man, a resident of Penza, a salesman, a member of the LDPR, an Orthodox Christian, a Russian, a voter, a football player, a regular visitor to a beer bar, a husband, a father, an uncle, etc. In this set of statuses that any person has, one is the main, key one. The main status is the most characteristic for a given individual and is usually associated with his main place of work or occupation: “salesman”, “entrepreneur”, “researcher”, “bank director”, “worker at an industrial enterprise”, “housewife”, etc. .P. The main thing is the status that determines the financial situation, and therefore the lifestyle, the circle of acquaintances, and the manner of behavior.

The given (innate, prescribed) status is determined by gender, nationality, race, i.e. characteristics given biologically, inherited by a person against his will and consciousness. Advances in modern medicine make some statuses changeable. Thus, the concept of biological sex, socially acquired, appeared. With the help of surgical operations, a man who has played with dolls since childhood, dressed like a girl, thought and felt like a girl, can become a woman. He finds his true gender, to which he was psychologically predisposed, but did not receive it at birth. Which gender - male or female - should be considered natural in this case? There is no clear answer. Sociologists also find it difficult to determine what nationality a person whose parents are of different nationalities belongs to. Often, when moving to another country as children, emigrants forget old customs and their native language and are practically no different from the native inhabitants of their new homeland. In this case, biological nationality is replaced by socially acquired nationality.

Acquired status is a status that a person receives under certain conditions. Thus, the eldest son of an English lord after his death inherits this status. The kinship system has a whole set of acquired statuses. If innate statuses express consanguinity (“son”, “daughter”, “sister”, “brother”, “nephew”, “uncle”, “grandmother”, “grandfather”, “aunt”, “cousin”), then non-consanguineous ones relatives have acquired status. So, having married, a person can receive all his wife’s relatives as relatives. “Mother-in-law,” “father-in-law,” “sister-in-law,” “brother-in-law” are acquired statuses.

Achieved status - socially acquired by a person through his own efforts, desire, and luck. Thus, a person acquires the status of a manager through education and perseverance. The more democratic a society is, the more statuses are achieved in the society.

Different statuses have their own insignia (symbols). In particular, the uniform of the military sets them apart from the mass of the civilian population; In addition, each military rank has its own differences: a private, a major, a general have different badges, shoulder straps, and headdresses.

A status image, or image, is a set of ideas about how a person should behave in accordance with his status. To correspond to a status image, a person must “not allow himself too much,” in other words, look the way others expect of him. For example, the president cannot oversleep a meeting with the leader of another country, university professors cannot sleep drunk in the entrance, as this does not correspond to their status image. There are situations when a person undeservedly tries to be “on an equal footing” with a person who has a different rank status, which leads to the manifestation of familiarity (amicoshonism), i.e. unceremonious, cheeky attitude.

Differences between people due to ascribed status are noticeable to varying degrees. Usually, each person, as well as a group of people, strives to occupy a more advantageous social position. Under certain circumstances, a flower seller can become the deputy prime minister of the country, a millionaire. Others do not succeed because their assigned status (gender, age, nationality) interferes.

At the same time, some social strata are trying to improve their status by uniting in movements (women's movements, organizations such as the “union of entrepreneurs”, etc.) and lobbying their interests everywhere. However, there are factors that hinder the attempts of individual groups to change their status. These include ethnic tensions, attempts by other groups to maintain the status quo, lack of strong leaders, etc.

Thus, social status in sociology refers to the position that a person (or social group) occupies in society. Since each person is a member of various social groups, he is the owner of multiple statuses (i.e., the bearer of a certain status set). Each of the available statuses is associated with a set of rights that determine what the status holder can afford, and responsibilities that prescribe the performance of specific actions. In general, status can be defined as the position of an individual in the social structure of society, connected with other positions through a system of rights, duties and responsibilities.