Role set- a set of roles corresponding to a certain social status.

Role conflict- a clash of role demands placed on an individual, caused by the multiplicity of tasks simultaneously performed by him social roles.

Role behavior and role conflicts

A set of roles corresponding to a specific one allows its bearer most time to “mind your own business” - carry out your role behavior in various forms And different ways. A social role is always standard because it represents a system of expected behavior that is determined by normative responsibilities and rights. Although the roles are strictly defined, there are capable and incapable students, brave and cowardly soldiers, talented and untalented politicians. The fact is that people perform standard roles as individuals. Each individual understands his social role in his own way and performs it differently. In modern sociology, the actual fulfillment of a social role by an individual is called role behavior.

Regulatory requirements associated with social role, as a rule, are more or less known to the participants in role interaction and give rise to corresponding role expectations: all participants in the interaction expect from each other behavior that fits into the context of these social roles. However, the social role is considered not only in terms of role expectations (expectations), but also role-playing, i.e. how the individual actually performs his role.

Expectations represent requirements enshrined in the system of social norms and imposed on the behavior of an individual in connection with the fulfillment of one or another social role. Despite the fact that role normative requirements are an element of the system of social norms accepted in a given society, they are nevertheless specific and valid only in relation to those who occupy a certain social position. Therefore, many role requirements are completely absurd outside of a specific role situation. For example, a woman who comes to see a doctor undresses at his request, fulfilling her role as a patient, but if a passer-by on the street makes a similar demand, she will run or call for help.

The relationships between special role norms and are complex. Some role prescriptions are not at all related to social norms. Other role norms are of an exceptional nature, placing the people who perform them in a special position when general norms do not apply to them. For example, a doctor is obliged to maintain medical confidentiality, and a priest is obliged to maintain the secret of confession, therefore, by law, they are not subject to the obligation to disclose this information when testifying in court. The divergence between general and role norms can be so great that the role holder is almost subject to public contempt, although his position is necessary and recognized by society (executioner, Secret agent police).

In general, there is never a relationship of identity between social and role norms. Society imposes a social role on a person, but its acceptance, rejection, and fulfillment always leave an imprint on the person’s actual behavior. Therefore, when fulfilling social roles, role tension may arise—a difficulty associated with improper role preparation and unsuccessful role performance. Role tension often results in role conflict.

Role conflict in modern sociology it is considered as a clash of role demands placed on an individual, caused by the multiplicity of social roles simultaneously performed by him. Sociologists distinguish two types of role conflicts: conflicts between social roles; conflicts within one social role.

Interrole conflicts arise when different social roles, the bearer of which is the individual, contain incompatible prescriptions (requirements). For example, a woman plays her role well at work, but at home she fails in the roles of wife and mother. In a situation where the husband's parents do not like his wife, his filial duty conflicts with the husband's duties.

Intra-role conflicts arise where the social role involves complex relationships and contradictory friends friend of social expectations. Within many social roles there are conflicts of “interest,” for example, the requirement to be honest with people conflicts with the desire to “make money.”

Man is a social being, and a significant share of his sociality is concentrated in social roles. Mastering possible roles occurs as early as childhood, when a child in a game seems to “pretend” to take on the role of “mother”, “teacher”, “commander”. In sociology this phase social development got the name socialization. Subsequently, in the process of socialization, a person acts as a bearer of his own roles and, by fulfilling them, learns to master new roles that are yet to come. By helping her mother with housework as a daughter, the girl learns to play the role of housewife and mother. By obeying the parents in the role of son, the child prepares to fulfill the role of student and obey the teacher when he goes to school.

In modern sociology, there are three ways to resolve role conflicts: o rationalization - a way to resolve role conflict through a conscious search negative aspects a desired but unattainable role. For example, a girl who is not married

explains his situation by the rudeness and limitations of modern men; o separation of roles is a way of resolving role conflict, which consists in temporarily excluding one of the social roles from life. For example, a sailor on a long voyage is not informed about the death of his mother, thereby excluding the role of his son from his consciousness so as not to cause stress; o role regulation is a way of resolving role conflict by shifting responsibility for its consequences to others. For example, the habit of “washing your hands”, thanks to which the individual is constantly freed from personal responsibility for the consequences of fulfilling one or another social role, shifting responsibility to others, objective circumstances, “vicissitudes of fate.”

With the help of such methods of unconscious defense and conscious connection of social structures, an individual can avoid dangerous consequences role conflicts.

Role conflicts and their types

Interrole conflict arises because the same person has to perform several roles simultaneously. This happens when significant areas of his roles intersect and, within a certain situation, mutually exclusive role expectations collide. For example, role conflict in one form or another inevitably arises among working women who are forced to combine professional and family roles. Such moments give rise to tragic collisions, which can be avoided with the help of role strategies - special efforts to optimally combine one’s roles. One more simple example a banal situation of inter-role conflict may serve, when the husband’s parents do not like his wife and his filial duty conflicts with marital responsibilities. The role strategy in this case may come down to living separately from the parents and not being financially dependent on them.

Intra-role conflicts arise when a social role involves complex relationships and conflicting social expectations. For example, a foreman at a factory must manage the workers as required by the administration, and at the same time strive to improve their working conditions, as the workers demand of him.

"Situational role conflict“, described by K. Thomas, arises in situations when new expectations associated with a new role are directed at an individual, and he cannot adequately respond to them because he is still in the old role and is not ready to fulfill a new one. For example, in India for a long time there was a custom to marry off girls very early; When the young wife had a child, she was not yet ready to take on the role of mother. In the story of Rabindranath Tagore, the child of such a girl-mother drowned, left unattended by her when she went to play with dolls with her friends.

People who have been performing the same social role for a long time develop specific habits. For example, those who, by occupation, constantly speak in front of an audience, develop a professional habit of speaking loudly, clearly and expressively, which they then cannot get rid of in the family. Sometimes society itself requires certain habits and skills from a person, for example, absolute cleanliness of hands from a surgeon. Such habits and customs are called role attributes. The normative core of a role is usually surrounded by a number of non-normative attributes, which also participate in the formation of behavioral expectations.

Fulfilling a social role implies some degree of unfreedom. Indeed, when performing a role, a person acts not as his individuality requires, but according to regulatory requirements, which his role imposes on him. Some roles are so externally regulated that they dictate almost every movement (for example, a worker on an assembly line); their performance often causes a feeling of psychological oppression associated with alienation. Other professional roles allow greater degree freedom, and still others even require individual modifications from their bearers, for example, the role of an applicant for an academic degree requires a certain novelty of scientific developments. Psychological comfort and the quality of fulfilling role responsibilities are related to the extent to which the role corresponds to the personal characteristics of the individual, and his skills and abilities to the requirements of the role. In this case, there is no or almost no alienation when performing a role and maximum “fusion” of the individual with the role is achieved. We can say that role behavior is a kind of synthesis of the individual and those introduced by role requirements.

However, one should not assume that the presence of a social role limits individual freedom (as R. Dahrendorf understands it). Man is a social being, and a significant share of his sociality is concentrated in social roles. The study of possible roles occurs in childhood, when the child seems to “pretend” to take on the role of mother, teacher, commander in the game. This phase of social development is called sociabilization. During the further process of socialization, a person acts as a bearer of his own roles (daughter, student) and, by fulfilling them, learns to master new roles that are yet to come. For example, by helping her mother with housework as a daughter, a girl learns to fulfill the role of a housewife and mother; By obeying his parents in the role of a son, the boy prepares to fulfill the role of a student and obey the teacher when he goes to school.

The process of socialization lasts many years, in fact, a lifetime. This means that a person's relationship to the roles of other people never stops. A person, playing his roles, constantly encounters other people's roles that are still unknown to him. Describing these processes, J. Mead speaks of the presence in human personality social aspect(I through the eyes of the Other), which includes a set of interiorized roles, and the personal aspect itself (I-center), which is not filled with social roles and is able to distance itself from them.

J. Mead and other representatives social psychology showed that the human self develops and achieves the fullness of existence only when it is freed from pure subjectivity and reflects itself in the outside world, fulfilling a set of social roles.

Accepting a certain social role also means rejecting the possibilities of behavior that are incompatible with this role, which are hidden in a person’s inner self. For example, a doctor with the makings of a clinical scientist must give up the opportunity to leave the patient’s disease to its natural course in order to observe its development “for science.” The husband must renounce absolute freedom to have extramarital affairs.

Sometimes a person is faced with role demands that cause him a crisis of self-identification, i.e. which he cannot internalize and make part of his personality without thereby destroying his personal core. Psychologists state that people become sick due to certain role demands. At the same time, it is necessary to take into account the socio-historical nature of the reaction to role alienation. For example, in despotic societies Ancient East masses of people during for long years suffered such severe forms of role alienation that are completely unbearable and even unimaginable in a modern individualistic society.

Formation of role conflict

(country, region, city, district, village) is a system of institutions and organizations. It can function normally if people constantly perform a huge number of roles corresponding to their statuses. It refers to social communities, also having social status and role. For example, one study group at the university has a high academic status, while the other group has a low one. The same strong study group can play football poorly, while a weak one can play football well.

The characteristic of a person is intrapersonal role conflict. It represents a conflict between different legitimated role expectations in a given situation. Emphasizing legitimized role expectations means that the choice is not between legitimate and deviant role expectations. An example would be the conflict between the role of an athlete and the role of a student. A person experiences a state of tension, discomfort, and depression, since both roles and their corresponding sets of values ​​are important to him. Resolving such a conflict in favor of one of the roles and values ​​or a compromise between them is associated with the distribution of time and effort.

Role conflict also affects connections with other people. This means that from intrapersonal he becomes interpersonal. As a student and athlete, a person enters into certain social connections and systems (academic, sports), which also have role expectations for him. One has to take into account the role expectations of others that influence a person. In this regard, a person who is more motivated to study may choose the role of an athlete if the sports team has a good coach and friends. This leads to a redistribution of time and effort in favor of the athlete's role. The conflict in which people play is also interpersonal. different roles: for example, the roles of superior and subordinate, pragmatist and romantic, internationalist and nationalist, etc.

Role conflict arises when people, social groups, institutions, organizations do not implement the intended plan for status and role elevation. For example, a person interested in defending a doctoral dissertation remains a candidate of science; a company aiming to enter international market, remains within the national market, etc. This state can be due to many reasons: a contradiction between needs and roles; role conflict; mismatch between abilities and roles, and others. In this case, a conflict arises between the failed role and other roles of the person, as well as the roles of a social group, institution, or organization. It can be resolved either by implementing a role, or by changing values-roles, or by coming to terms with external circumstances.

The discrepancy between a person’s character and his roles is natural at the stage of role formation. It is important to choose roles that match our character, or, conversely, to adapt our character to social roles. In the first case, a person must choose a profession, wife, society, etc. depending on his needs, temperament, mentality, and lifestyle. For example, a person with no musical abilities should not become a musician, etc. In the second case, a person has to “get used to” a new role: student, military man, married, etc. Usually both processes occur simultaneously, but with different intensity.

Often a conflict arises between the abilities of the subject and the requirements of the new role: student, employee, husband, father, citizen, etc. Its result is poor performance of one’s role. For example, in the first year a student studies satisfactorily, although he did excellent at school. He is faced with the task of developing his abilities and character in relation to new conditions and roles, which requires time and effort. This also applies to social communities, institutions, organizations: for example, before many social institutions USSR during the transition to post-Soviet society.

Role conflict arises during the transition from one leading role to another, for example, from the role of an employee to the role of a pensioner. Overcoming such a conflict (changing and demoting roles) requires mental preparation, time and effort, and will. Such conflict is also inherent in social groups, institutions, and organizations. For example, the transformation of former Soviet workers from a nominal “hegemon” into a virtually powerless class, or scientists from a relatively prosperous layer into the poor became a very difficult and painful transformation.

Role conflict plays a big role in the formation deviant behavior and motivation. The psychological tension and frustration that arises with it interfere with the harmonious integration of the individual into social connection and the system, its assimilation of conformal values ​​and motivations. Parsons identified the mechanisms of socialization (learning), protection and adaptation (to the situation, environment) in the human structure. Socialization mechanism is a process as a result of which a person acquires new motivational (need, cognitive, evaluative) orientations, new value orientations, new objects, new interests. Protection mechanism - these are coping processes internal conflict between different needs, motivations, value orientations, roles and statuses. Adaptation mechanisms - these are the processes by which a person overcomes tension and conflict in his relationship with the action situation. In this case, the mechanisms of protection and adaptation, after implementation, dissolve in the mechanism of socialization.

Role set

A set of social roles inherent to a speaker with a certain social status; each of these roles is implemented depending on the changing communication situation (the social status of the interlocutor, the topic of communication). For example, the R.n. corresponding to the status of a schoolchild will include different types normative behavior expected in situations of communication with fellow students, a teacher, and a school principal.

Dictionary of socio linguistic terms. - M.: Russian Academy Sci. Institute of Linguistics. Russian Academy of Linguistic Sciences. Responsible editor: Doctor of Philology V.Yu. Mikhalchenko. 2006 .

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Status and role sets

Each person simultaneously occupies several status positions. A man can simultaneously be a Ukrainian, a governor, a husband, a father, a senator, etc. The set of status positions is called status set. It highlights:

- prescribed status - the status that a person receives “automatically” at birth or over time. This type includes statuses associated with gender, nationality, race, included in the systems of consanguinity and aristocratic titles. Example - woman, American, Caucasian, brother, duke, stepson;

- achieved status - obtained by a person due to his own strength or luck. Example: husband, engineer, inventor, fireman;

- mixed status - has the characteristics of what is prescribed and achieved, but not achieved at the request of a person. Example: disabled person, refugee, unemployed.

- main status – status that determines the position of an individual in the social hierarchy. Most often, a person’s main status is determined by his work. When it comes to stranger, we first ask: “What does this person do, how does he make a living?” The answer to this question says a lot about him. The main statuses include the status of a former prisoner, Olympic champion, prostitute, etc. (Quoted by N. Smelzer).

Each status has not one, but several roles, which was first noticed by R. Merton. Thus, the father plays the roles of breadwinner, mechanic, carpenter, electrician, guardian, teacher, etc. The set of roles corresponding to this status is called role-playing set. A person has a complex of statuses, each status has its own set of social roles, and each of them requires a special manner of behavior and communication with people. Naturally, when performing roles there may arise role tension- difficulty associated with improper role preparation, unsuccessful performance of the role. Role tension often results in conflicts. Role conflict- this is a clash of role demands placed on a person, caused by the multiplicity of roles simultaneously performed by him. There are two types of role conflicts: 1) between roles; 2) in within one role. Often two or more roles have incompatible responsibilities. For example, a woman works great in production, but at home she does not have time to fulfill her duties as a wife and mother. Within many roles there are conflicts of interest in which the obligation to be fair to people conflicts with the desire to “make money.” If the conflict escalates, it can lead to withdrawal from this role and to internal stress.

Role conflicts are usually resolved with the help of defense mechanisms: rationalization, division and regulation of roles.

Rationalization hides conflict by unconsciously searching for unpleasant aspects of a desired but unattainable role. A classic example: a girl who failed to get married explains her situation by the rudeness and limitations of modern men.

Separation of roles- is expressed in the temporary withdrawal of one of the roles from life. A sailor on a long voyage is not informed about the death of his mother, thereby excluding the role of his son from his consciousness so as not to cause stress.

Role regulation- with its help, the individual is freed from personal responsibility for the consequences of his performance of a particular role by shifting the blame to the organization, people, class. A classic example is the “washing of hands” ritual of Pontius Pilate, with the help of which he blamed the execution of Jesus Christ on the Jews.

Concept and definition of social status

A person interacts daily with different people and social groups. It is rare that he interacts entirely with members of only one group, such as a family, but he may at the same time be a member labor collective, public organizations, etc. Entering simultaneously into many social groups, he occupies a corresponding position in each of them, determined by relationships with other members of the group. To analyze the degree of inclusion of an individual in various groups, as well as the positions he occupies in each of them, the concepts of social status and social role are used.

Status (from Latin status - position, condition) - the position of a citizen. Social status is usually defined as the position of an individual or group in a social system, which has characteristics specific to this system. Each social status has a certain prestige.

There is a wide range of statuses: prescribed, achieved, mixed, personal, professional, economic, political, demographic, religious and consanguineous, which belong to the variety of basic statuses.

In addition to them, there are a huge number of episodic, non-main statuses. These are the statuses of a pedestrian, passer-by, patient, witness, participant in a demonstration, strike or crowd, reader, listener, television viewer, etc. As a rule, these are temporary states. The rights and obligations of holders of such statuses are often not registered in any way. They are generally difficult to detect, say, in a passerby. But they exist, although they influence not the main, but the secondary traits of behavior, thinking and feeling.

Although statuses do not enter into social relations directly, but only indirectly (through their bearers), they mainly determine the content and nature of social relations.

Political, religious, demographic, economic, professional statuses of a person determine the intensity, duration, direction and content of social relations of people.

Concept and definition of social role

Role (French role) - the image embodied by the actor. A role is the expected behavior determined by a person’s status (Linton, cited in Merton, 1957).

A social role is an expected pattern of behavior that corresponds to a certain social status and does not depend on the individual.

For each social role, behavioral characteristics are different. The limits are limited, but the very performance of the role of any status is a creative process.

Each social status usually includes a number of social roles. The set of roles corresponding to a given status is called a role set (R. Merton). So the teacher has one status, but the roles in relation to the head of the department and the student are different, i.e. with one status you can have many roles. Talcott Parsons introduced the concept of role pluralism. This is a combination of important long-term roles and temporary, situational roles.

An equally important problem is learning roles. Roles are learned through the process of socialization, and their number is constantly increasing.

Socialization is a broad process that includes both the acquisition of skills, abilities, knowledge, and the formation of values, ideals, norms and principles social behavior.

Social roles can be:

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

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

Cultural norms are learned mainly through role learning, but few norms are accepted by all members of society; the acceptance of most norms depends on the status of a particular individual.

What is acceptable for one status is unacceptable for another. Thus, socialization as the process of learning generally accepted ways and methods of actions and interactions is the most important process of learning role behavior, as a result of which the individual truly becomes a part of society.

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

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

Interpersonal roles are associated with interpersonal relationships, which are regulated by emotional level(leader, offended, neglected, family idol, beloved, etc.).

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

The main causes of role stress are, first of all, role conflicts.

2. Roles and role conflicts in the organization

The entry of a person into an organization is special, very complex and extremely important process, in the success of which both the person and the organization are interested.

When interacting with an organization, a person is interested in various aspects of interaction regarding what he should sacrifice for the interests of the organization, what, when and to what extent he should do in the organization, in what conditions to function, with whom and for how long to interact, what will happen give him organization, etc. A person’s satisfaction with interaction with the organization, his attitude towards the organization and his contribution to the organization’s activities depend on this and a number of other factors.

It is necessary to note two fundamental points that underlie most of the reasons that cause misunderstanding, opposition and conflicts in the interaction of a person with the organizational environment. These are:

The individual’s expectations and ideas about the organizational environment and his place in it;

The organization's expectations regarding the individual and his role in it.

People working in organizations perceive the situations in which they find themselves differently. Differences in perception often lead to people disagreeing with each other. This disagreement arises when the situation is truly conflicting in nature.

Role conflict is defined as a situation in which an individual occupying a certain status is faced with incompatible role expectations and is unable to fulfill the requirements of the role.

An employee's role in an organization is a set of expected behavioral patterns associated with performing a specific job. Work roles have several characteristics. First, work roles are independent, they are performed by everyone who occupies a particular social position. Second, they are directly related to task-related work behavior. Third, work roles may not be compatible with each other. The problem is determining who determines what is expected of whom. What the scope of our role is, what others think it is, and what it actually is can vary greatly. This makes it difficult to define what a "real" role is. Finally, roles are quickly learned and can have a significant impact on both social positions and work behavior workers.

Role conflict arises when an individual performing a certain role receives a task that is inadequate to his role. Fuzzy instructions and an unclear statement of the task, unclear meaning and significance of the assigned action can lead to the fact that the person performing the role, even despite the efforts and desire to do everything the best way, will receive a negative result from the organization's point of view.

Role conflict, as a type of intraorganizational conflict, is most often associated with confrontations and clashes that arise based on how individual jobs or the organization as a whole were designed, as well as on the basis of how power is formally distributed in the organization.

You can select four types of role conflict.

1. Intra-role conflict. Occurs when the same member of a role set gives two or more incompatible jobs.

2. Interrole intrapersonal conflict. It occurs when two or more roles performed by an individual contain incompatible demands.

3. Inter-role conflict. It occurs when two or more subjects of a social relationship have incompatible expectations.

4. Personal-role. It refers to a situation where the personal positions of the role performer turn out to be incompatible with his role requirements. Note that high level Role conflict leads not only to lower levels of employee satisfaction with their jobs, but also to decreased productivity and increased turnover.

The use of a role approach to integrating a person into an organization may be accompanied by the emergence of conflicts regarding the fulfillment of roles and the emergence of a number of problems that complicate the existence and functioning of the organization.

Very often, in organizations with formal organizational relationships, the source of poor role failure is role ambiguity. If the content of a role is not clearly defined, the person performing this role may interpret it in such a way that the actions he takes will not lead to the result expected by the organization.

Conflict over role performance can also arise when the expectations of colleagues do not correspond to the actions of the member of the organization. This often occurs in a situation where a new member of the organization performs his role differently than his predecessor did and what the colleagues around him are accustomed to.

Role contradiction can arise if the goals of an organization member contradict the goals of the organization, if his values ​​do not correspond to the values ​​of the group in which he works, etc.

Summarizing what has been said regarding the sources of role conflicts, we can identify the main groups of reasons that give rise to problems in fulfilling a role.

The first group consists of the causes of conflicts associated with the contradictions initially inherent in the content of the role.

The second group can include all those reasons that are associated with contradictions between a person and his assigned role in the organization.

The third group consists of reasons caused by contradictions between the role and its perception by the organizational environment.

The fourth group consists of the causes of conflict situations generated by the contradiction between this role and some other roles.

social conflict profession

Conclusion

Reviewed in this essay the concepts of social status, social role and role conflict, as a means of describing the relationship between the individual and society, provide mechanisms for including the individual in complex social formations.

In order to occupy a certain status and function successfully in this capacity, each individual must fulfill certain requirements in relation to his behavior. In this case, the individual is said to fulfill his social role, which serves as a dynamic characteristic for each social position. In other words, social status is understood as the specific position of an individual in the social system, which implies certain rights and responsibilities, and social role is understood as a set of expectations manifested in relation to an individual occupying a certain social position. Therefore, each individual performs a large number of roles, and he must correlate them in such a way that fulfilling the requirements of one role does not interfere with fulfilling the requirements of other roles.

Role conflict is a fairly common phenomenon in many organizations, but not always negative. Role conflict belongs to the intrapersonal type, it is caused by the confrontation of contradictory roles that are performed by one employee or is a contradiction in the roles of different employees.

Each individual performs a set of certain social, psychological and professional roles, and sometimes they come into conflict, generating internal conflict.

To timely identify role conflicts among employees, it is necessary to constantly monitor the behavior and characteristics of the individual psychological state of employees. If signs indicating the presence of a role conflict arise, it is necessary to urgently take measures to resolve the conflict.

To do this, it is advisable to carry out a series of managerial and organizational events, for example, making work changes to relieve stress on employees, clarify their roles, improve staff skills and improve working conditions.

The functional approach contributed to the development status-role personality theories. From the perspective of studying social functions performed by an individual, it is defined as a set of social statuses and social roles characteristic of a given society.

Social status- this is the position of an individual in society, determined by his functions, responsibilities and rights. The position depends on the professional, socio-economic status of the individual or group, political opportunities, gender, origin, marital status etc.

By imposing duties on a person, society “pays” him with rights. These include income, benefits, and prestige. The higher a person’s status, the higher his prestige, the better his financial situation. The position of an individual in the social hierarchy of statuses is called rank. Rank shapes the status worldview.

Status ranks are also determined by external insignia - symbols. These include skin color, facial expressions, gestures, clothing, language, demeanor, titles and titles. Each status has its own image. Image - it is an idea of ​​how a person of a certain status should look and behave. Failure to maintain the image is punishable by loss of status positions.

An important element of status is social role- behavior expected from a person of a certain status (N. Smelzer). For the first time, the role as a dynamic aspect of status was considered by R. Linton. The role is standard, but it is performed by people - individuals. Each of them explains their role in their own way and performs it differently. The actual performance of a role by an individual is called role behavior.

The social role has a certain normative structure: 1. description behavior that others demand from a person; 2. expectations presented to a person when performing a role; 3. grade playing a role; 4. sanctions for playing the role.

There are 3 types of social roles: 1. role represented- expectation of others; 2. perceived role- a person’s idea of ​​the role; 3. role played- real embodiment of the role. According to I. Goffman, roles are divided into 2 types: 1. stage roles- performed by a person in public, or in official situations; 2. behind-the-scenes roles- performed by a person alone with himself.

Status and role set

Each person simultaneously occupies several status positions. A collection of status positions is called a status set. Several types of status can be distinguished.

1. Prescribed status- the status that a person receives at birth: statuses associated with gender, nationality, race, family.

2. Achieved status- a status obtained by a person due to his own strength or luck.

3. Mixed status- has the characteristics of what is prescribed and achieved, but not achieved at the request of a person.

4. Main status- status that determines the position of an individual in the social hierarchy. Most often, a person’s main status is determined by his work. The main statuses include the status that determines the attitude and direction of the individual, the nature of the activity, lifestyle, behavior, circle of acquaintances, etc.

J. Lenski proposed the concept status inconsistency. Each status has four dimensions: income, education, professional prestige, and ethnicity. Inconsistency occurs when measures of status do not correspond to each other. Inconsistency leads to a feeling of dissatisfaction and attempts to change the status system. J. Lenski called the change in the status positions of an individual over time “ status profile».

Each status has not one, but several roles (R. Merton). The set of roles corresponding to a given status is called role-playing set. A person has a complex of statuses, each status has its own set of social roles, and each of them requires a special manner of behavior and communication with people. Naturally, when performing roles, role tension may arise - a difficulty associated with improper role preparation, unsuccessful performance of the role. Role tension often turns into conflicts. Role conflict- this is a clash of role demands placed on a person, caused by the multiplicity of roles simultaneously performed by him. There are two types of role conflicts: 1) between roles; 2) within one role. Often the coexistence of roles involves incompatible responsibilities. There are conflicts of interest within many roles. If the conflict escalates, it can lead to withdrawal from this role and to internal stress. Role conflicts are usually resolved with the help of defense mechanisms: rationalization, division and regulation of roles.

Rationalization hides conflict by unconsciously searching for unpleasant aspects of a desired but unattainable role.

Separation of roles is expressed in the temporary withdrawal of one of the roles from life.

Role regulation- with its help, the individual is freed from personal responsibility for the consequences of his performance of a particular role by shifting the blame to the organization, people, class. With the help of unconscious defense mechanisms and conscious involvement of social structures, an individual can avoid the dangerous consequences of role conflicts.