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Role theory of personality.

The role theory of personality is one of the approaches to the study of personality, according to which it is described through the social functions and patterns of behavior learned and accepted by it or forced to perform - roles. Such social roles stem from her social status. The main provisions of this theory were formulated by the American sociologist and social psychologist J.G. Mead in the books “Role, Self and Society” (1934), “The Study of Man” (1936). He believed that we all learn role behavior through the perception of ourselves by some person significant to us. A person always sees himself through the eyes of others and either begins to play along with the expectations of others, or continues to defend his role. In mastering role functions, Mead identified three stages: 1) imitation, i.e. mechanical repetition; 2) playback, i.e. transition from one role to another; 3) group membership, i.e. mastering a certain role through the eyes of a social group that is significant for a given person.

At the same time, the key concept of this theory – “social role” – was developed at the beginning of the twentieth century. in the works of E. Durkheim, M. Weber, and later T. Parsons, R. Lipton and others. Social role(from the French role) - a pattern of behavior that has become entrenched, established, selected as appropriate for people occupying a particular position (status) in the system of social relations.

Social role is usually viewed in two aspects: role expectation and role performance. Role expectation – this is the expected behavior pattern associated with a given status, i.e. typical behavior (within the framework of norms and standards) for people of a given status in a given social system. In other words, this is the behavior that others expect from us, knowing our social status. Role performance – This is the actual, real behavior of a person occupying one or another social position (social status).

In order to illustrate the influence of role expectations on people's behavior, let us turn to the “prison” experiment of the American researcher Philip Zimbardo. This experiment began with a notice posted in one of the prestigious American colleges: “For psychological research prison life requires male students who are completely healthy physically and mentally...” The experiment was planned to be carried out over one to two weeks. After the participants were selected, they were divided into two parts in arithmetic order. One part was appointed “prisoners”, the other – “jailers”. Then everyone was transported to the prison, where the jailers began to perform their duties. They stripped and searched the “prisoners” and took them to their cells, although no one ordered them to do this. On the whole, the first day went well with a good-natured and jocular attitude on both sides. However, already on the second day the relationship deteriorated so much that the experimenters had to restrain the “jailers” from being too harsh. On the sixth day, the experiment had to be stopped because everyone was injured. This experiment showed that functional expediency (the need to maintain order) and sociocultural traditions (how one should behave) predetermined the behavior of its participants. They “entered the role” and role expectations determined quite typical and easily recognizable behavior. The good relationship broke down when these good guys found themselves in different social roles. It was the “grip” of social roles that predetermined the behavior of the participants in this experiment.

Let us note that there is never an identity between role expectation and role performance, although there is a tendency to achieve it. In the normative structure of a social role, four elements are usually distinguished: 1) a 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, which can be both negative and positive.

Each person has many social statuses, and each of his statuses corresponds to a spectrum of roles. The set of roles corresponding to a given status is called role-playing set. Thus, it can be stated that each person performs many social roles in society. In this regard, the problem of role conflict arises.

Role conflict- this is a clash of role demands placed on a person, caused by the multiplicity of roles simultaneously performed by him, as well as other reasons. Having a general understanding of the essence of role conflicts, we can classify them.

Firstly, these are conflicts caused by differences in the understanding of one’s role between the individual and those around him. For example, a university teacher believes that he can achieve deep understanding of the program of his subject by students without severe pressure on them, but a different methodological approach prevails at the department.

Secondly, there is conflict between different aspects of the same role. For example, a lawyer is required to take all measures to acquit his client, but as a lawyer, he is also expected to fight offenses that undermine the foundations of society.

Thirdly, this is a conflict between the qualities necessary to fulfill a given social role and the expectations of people significant to this person. Thus, among athletes, such character traits as firmness, will, independence, emotional restraint, and the desire to win are highly valued. However, researchers Stein and Hoffman (1978) found that girls find these traits unpleasant. They are more attracted to sincerity, depth of feelings, and the ability to empathize. As a result, athletes are forced to choose between high achievements in sports and attention from the fair sex.

Fourthly, this is a conflict caused by opposing demands for the performance of the same role from the outside. different people. For example, from a woman her boss demands high dedication at work, and her husband demands high dedication at home.

Fifthly, there is a conflict between personal qualities individuals and role requirements. It's no secret that there are many people who occupy positions for which they do not have the necessary qualities. As a result, they are forced to painfully rebuild, as they say, “to step over themselves.”

Role conflicts give rise to role tension, which manifests itself in various everyday and professional troubles. Therefore it is important to know some ways reduction role-playing tensions. One is that certain roles are recognized as more important than others. So, in some cases you have to choose what is more important: family or work. For women, it is considered normal to choose the first, and for men – the second. The separation between two role systems, particularly family and work, reduces role conflict.

ROLE THEORY OF PERSONALITY

The role theory of personality is one of the approaches to the study of personality, according to which a personality is described through the social functions and patterns of behavior learned and accepted by it or forced to perform - in other words, roles. Such social roles arise from her social status.

The main provisions of this theory were formulated by the American sociologist and social psychologist J.G. Mead in the books Role, Self and Society (1934) and The Study of Man (1936). J.G. Mead believed that we all learn role behavior through the perception of ourselves as some person significant to us. Man is always sees himself through the eyes of others and either starts play along with the expectations of others, or continues to defend its role.

In mastering role functions George Gerberd Mead singled out three stages :

1) imitation, those. mechanical (essentially mindless) repetition: children copy the behavior of adults without essentially understanding it;

2) stage role-playing games when children understand behavior as performance certain roles: doctor, policeman, military man, race car driver, etc., simply reproducing these roles during the game. An example of such a game could be a girl’s individual game of “Daughters-Mothers”: the girl first speaks on behalf of her mother, sometimes affectionately, sometimes angrily, then in a “lisping” voice on behalf of the child, then again on behalf of the mother, etc. ). In other words, the transition from one role playing game to the other, it develops in the child the ability to give his thoughts and actions the meaning that other members of society give them, in other words, to look at the situation through the eyes of another person;

3) stage collective games when children learn to realize expectations not only of one person, but of the entire group. For example, every player on a football team sticks to the rules and ideas common to the whole team and for all football players. These general settings and expectations create for a person an image of some “other” - i.e. someone faceless (generalized) person from the outside personifying public opinion. So children evaluate their behavior according to the standards set by “outside others.” Following the rules of the game of football prepares children to mastering the rules of behavior in society, expressed in laws and norms. Moreover, at the stage group games is being formed sense of social identity (belonging).

At the same time, the key concept of this theory - “social role” - was developed at the beginning of the 20th century in the works E. Durheim, M. Weber, and later - T. Parsons, R. Lipton and etc.

Social role (from fanz. role) – behavior pattern, entrenched, established, selected as appropriate for people, occupying one position or another (status) in the system of social relations.

Social role is usually viewed in two aspects: role expectation and role performance.

Role Expectation - This expected behavior pattern, associated with this status, those. typical behavior (within norms and standards) for people of this status in this social system. In other words, this is the behavior which from us are waiting those around us, knowing our social status.

Role-playing - this is factual, real behavior of a person occupying a particular social position (social status).

To illustrate the influence of role expectations on people's behavior, let us turn to experiment with an “artificial prison” American explorer Philippa Zimbardo .

This experiment began with an advertisement posted in one of the prestigious American colleges: “Male students are required for psychological studies of prison life, completely healthy both physically and mentally...” The experiment was planned to be carried out over one to two weeks. After the participants were selected, they were separated random using the “heads-tails” method into two parts: one part was assigned "prisoners" and the other - "jailers-warders". Then everyone was transported to the prison, where the "jailers" began to fulfill their duties. They stripped and searched the “prisoners” and took them to their cells, although no one ordered them to do this. On the whole, the first day went well with a good-natured and jocular attitude on both sides. However, already on the second day the relationship deteriorated so much that the experimenters had to keep the “jailers” from excessive cruelty. On the sixth day of the experiment had to stop altogether because the “prisoner” participants were physically injured. This experiment showed that functional feasibility (need to maintain order) and sociocultural traditions (how one should behave in accordance with social expectations for a particular role) predetermined behavior its participants. They literally "entered the role", new transmission role expectations determined quite typical and recognizable behavior. Good relations burst when these young people (essentially students of the same educational institution) ended up for some time in different social roles. Exactly The “vice” of social roles predetermined behavior participants in this experiment.

Please note that there is never an identity between role expectation and role performance, although there is a tendency to achieve it.

In the normative structure of one or another social roles are usually distinguished four elements:

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

2) instructions, requirements associated with this behavior;

3) assessment of the fulfillment of the prescribed role (“copes” or, conversely, “fails”);

4) sanctions, which can be both negative and positive.

Each person has many social statuses, and each of its status has its own spectrum of roles. A set of roles corresponding to this status, called role-playing set. Thus, it can be stated that each person performs many social roles in society. This raises a problem role conflict.

Role conflict - This clash of demands, presented to a person, caused by multiplicity simultaneously executed them roles.

Having a general understanding of the essence of role conflicts, we can classify them:

Firstly, these are conflicts caused differences in understanding their role by the individual himself, on the one hand, and the people around him, on the other hand. For example, a liberal university teacher believes that he can achieve deep understanding of the program of his academic subject by students without severe pressure on them, but the leadership of the department requires the use of a different methodological approach, based on “tightening the screws.”

Secondly, it is a conflict between different aspects the same role. For example, a lawyer, according to the principle of judicial adversarialism, is required to take all measures to acquit his client, but at the same time, he, as a lawyer and legal scholar, is expected to fight offenses that undermine the foundations of society.

Third, this is a conflict between the need to demonstrate the personal and professional qualities required to fulfill a given social role, on the one hand, and opposite expectations, presented by authoritative and significant people for this person - on the other hand. Thus, among athletes, such character traits as firmness, will, independence, emotional restraint, and the desire to win are highly valued. However, researchers Stein and Goffman (1978) found that girls find these traits unpleasant. They are more attracted to sincerity, depth of feelings, and the ability to empathize and sympathize. As a result, male athletes are forced to choose between high achievements in sports (showing emotional coldness and firmness), on the one hand, and attention from the fair sex (showing emotional warmth and sympathy), on the other hand.

Fourthly, it is a conflict caused by opposing demands to perform the same role from various people. For example, from a woman her immediate boss demands high dedication at work, and her husband demands high dedication at home.

Fifthly, this is a conflict between the personal qualities of individuals, on the one hand, and role requirements, on the other hand. It's no secret that there are many people holding positions for which they do not possess the necessary personal qualities. As a result, they are forced to painfully rebuild, in other words, “step over themselves.”

Role conflicts give rise to role tension, which manifests itself in various everyday and professional troubles. Therefore, it is important to know some ways to reduce role tension. One of them is that certain roles are recognized as more important than others. So, in some cases you have to choose what is more important: family or work. For a woman it is considered normal to choose in favor of the first, for a man - in favor of the second.

3.7. MIRROR SELF THEORY

One of the first theories of personality in sociology and psychology was the theory of the “mirror self.” It was based not on the internal characteristics of a person, but on recognition of the decisive role interaction individuals which act in relation to each of them as a kind of “mirror” of his Self.

"I" (or the image of “I”, a kind of reflection of my “I” in the mirror ) is the central concept of a number of interpretations of personality.

"I" is self, those. integral integrity, “single personality”, “authenticity” of the individual, his self-identity on the basis of which he distinguishes himself from the outside world and other people.

W. James, one of the founders of the theory of the “mirror self”, identified in the “I” the so-called social "I" which was what the people around him recognize this person to be. The man has as many “social selves” as there are individuals and groups, whose opinion is important for a given person.

This idea was developed Charles Cooley, American sociologist and social psychologist. C. Cooley thought a sign of a truly social being the ability of an individual to distinguish himself from a group and become aware of his Self. The remaining condition for this, according to C. Cooley, is the individual’s communication with other people and assimilation of their opinions about him. Does not exist feelings I without corresponding feelings We, He or They. Conscious actions of the individual always social. They mean to a person correlation of his actions with those ideas about his Self that other people have. Other people are the mirrors in which an individual’s image of himself is formed..

According to C. Cooley, personality is a set of mental reactions of a person to opinions about him from the people around him.

Self person is summation of those impressions, which, it seems to him, he affects those around him.

Human "I" includes:

1) the idea of ​​" what I seem like to another person;

2) the idea of ​​“how is this other evaluates my image";

3) the resulting specific sense of "I" type of pride or humiliation - in other words, "self-respect".

All this taken together (1, 2 and 3) adds up to the human sense of personal certainty” or the “mirror self”.

“I” acts as a synthesis of the social and individual in a person, the guarantor and result of his interaction with society. At the same time, society is revealed to the individual in the form social aspects his own personality. It practically does not exist outside the consciousness of the individual. Thus, the concept of “I” is essentially a product of the imagination.

The "mirror self" theory was developed J.G. Mead, who introduced the concept “stages” of self formation. Stages of role acceptance another, others and, finally, the “generalized other” expressed different stages transformation of the individual into a reflective social self, developed the skills of the individual’s relationship to himself as a social subject.

Titov Evgeniy Mikhailovich, chemical met 2-2

Role theory of personality

The main provisions of this theory were formulated by American sociologists J. Mead and R. Minton, and were also actively developed by T. Parsons. Here are the main provisions of this theory.

The role theory of personality describes its social behavior with 2 main concepts: “social status” and “social role”.

Each person in the social system occupies several positions. Each of these positions, which implies certain rights and responsibilities, is called status. A person can have several statuses. But more often than not, only one determines his position in society. This status is called main or integral. It often happens that the main status is determined by his position (for example, director, professor). Social status reflected both in external behavior and appearance (clothing, jargon) and in internal position (in attitudes, values, orientations).

Sociologists distinguish between prescribed and acquired statuses. Prescribed means imposed by society, regardless of the efforts and merits of the individual. It is determined by ethnic origin, place of birth, family. The acquired (achieved) status is determined by the efforts of the person himself (for example, writer, general secretary). Natural and professional job statuses will also be distinguished. The natural status of a person presupposes significant and relatively stable characteristics of a person (men and women, childhood, adolescence). Professional - official - this is the basic status of the individual, for an adult, most often, it is the basis of the integral status. It records the social, economic and industrial status (banker, engineer, lawyer).

Social status denotes the specific place that an individual occupies in a given social system. The totality of demands placed on an individual by society forms the content of a social role. A social role is a set of actions that a person occupying a given status in the social system must perform. Each status usually includes a number of roles.

One of the first attempts to systematize roles was made by T. Parsons. He believed that every role is described by 5 main characteristics:

Emotional - some roles require emotional restraint, others - looseness;

By the method of obtaining - some are prescribed, others are conquered;

Scale - some roles are formulated and strictly limited, others are blurred;

Normalization - action in strict established rules, or arbitrarily;

Motivation - for personal profit, for the common good.

The social role should be considered in 2 aspects:

Role expectations

Role-playing.

There is never a complete coincidence between them. But each of them has great importance in personality behavior. Our roles are determined primarily by what others expect from us. These expectations are associated with the status that a given person has.

In the normal structure of a social role, 4 elements are usually distinguished:

Description of the type of behavior appropriate for the role;

Instructions (requirements) associated with this behavior;

Assessing the performance of the assigned role;

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

It should be noted that any role is not a pure model of behavior. The main link between role expectations and role behavior is the character of the individual. Those. the behavior of a particular person does not fit into a pure scheme.

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The main provisions of this theory were formulated by American sociologists J. Mead and R. Minton, and were also actively developed by T. Parsons. Here are the main provisions of this theory.

The role theory of personality describes its social behavior with 2 main concepts: “social status” and “social role”.

Each person in the social system occupies several positions. Each of these positions, which implies certain rights and responsibilities, is called status. A person can have several statuses. But more often than not, only one determines his position in society. This status is called main or integral. It often happens that the main status is determined by his position (for example, director, professor). Social status is reflected both in external behavior and appearance (clothing, jargon) and in internal position (attitudes, values, orientations).

Sociologists distinguish between prescribed and acquired statuses. Prescribed means imposed by society, regardless of the efforts and merits of the individual. It is determined by ethnic origin, place of birth, family. The acquired (achieved) status is determined by the efforts of the person himself (for example, writer, general secretary). Natural and professional job statuses will also be distinguished. The natural status of a person presupposes significant and relatively stable characteristics of a person (men and women, childhood, adolescence). Professional - official - this is the basic status of the individual, for an adult, most often, it is the basis of the integral status. It records the social, economic and production situation(banker, engineer, lawyer).

Social status denotes the specific place that an individual occupies in a given social system. The totality of demands placed on an individual by society forms the content of a social role. A social role is a set of actions that a person occupying a given status in the social system must perform. Each status usually includes a number of roles.

One of the first attempts to systematize roles was made by T. Parsons. He believed that every role is described by 5 main characteristics:

Emotional - some roles require emotional restraint, others - looseness;

By the method of obtaining - some are prescribed, others are conquered;

By scale - some roles are formulated and strictly limited, others are blurred;

Normalization - action in strictly established rules, or arbitrarily;

Motivation - for personal profit, for the common good.

The social role should be considered in 2 aspects:

Role expectations

Role-playing.

There is never a complete coincidence between them. But each of them is of great importance in the behavior of an individual. Our roles are determined primarily by what others expect of us. These expectations are associated with the status that a given person has.

In the normal structure of a social role, 4 elements are usually distinguished:

Description of the type of behavior appropriate for the role;

Instructions (requirements) associated with this behavior;

Assessing the performance of the assigned role;

Sanctions - social consequences one or another 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.

It should be noted that any role is not a pure model of behavior. The main link between role expectations and role behavior is the character of the individual. Those. the behavior of a particular person does not fit into a pure scheme.

Social status is understood as a structural unit that determines the individual’s place in the social structure and is characterized by a certain structure of rights and obligations.

A role is a dynamic status object.

Social action is a system that includes many actors who have a certain status and perform roles prescribed by norms. (Parsons).

Role pluralism is the participation of the same actors in a number of groups.

The most important component of the processes of socialization of society is the expansion of role pluralism.

Role set - A set of role relationships of an individual, which are determined by his social status. Several role sets of individuals occupying a given status constitute a set of statuses.

Status set – statuses that a person occupies.

Aspectations are a conflict between the expectations of people occupying different statuses.

Role conflict. A mechanism for combining statuses and roles to prevent conflict:

Consolidation of statuses - temporary refusal of any role;

Combining roles and performing them more effectively.

Social role classes (Moreno):

1). Psychosomatic (biological conditioning and unconscious nature of playing a role);

2). Psychodramatic (correlation of specific requirements of the social environment);

3). Actually social roles (status conditioning and given social roles).

Difference between status and role:

Status is the place of an individual in the social system.

Role – functional purpose one status or another.

Status is the stable static position of an individual.

Role – characterizes the dynamic aspect of status.

There are a number of psychological theories that describe the structure of personality. Russian and Soviet psychological schools presented in works I. P. Pavlova, A. N. Leontyeva, B. G. Ananyeva, K. K. Platonova and etc.

In Soviet psychology, there was a tradition of distinguishing between the individual and the personality. Two Soviet psychologists have done the most towards this distinction: B. G. Ananyev And A. N. Leontyev. With some differences in understanding of personality and with general differences or approaches, these authors defined the nature and properties of the individual and drew a line of distinction (“line of demarcation”) in the same place. The individual, in their opinion, is a natural, biological being, possessing both innate and lifetime-formed properties. Personality is a socially formed quality.

Man, according to A. N. Leontiev, as a natural being is an individual with one or another physical constitution, type nervous activity, temperament, dynamic forces of biological needs.

Characterizing a person as an individual, B. G. Ananyev wrote that there are grounds for identifying two main classes of individual properties:

1) age and gender;

2) individual-typical.

First class includes:

1) age-related properties that develop during the formation of an individual (stages of ontogenetic evolution), and sexual dimorphism, the intensity of which corresponds to the ontogenetic stages;

2) constitutional features (physique and biochemical individuality), neurodynamic properties of the brain, features of the functional geometry of the cerebral hemispheres (symmetry-asymmetry, functioning of paired receptors and effectors). Defining these properties as primary, and psychophysical functions and organic needs as secondary, these authors note that the highest integration of all these properties occurs in temperament and inclinations. Defining the difference between a personality and an individual, A. N. Leontyev wrote that a personality, like an individual, is a product of the integration of processes that carry out the relations of the subject. As a fundamental difference in personality, he called human-specific public relations, into which he enters in his objective activity.

For B. G. Ananyev, the starting point of the structural-dynamic properties of a personality is its status in the society where this personality is formed and formed.

A. N. Leontyev believes that personality is relatively late product socio-historical and ontogenetic development of man.

In Western theories of personality, the visual role is played by theory of Z. Freud, analytical theory of K. Jung, E. Bern. The psychoanalytic theory of personality developed by S. Freud can be classified as a psychodynamic theory that covers the entire life of a person and is used to describe him as a person, the internal psychological properties of the individual, primarily his needs and motives.

Analytical psychology by K. Jung examines the behavior of an individual in relationships with others, that is, the social side of his behavior.

In E. Bern's theory, transactional analysis dominates.

The main problem of psychoanalysis, considered by S. Freud, is the problem of motivation.

In mental life, S. Freud distinguishes three levels: unconscious, preconscious and conscious. The source of instinctive charge that gives motivational force to human behavior (both in its motor and in thought forms), is the unconscious. It is saturated with sexual energy (Freud refers to it as “libido”).

Z. Freud dealt with the problems of neuroses, developed psychoanalysis - a psychotherapeutic method of treating neuroses, based on the technique of free associations and the analysis of erroneous actions and dreams as ways of penetrating the unconscious. He studied psychological aspects development of sexuality, in which he identified a number of stages, expanding the scope of psychoanalysis.

The personality structure is understood by S. Freud as consisting of “I” and “it”. Freud believes that driving force development of the psyche is the energy of unconscious, psychosexual attraction.

A. Adler belongs to the Freudian school, who became the founder of individual psychology, where the driving force for the development of the psyche is an inferiority complex, as a result of overcoming which the development of the psyche occurs. Representatives of neo-Freudianism somewhat move away from Freud's biologization, approaching anthropological psychologism and existentialism. Developing a holistic concept of personality development, E. Fromm, for example, tried to figure out the mechanism of interaction between psychological and social factors in the process of its formation. The connection between the individual’s psyche and the social structure of society, according to E. Fromm, is of a social nature, in the formation of which fear plays a special role. Fear suppresses and represses into the unconscious traits that are incompatible with the prevailing norms in society.

Western psychological theories thus tend to favor the dominance of biological factors in the process of personality development.

Role theory of personality is an approach to the study of personality, according to which a person is described through the social functions and patterns of behavior that he has learned and accepted or is forced to perform - roles that arise from his social status in a given society or social group. The main provisions of the theory of social roles were formulated by the American social psychologist J. Mead, anthropologist R. Linton. The first focused on the mechanisms of “role learning”, mastering roles in processes interpersonal communication(interaction), emphasizing the stimulating effect of “role expectations” on the part of persons significant to the individual with whom he enters into communication. The second drew attention to the socio-cultural nature of role prescriptions and their connection with the social position of the individual, as well as the purpose of social and group sanctions. Within the framework of role theory, the following phenomena were experimentally identified: role conflict - the subject’s experience of ambiguity or confrontation of role demands from different social communities, of which he is a member, which creates stressful situation; integration and disintegration of the role structure of the individual are consequences of the harmony or conflict of social relations.

There are different leading social roles arising from social structure society, and roles that arise relatively arbitrarily in group interactions and imply an active social connotation of their implementation. These features of the role approach are most clearly presented in the concept of the West German sociologist R. Dahrendorf, considering a person as a deindividualized product of role prescriptions, which under certain conditions reflects the alienation of the individual.

Overcoming the one-sidedness of the role approach to the study of personality involves analyzing its properties.

The role is most often understood as social function, a model of behavior objectively specified by the social position of an individual in the system of social or interpersonal relationships. The performance of the role must be consistent with accepted social norms and the expectations of others, regardless of individual characteristics.

Exist various theories role behavior personality (for example, the concept of symbolic interactionism is associated with the introduction by the American psychologist J. Mead of the concept of “exchange of symbols,” which are expressed in verbal and other forms by ideas about the interaction partner and his expectation of certain actions on the part of the subject.