The social role of the individual - the importance of the social role in human life

Some people confuse this concept with status. But these terms mean completely different manifestations. The concept of the role was introduced by psychologist T. Parsons. It was used in his works by K. Horney and I. Hoffmann. They revealed the characteristics of the concept in more detail and conducted interesting studies.

Social role - what is it?

According to the definition, a social role is behavior that society has found acceptable for people in a particular status. The social role of a person changes, depending on who he is at the moment. To a son or daughter, society orders to behave in one way, rather than, say, an employee, mother or woman.

What is included in the concept of social role:

  1. Behavioral reactions of a person, his speech, actions, deeds.
  2. Appearance of the individual. It must also comply with the norms of society. A man dressed in a dress or skirt in a number of countries will be perceived negatively, just like the head of the office, coming to work in a dirty robe.
  3. Motivation of the individual. The environment approves and negatively reacts not only to human behavior, but also to its internal aspirations. Motives are evaluated based on the expectations of other people who are building on the generally accepted understanding. The bride who marries because of material benefits in certain societies will be perceived negatively, she is expected to love and sincere feelings, and not mercantile.

The Importance of Social Role in Human Life

Changing behavioral reactions can be costly for an individual. Our social roles are determined by the expectations of other people, without justifying them, we run the risk of being outcasts. A person who has decided to break these peculiar rules, is unlikely to build relationships with other members of society. He will be judged, tried to change. In some cases, such an individual is perceived as mentally abnormal, although the doctor did not put such a diagnosis.

Signs of a social role

This concept is also associated with the profession and type of human activity. This also affects the way in which the social role is manifested. From the student of the university and from the schoolboy we are waiting for a different appearance, speech and actions. A woman, in our understanding, should not do what is included in the concept of normal behavior of a man. And the doctor has no right to act in the working environment in the same way that the seller or the engineer will act. The social role in the profession is manifested in appearance, use of terms. Violating these rules can be considered a bad specialist.

How are social status and social role related?

These concepts mean completely different things. But at the same time, social statuses and roles are very closely related. The first gives the person rights and duties, the second, explains what kind of behavior the society expects from him. A man who has become a father must keep his child, and it is assumed that he will devote time to communicate with the offspring. The expectations of the environment in this case can be very precise or blurred. It depends on the culture of the country where the person lives and is brought up.

Types of social roles

Psychologists subdivide the concept into two main categories - interpersonal and related to status. The first are connected with emotional relations - the leader, the favorite in the team, the soul of the company. The social roles of the individual, dependent on the official position, are more determined by the profession, type of activity and family - husband, child, seller. This category is depersonalized, the behavioral responses in them are defined more clearly than in the first group.

Each social role is different:

  1. According to the degree of its formalization and scale. There are those where the behavior is written very clearly and those where the expected actions and reactions by the environment are described blurry.
  2. By the method of production. Achievements are often associated with the profession, interpersonal relationships , appropriated with family status, physiological characteristics. An example of the first subgroup is a lawyer, a leader, and the second is a woman, a daughter, a mother.

Individual role

Each person has several functions at the same time. Carrying out each of them, he is forced to behave in a certain way. The individual social role of the individual is related to the interests and motivations of the individual. Each of us perceives himself somewhat differently from how other people see us, so his own assessment of behavior and his perception of others can be very different. Suppose a teenager can consider himself fully mature, having the right to take a number of decisions, but for the parents he will still be a child.

Interpersonal human roles

This category is related to the emotional sphere. Such a social role of a person is appropriated to him by a certain group of people. The individual can be considered cheerful, favorite, leader, loser. Based on the perception of a person by a group, the environment expects a person from a standard response. If it is assumed that a teenager is not only a son and a pupil, but also a joker and a bully, his actions will be assessed through the prism of these unofficial statuses.

Social roles in the family are also interpersonal. There are often situations when one of the children has the status of a pet. In this case, conflicts between children and parents become more pronounced and occur more often. Psychologists advise avoiding the appropriation of interpersonal status within the family, because in this situation, its members are forced to rebuild behavioral responses, which leads to a change in personality, and not always for the better.

New social roles for young people

They appeared in connection with the change in the social order. The development of Internet communication has led to the fact that the social roles of youth have changed, have become more variable. The development of subcultures also contributed to this. Modern teenagers are more and more oriented not to official statuses, but to those that are accepted in their society - punk, vaper. Assignment of this perception can be group and individual.

Modern psychologists claim that behavior considered normal for the environment is inherent not of a healthy person, but of a neurotic. With this fact they connect an increasing number of people who do not cope with stress and are forced to turn to specialists for help.