Status is our relative social position within a group, while
a role is the part our society expects us to play in a given status
. For example, a man may have the status of father in his family. … This potentially makes social encounters more complex.
The major components of social structure include culture, social class, social status, roles, groups, and social institutions. Social structure
guides people’s behaviors
. … All of the components of social structure work together to maintain social order by limiting, guiding, and organizing human behavior.
Social Status and Social Role. A status is the social position a person occupies;
social roles are duties and behaviors tied to a status
, often influencing how a person acts in a particular situation. A status is a position an individual holds within a society.
Social facts are things such as institutions, norms and values which exist external to the individual and constrain the individual. The University of Colorado lists as examples of social facts: institutions, statuses, roles, laws, beliefs, population distribution, urbanization, etc.
In other words,
“status” is the position an actor occupies
, while “role” is the expected behavior attached to that position. People occupy status. People perform roles. When we experience being pulled in several different directions.
A social role is a pattern of behavior that is expected of a person in a given setting or group (Hare, 2003). Each one of us has several social roles. You may be, at the same time,
a student, a parent, an aspiring teacher, a son or daughter, a spouse, and a lifeguard
.
Common examples include
age, race, nationality, physical abilities, physical characteristics, appearance and gender
. For example, an individual may be proud of their national identity, height, youth or good looks.
A social fact, as defined in Rules, is “a category of facts which present very special characteristics: they consist of
manners of acting, thinking, and feeling external to the individual, which are invested with a coercive power by virtue of which they exercise control over him
.” The overall agenda for Durkheim is to …
We considered seven types of roles:
leader, knowledge generator, connector, follower, moralist, enforcer, and observer
. (For a definition of each social role, see Table 1.)
Two types of social facts are
material and non-material social facts
. Material social facts are features of society such as social structures and institutions.
What is a role expectation?
the
traits, attitudes, and behaviors considered appropriate for an occupant of a particular position within a group or social setting
. These expectations may be communicated to the occupant by other people in the occupant’s role set or may be held by the occupant himself or herself. …
What is role set example?
Role set is the term used to describe
the variety of roles and relationships you have as a result of your status in society
. … For instance, a person whose status in society is ‘high school student’ will behave in particular ways. This behavior is the ‘role’ the student is playing.
What are examples of achieved status?
Examples of achieved status are being
an Olympic athlete, a criminal, or a college professor
. Status is important sociologically because it comes with a set of rights, obligations, behaviors, and duties that people occupying a certain position are expected or encouraged to perform.
Social roles are the
part people play as members of a social group
. With each social role you adopt, your behavior changes to fit the expectations both you and others have of that role. … Each social role carries expected behaviors called norms.
The roles that people have are valued differently too. Valued roles are
the key to the good things of life for everyone
. When we have work, community, civic, relationship and recreational roles we have opportunity to meet people, develop our skills and project a positive image of ourselves with others.
A “social role” is the part played by a person in a given social context, including typical or expected patterns of behavior. … These roles are usually ones you’ve chosen, based on your personality profile and they
play an important part in determining how much you’re enjoying life
.
