Status is a concept that can be applied to a huge number of areas of human life. Well, let's look at some of the meanings of this term to form the most complete concept about this abstract, but at the same time significant thing for us. We constantly encounter this concept in our lives. As soon as we go to work, we can immediately see who has the better social status. Let's look into the phone, and there is a huge number of statuses, applications, battery charge and other characteristics. In fact, day and night are also a certain status. What kind of versatility is this? Here we will look at it.
General meaning of this word
Status is a concept that describes the quantitative and qualitative characteristics of the phenomenon or object under consideration at a certain moment. Everything’s status can change; this is a dynamic characteristic. However, when we talk about status, we are almost always talking about what is happening now. For example, when they talk about a person now, they can say something like this: “He is rich.” This is a characteristic of a person’s social status.
If a person is described in the past, then this characteristic may sound slightly different when applied to the same person: “He was a poor student at twenty years old.” The same can be said about the future. Only in this case will the description of the status take on the character of assumptions. For example: “This student has such prospects that I am sure he will be a rich man.”
Wealth is good, but there are also bad statuses. For example, if a person repays a bank loan poorly, then he has a negative status as a debtor. If a person commits delinquent acts, then in this case we are talking about him as a criminal. That is, it acquires a certain legal status. This does not characterize him well. Let's take a closer look at what statuses there are.
What is legal status?
Legal status is the established norms and rules applicable to certain categories of the population. Legal status is what a person is in terms of the current legislation of a particular country. There are a huge number of different legal statuses. So, a person who has a loan debt is also the legal status of a person.
Quite often, social status is combined with legal status. After all, legal norms play a very important role in the formation of public opinion, since any norms, including legal ones, are based on social values. Some become undeclared social norms.
As a rule, these are those rules of behavior in society that are not approved, but their intensity is not high enough for this to be considered a strong violation. But as for the regulation of social relations on a larger scale, we are already talking about legal norms. How a person observes them and which ones specifically apply to him forms the legal status of the individual. What about organizations?
Main characteristics of a social role
The main characteristics of a social role are highlighted by American sociologist Talcott Parsons.
He suggested the following four characteristics of any role. 1. By scale. Some roles may be strictly limited, while others may be blurred. 2. By method of receipt. Roles are divided into prescribed and conquered (they are also called achieved). 3. According to the degree of formalization. Activities can take place either within strictly established limits or arbitrarily. 4. By type of motivation. The motivation can be personal profit, public good, etc.
The scope of the role depends on the range of interpersonal relationships. The larger the range, the larger the scale. For example, the social roles of spouses have a very large scale, since the widest range of relationships is established between husband and wife. On the one hand, these are interpersonal relationships based on a variety of feelings and emotions; on the other hand, relations are regulated by regulations and, in a certain sense, are formal.
The participants in this social interaction are interested in a variety of aspects of each other’s lives, their relationships are practically unlimited. In other cases, when relationships are strictly defined by social roles (for example, the relationship between a seller and a buyer), interaction can be carried out only for a specific reason (in this case, purchases). Here the scope of the role is limited to a narrow range of specific issues and is small.
The way a role is acquired depends on how inevitable the role is for the person. Thus, the roles of a young man, an old man, a man, a woman are automatically determined by the age and gender of a person and do not require special efforts to acquire them. There can only be a problem of compliance with one’s role, which already exists as a given. Other roles are achieved or even won during the course of a person's life and as a result of targeted special efforts. For example, the role of a student, researcher, professor, etc. These are almost all roles related to the profession and any achievements of a person.
Formalization as a descriptive characteristic of a social role is determined by the specifics of interpersonal relationships of the bearer of this role. Some roles involve the establishment of only formal relationships between people with strict regulation of rules of behavior; others, on the contrary, are only informal; still others may combine both formal and informal relationships.
It is obvious that the relationship between a traffic police representative and a traffic rule violator should be determined by formal rules, and relationships between close people should be determined by feelings. Formal relationships are often accompanied by informal ones, in which emotionality is manifested, because a person, perceiving and evaluating another, shows sympathy or antipathy towards him. This happens when people have been interacting for a while and the relationship has become relatively stable.
Motivation depends on the needs and motives of a person. Different roles are driven by different motives. Parents, caring for the well-being of their child, are guided primarily by a feeling of love and care; the leader works for the sake of the cause, etc.
Legal status of the organization
By its structure, an organization is an example of a social group. And since all personal characteristics are averaged in it, we can talk about it as a separate social group. Accordingly, the legal status may also apply to the organization. In addition, this concept has its own specific features.
Thus, the payment of taxes has a special nature for an organization. It all depends on what type of business is typical for the organization. Purely working relationships between employees or in the “superior/subordinate” model are also regulated by law. For example, there is legislative regulation of working hours. If the working day is too long, then the legal status is the same. If this norm is observed, it will be completely different.
Social network status
Status is not only what characterizes a person. For example, this could be some kind of phrase on a social network. In this case, this is the state of a specific part of a specific page located on the Internet. For example, a fairly popular category is “Life is this”. Statuses of similar content simply flooded the Internet. And there is nothing surprising here, since thinking about existential needs and essences is typical for a large number of people. Existential concepts are terms associated with human existence.
What is human status?
In fact, this term can be used to describe everything that directly concerns a person. Thus, legal status can be considered a type of human status. The same can be said about social or group status. Here we will consider in more detail the concept of a person’s social status. What is this anyway? A person’s social status is the level of compliance with his certain behavior patterns in society, income level or other characteristics that determine his position in social relations.
The social status of an individual is an important indicator that determines the self-esteem of a particular person. There is also group status, which is often associated with the concept of rank. This is the place in the hierarchy that a person occupies and which gives him the right to receive certain privileges. Thus, people with high rank may even at times experiment with group norms and violate them for the benefit of the social group. After all, norms can also become outdated.
State position
GOST status – standards that are adopted by the standardization bodies of a member state of the Eurasian Economic Union. More broadly, this is a standard that has been adopted by the national standardization body in all states; it is accessible to a huge number of people. Each country has its own special standardization bodies that approve certain products for GOST.
Mobile phone status
Ordinary items can also have status. For example, a mobile phone. It has many different statuses. For example, a mobile phone can be prestigious or budget, current or not, charged or discharged. All this shows his condition at the moment. In principle, the same can be said about other subjects. As we can see, the concept of status can indeed be considered multidimensional, and this is good. If you understand the very essence of this term and what affects the status of you or the objects that you have at your disposal, then you can improve your self-esteem quite well.
How it works
The operating principle of the whatsapp status function in the software is simple. The algorithm includes several main stages:
- Installing a mobile application on a smartphone or tablet.
- Linking a mobile phone number to your account after the initial launch.
- Go to the services menu.
- Click on the status display function - in the upper right corner under the avatar.
- Indication of personal status in the form of a text message or graphic image.
- Confirm the entry of the status by pressing the “Save” button.
Please note that when using the software function, careful attention is required.
How long does it last?
The storage period stated by the developer for the status assigned to the account is unlimited. The rule is relevant for text messengers. Graphic displays are valid for 24 hours, after which they are automatically deleted.
Who sees
By default, the status is available to all software users. The profile owner has the right to independently configure publicity. The procedure includes the following steps:
- Go to the software services menu.
- Selecting the section for making settings.
- At the next stage, a subcategory of publicity settings is selected.
- The function of user access to status in the account is activated.
Users can grant access to all users or select a group of subscribers to whom to share information.
Video length for statuses
The software allows you to indicate animation videos in the status. To familiarize yourself with the rules in detail, it is recommended to study the “FAQ” section of the mobile application. To add animation, the user needs:
- Launch the mobile application.
- Go to my services.
- Click on the status entry form in your account.
- At the next stage, at the bottom of the opened form, press the key with the image of a paper clip.
- A video of interest is selected from the gallery of a smartphone or tablet.
- At the next stage, the function of saving the result is pressed.
The software automatically makes additional publicity settings. If you receive a system error notification on the screen, it is recommended to replace the animated image with another one.
