Greetings, friends!
A person, unconsciously, or at the suggestion of others, always strives to be an authority for others. Possessing respect and “weight” in society, an individual can dictate his own rules of the game to others, encourage them to take certain actions and exert influence. Otherwise, it can be called social status; it determines a person’s place in life. In this article we will analyze: what social status is, examples and types of social status, and by what criteria it is formed.
What is social status?
Social status is a person’s position in the hierarchy of society, which corresponds to his age, gender, origin, profession and marital status. Another explanation can be given for this phenomenon. Status is a defined position in the structure of a particular group, or an entire society , that connects a person with others through the prism of rights and responsibilities.
The term has Proto-Indo-European roots and comes from the word “sta”, which means to stand. Then the word passed into the ancient Latin language and, adding the suffix “re”, turned into the word “stare”. However, the meaning of the word remains unchanged. In a more modern version, the word has been transformed into “status”, which means state, posture, position.
The determination of status is the result of comparing a person's social position with the position of other individuals. A person can be characterized by listing several of his statuses. Social status here means not only the ability to enjoy special benefits, but also the fulfillment of obligations and prescribed social norms. Society, along with the creation of social statuses, ensures the existence of social mechanisms. They serve as a sorter of individuals into social positions.
What is status incompatibility?
Status incompatibility is the different position of an individual in social groups. In one society he is in good standing, occupying high positions, enjoying respect and power. Among members of another social group, he is located at the lowest level of the hierarchy. An example is a banker whose social position obliges him to manage thousands of subordinates. They respect him, appreciate him and even fear him. At home, his wife humiliates him in every possible way and does not rely on his opinion. A similar attitude develops in children towards their father.
Spouse disrespect
Additional Information. If a person is stuck in an intermediate position, a prerequisite for the development of marginality arises. This happens when an individual is conditionally in a certain group, but does not accept its values, and exists on the edge. Or he left one society, refusing to obey its orders, but never chose the right one. He lives based on his own norms and rules, trying to combine them with the existing structure of society. This situation is fraught with the development of mental disorders.
Lumpens are another type of people who unsuccessfully left a social group. They lost their position and did not find a new one, finding themselves left behind in life. These are people who are outside of classes and strata of society.
Status incompatibility often arises when a person tries to move up the hierarchy created in society. He breaks away from his friends, changes his social circle, but is not necessarily accepted and appreciated, despite his achievements in the profession. A person grows up the career ladder, while the team does not respect him, but despises him in every possible way. He gets irritated, suffers from this, quarrels with his wife. The spouse, in turn, can also change her attitude towards her partner, based on his behavior: she begins to avoid him, ignores comments, and shows less attention. Thus, the high status provided by the position held is combined with a low position in the team and in the role of husband.
With status incompatibility, an individual does not enjoy the rights given to him in one society while being in another social group. They come into conflict. Deputies, called upon to represent the interests of the people, cannot engage in business and make a profit. Or a short example when a woman wants to combine work and motherhood and cannot perform equally well in both roles. The stereotypical opinion imposes on her the image of a housewife, which she tries to fight. She becomes a successful worker at the expense of time taken away from her family. Accordingly, children and husband experience a lack of attention and care, seeing a tired and exhausted mother and wife in the evenings. The assigned responsibilities cannot be fulfilled at the proper level in both areas. Increasing status in the profession leads to the infringement of household responsibilities, for which there is too little time and energy left, because you have to be at work more and more often.
Tired mom
It is considered incompatible when a person does not live up to the expectations placed on him by society. For example, a goalkeeper is seen drinking alcoholic beverages and smoking. An athlete is perceived as a person who leads a healthy lifestyle, who will not let you down and lives by training.
Note! Incompatibility of statuses causes the individual to suffer. He feels disadvantaged, unable to fully realize himself. Experiences disappointment in his own life, blaming himself or the environment for it.
A state of inadequacy and uncertainty leads to depressive thoughts and social tension that can develop into large-scale conflict. Similar problems are addressed by psychology, aimed at eliminating contradictions, intrapersonal and interpersonal conflicts.
Examples of social status
During their lives, people become owners of many statuses. Some of them are fundamental, as they directly influence human behavior. This may be a status caused by a person's professional activities. For example, a professor is a respected person who is a role model for his students or colleagues. To put it simply, in the minds of the majority, a professor must be a balanced, restrained intellectual, with precise manners. Spontaneous actions, loud emotions and other examples of extravagant behavior do not fit into acceptable standards of behavior for a professor. This is a clear example of how social status imposes on an individual the obligation to comply with unwritten rules, which, however, have a decisive role in the hierarchical system of society. From this it follows that the main statuses determine the life activity of a person as a whole.
In addition to the main status, a person can become the owner of a non-main, optional status, which will influence the details of his behavior, in a limited time. For example, a neighbor, a regional boxing champion, a husband. In most cases, the rights and obligations for holders of such statuses are not registered in any way. While representatives of the main statuses can form prestigious social groups, or categories, the bearers of non-main statuses usually do not interact with each other and do not coordinate behavior.
Let's summarize the above
The social status of a person has a number of patterns.
Its formation is influenced by objective unconditional and conditional factors. It imposes certain restrictions on the owner and obliges him to take appropriate actions in a particular social role. Every person has a status from birth and, depending on the circumstances of his life, can change. A group of people can also have status; its social role is subject to the same rules as that of an individual.
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What types of statuses are there?
In a circle of acquaintances, you can introduce a person by listing some of his main social statuses. One of the most striking examples can be recalled how, in the Soviet film “Prisoner of the Caucasus,” Uncle Dzhabrail described his niece Ninochka to Comrade Saakhov - “a student, a Komsomol member, an athlete, and finally, she is simply beautiful!” There is a very wide range of statuses, obtained for completely different reasons. In sociology there are three main groups:
- Innate status - this refers to the position a person is given at birth. This includes nationality, race, gender, religious denomination, and finally sexual orientation;
- Acquired status is a position in society that a person was able to achieve using his own mental and physical abilities. For example, this could be the title of master of sports, or a leadership position at work. Social status of this type is achieved through one’s own efforts. Natural status, of course, can play an important role in this. However, there are cases when the position acquired at birth can act as an obstacle to achieving the goal. An example is the caste system in Indian society. It is extremely difficult for representatives of the lowest caste of Shudras to “break into the people”, because from time immemorial, people from this group have been engaged in the dirtiest work;
- Prescribed status - a person acquires it regardless of his own desires or efforts, however, such status tends to change over time. For example, a child may be the third in the family, and until the birth of the fourth child, he will be considered the youngest. The same goes for age. A person grows up, and each age in society is prescribed its own model of behavior.
Examples from life
Concluding the conversation about social status and social role, let's consider several situations related to a change in position in society.
Workers and peasants of the USSR
As a result of the October Revolution in Russia, the status of workers and peasants as an exploited class was replaced by the status of a ruling class.
Workers and peasants became the masters of the young state, and tsarism and the bourgeoisie lost their position as a privileged stratum and were expelled from the country or physically destroyed. But after a few decades, a new class was formed: the military, political and intellectual elite, then the creative intelligentsia and show business. They possessed financial and intellectual power, connections and other attributes of high status, unlike workers and peasants, and displaced them from the top of the social pyramid.
Megxit
Having become the wife of Prince Harry, Meghan Markle received the status of a member of the royal family and the title of Duchess of Sussex.
But after the birth of the heir, the Duke and Duchess officially refused to give him the title of prince. And a year later, they themselves renounced their titles (and, accordingly, the status of members of the royal family and pretenders to the throne), decided to leave England and work in the USA, maintaining their acquired status as professionals, parents and public figures.
GreenPeace
Animal protection and environmental movements have never been a priority, since in general humanity has not yet fully recognized the importance of the “green” movement.
Over time, the association of thousands of volunteers, due to their numbers and public resonance, gained the ability to influence producers of goods and services, consumer interest, legislative bodies and even political decisions of authorities in many countries of the world.
But it would still be wrong to consider this association prestigious, since most of its participants do not receive direct material benefits.
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Criteria for the formation of social status
A person’s social position is determined in conjunction with his internal value system, and by comparing his “achievements” with the status of others. A lot can be said about an individual by his material condition (whether he is rich or poor), career, image and lifestyle, relationships with other people, education, political beliefs, innate parameters (gender, nationality and race, appearance, character, etc.) . Based on these factors, a person can be awarded several statuses at once.
However, how a person is perceived by others and how he perceives himself are two different things, which, however, can overlap with each other. For example, a person who comes from an aristocratic or wealthy family may consider traveling on public transport unacceptable. Representatives of lower social strata, I will consider this the appearance of snobbery, although a particular person initially did not put such meaning into his attitude. A person is able to perceive his status based on his own lifestyle, that is, an aristocrat is not a deliberately bad and rude person, he is simply accustomed to a certain way of life. Social circle and level of education also greatly influence a person’s perception of his own position in society.
High social status in modern society is ensured by five main criteria: income, wealth, education, power and prestige. In principle, these criteria have always played an important role in a person’s life, however, previously origin could be added as a sixth point. Today, to occupy a high position in the social hierarchy, you do not have to be a representative of blue blood.
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Social roles
Society prescribes its own norms and rules of behavior for each social status. Much may contradict a person’s personal beliefs, however, for many reasons he is obliged to obey the “imposed rules of the game.” This can be compared to a theater, where each person has his own role. Thus, a social role is a set of actions that an individual is obliged to perform within the framework of his own position in society.
To achieve a certain status, a person must adhere to a certain type of behavior. From this perspective, social status can be viewed as a desired place on a pedestal. To achieve it, an individual needs to perform specific actions, that is, correspond to his role . For example, being the coach of a football team is a status that provides respect and influence in a sports society. His role is that he must coach, teach and lead his players to lead them to victory. A social role implies a full range of actions both to achieve a specific social position and to maintain it in the future.
Reasons for the generation gap
Young people and teenagers are often offended by the older generation for the many prohibitions and restrictions imposed on them. Psychologists call this a breakdown of connections between generations. But when parents forbid teenagers from watching TV, playing computer games, drinking alcohol, or staying in the company of friends, they are simply fulfilling their social roles. Parents are strict not out of harshness or lack of love towards their children, but out of duty towards them.
Teenagers dream of growing up faster, they promise themselves never to act in the same way towards their future children, they dream that when they become adults, they will allow their children to do whatever they want. But having matured, teenagers change their view of the world and, having become parents, also show some severity towards their children. The problem of a breakdown in communication between generations leads to a lack of mutual understanding between older and younger ones. To fix this, everyone needs to try to put themselves in the other’s place.
