The acquired social status is. The social status of a woman. Signs of certain types of social status

Status (from Lat. - position, state)

E. Giddens: “ Status (status). Social recognition or prestige that a certain group of individuals receives from the rest of society. Status groups usually differ in their lifestyle - the ways of behavior characteristic of the individuals of this group. Status privileges can be both positive and negative "

Social status is also a characteristic of social position in social system interactions. Social status has an internally meaningful side, a dispositional-spatial dimension and an external-nominational form.

The presence of an internally meaningful side means that social status characterizes what rights, duties, privileges, powers are assigned to those who perform this or that function.

Knowledge of these rights, duties, privileges, as well as who a person is obliged to interact with, who obeys and who is subordinate to him, will help us determine the disposition (location) of a particular status in the coordinate system of a given social space.

The presence of an external nominational form means that social status has its own nomination: teacher, doctor, president, artist, grandfather, grandson, etc. But in sociology, these nominations acquire a different meaning, for example, daughter status is a nomination not just of family ties, but also of a certain subordination to parents, the obligation to listen to their opinion, material, legal dependence on parents.

Therefore, in sociology, any socio-positional name (position, profession, related position) is comprehended in unity with internally meaningful aspects and receives a dispositional dimension (horizontally or vertically): what are the rights of an individual, duties, dependencies, privileges, powers, to whom he obeys, who obeys him and in what way, etc.

Another characteristic of status is the status-role theory of personality. This is an appropriate theory describing the social behavior of an individual. It was developed by American sociologists R. Minton, R. Merton, T. Parsons, and describes the social behavior of an individual in two basic concepts: "social status" and " social role". The American researcher R. Linton, one of the authors of the concept of social status and social role, emphasized that for science the concept of "status" is inseparable from the concept of "role" - these are essentially two sides of the same coin. If the status is a fixation of a certain social position (its content, dispositional, nominal aspects), i.e. status is static, then a role is a dynamic characteristic that determines how a person who has this or that status should behave. In other words, status is a set of rights, privileges and obligations, then a role is an action within this set of rights and obligations.

Status, as a static characteristic at the same time, gives rise to many social problems of personal collisions. People are not indifferent to their status; striving to obtain a certain status, they deeply experience their failures along the way.

Since social statuses are unequal (located in different ways in the "coordinate system"). Depending on the position of social status in society relative to the position of other statuses, a person (personality) is given the opportunity to determine rights and obligations. For example, the status of parents arises only when the status of children exists.

Thus, a person is included in many social institutions, interacting with other people for different reasons, each time performing different functions.

The world of statuses is diverse, let's consider only the typology.

Statuses can be formalized or non-formalized.

The former, as a rule, are better enshrined, protected by law (the status of a factory director, a city governor, etc.). A person holding such a status has precisely specified rights, privileges, advantages and duties. Such a status arises within the framework of formal institutions, groups and has tangible advantages over informal statuses (the status of a leader of a company of friends, an informal leader of a team, etc.), which are, as a rule, diffuse, they may or may not arise. The rights, duties, powers of this status are based not on laws, instructions, but on public opinion, which often makes them fragile. Hence the desire of people to be "protected" by formalized statuses - this is how a scientist strives to confirm his qualifications with a scientific degree, title, in order to acquire legal rights and privileges.

But besides them, there are many, so to speak, non-basic, episodic, statuses temporarily acquired by a person for the implementation of certain actions. These are the statuses of a pedestrian, a passer-by, a patient, a witness, a reader, a listener, a TV viewer, a participant in a demonstration, a strike, a crowd, etc. As a rule, these are temporary conditions. The rights and obligations of the bearers of such social statuses are often not registered in any way. They are generally difficult to identify, say, from a passer-by. But they are. Although they affect not the main, but the secondary traits of behavior and thinking. So the status of a doctor of sciences determines a lot in life. this person, but his temporary passer-by status is not. Thus, a person has basic (determining his life activity) and non-basic (influencing the details of behavior) statuses.

Statuses can be prescribed (ascriptive) and achievable (acquired) statuses.

The prescribed (ascriptive) social status is determined by the society, regardless of the efforts and merit of the individual. It is determined by ethnic origin, place of birth, family, etc. For example, a person born with black skin acquires the status of a Negro. Children who grow up in very wealthy (rich) families acquire the status of “golden youth”.

That is, the prescribed social status (together with all the rights, duties and privileges), as a rule, is acquired from birth - nationality, gender, relationship status, age characteristics, etc. There may be other prescribed statuses - disabled. It is obvious that the prescribed social status can significantly influence the person's personality.

The achieved, acquired social status is determined by the efforts of the person himself, his actions (writer, director, academician, spouse, officer, emigrant), i.e. a status to achieve which requires special efforts.

The example of an emigrant clearly shows the principle of achieved status. A person who emigrated (that is, who made certain efforts and performed certain actions) to live in another country acquires the achieved status of an emigrant.

Some statuses combine prescribed and achieved elements. For example, earning a Ph.D. in mathematics is an achievement. But once a new status is obtained, it remains forever, defining all the intentions and goals of a person as a prescribed status.

In a traditional society, whose social institutions are characterized by ascriptiveness, the main statuses of society have an ascriptive, inherited (and not achievable) character.

In such societies, ascriptiveness, as the initial motivational principle, is recognized by all strata of society as the main basis for social status claims. The king, the shepherd, the plowman, and the blacksmith consider their position justified and prepare their children to take their place.

The spectrum and freedom of different statuses are important characteristic each of the statuses. Any individual decision regarding one's own destiny consists in a constant choice of ways to overcome specific social inequality and in the desire to have appropriate conditions that ensure its competitiveness in life.

Social status, both providing certain rights and privileges, and imposes a significant number of obligations. With the help of statuses, relations between people are ordered, regulated.

The inequality of statuses is subject to change, so in the 90s in our society there was a change in the importance - some social statuses, such as qualifications, education, skill, creativity, and the increase in the importance of others, such as wealth, financial resources, the opportunity to "live beautifully" ...

In modern society, the attainable statuses acquire leading importance, the mastery of which is not inherited, but requires education, victory over competitors. An increase in the role of the achieved statuses in the organization of social life is an increase in the demand for energetic, competent people, an increase in the dynamics of social processes.

At the same time, a person sometimes achieves the attainable status with the help of unattainable principles; great importance in this case is attached not to a person's abilities and knowledge, but to his loyalty, personal devotion to the leader, and the presence of connections.

Traditionalist-ascriptive culture resists, makes social life mimic, as a result of which statuses are achievable in form, and ascriptive motivations play a leading role in mastering them.

A person can have several statuses, but most often only one predetermines his position in society - the main status, which is reflected, as in external behavior and the appearance of a person, and in the internal position.

It is a difficult task to determine the main status of a person, but it is the main status that primarily determines and, no less important, self-defines a person socially (“who am I, what have I achieved?”).

In most cases, the status of the individual associated with work, profession is of particular importance; property status can be of considerable importance. However, the signs listed above in an informal company of friends may be of secondary importance - here the cultural level, education, sociability can play a decisive role.

Therefore, one should distinguish between the basic, general hierarchy of personality statuses, which works in most situations in a given society, and a specific one, used in special conditions, for special people.

Having a specific hierarchy can lead to severe collisions. The status of a person, determined by society as the main one for a given person, does not always coincide with the status, being guided by the generally accepted hierarchy, the person himself considers the main thing. For example, an entrepreneur, being confident that the main thing in his social characteristics is property, material status, encounters rejection of him by the highest circles, where he seeks to get, by other components, such as his "nobility", level of education, culture.

You can consider a place in the hierarchy of statuses called rank. This is a place in the invisible hierarchy of social relations, characterized by public opinion, in which, over time, it is developed, transmitted, maintained, but, as a rule, the hierarchy of statuses and social groups is not recorded in any documents, where some are valued and respected more than others. The rank is high, medium or low.

A high-paid official (high professional rank) is likely to be the owner of the same high family rank as the person who provides the material well-being of the family. But from this it does not automatically follow that he will have high ranks in other groups - among friends, relatives, colleagues.

In addition to the main status, primarily associated with the profession, work (more precisely, its prestige), it is permissible to talk about a generalized status, otherwise called the index of social position, the value of which helps to make a holistic assessment of the social position of both one's own and others in the system of social coordinates.

Often, the property status of an educated person elected to a high political post is immeasurably lower than the property status of those who made a lot of money quickly enough by engaging in economic scams, transactions, etc.

The index of social position to some extent allows for a more versatile, comprehensive assessment of the social position.

You can consider the natural and professional-job social statuses.

The natural social status of a person presupposes significant and relatively stable characteristics of a person (for example, a woman, man, child, young man, old man, etc.)

Professional and official social status is the basic status of an individual, for an adult, most often, it is the basis of acquired status. It records the social, economic and organizational-production situation (banker, politician, teacher, technical director). The perception of the adopted managerial decisions is associated with the professional and official social status. Decisions that are identical in form and content can be perceived differently by subordinates (executors), depending on the authority and social status of the subject of the decision. The higher the social status and authority of the person (or governing body, colleague) making the decision, the more responsible the performer's attitude to his instructions.

People have many social statuses, but the concept of "social status" is also applied in relation to the profession. In this case, the concept of "social status" acts as a generalized indicator of the comparative position of a given profession among other professions.

The social status of the profession is characterized by the official and (or) unofficial recognition of its necessity and popularity. Two forms of profession status are noted: economic and prestigious.

The economic component of the social status of a profession (economic status) depends, first of all, on the level of material remuneration expected in the choice and implementation of a professional path (choice of a profession, professional self-determination).

The prestigious component of the social status of the profession (prestigious status, prestige profession) is determined by the content (share of creative functions, creative nature) of this type of work, the degree of popularity of the profession, the possibility of self-realization of the individual (success, careers). From the social and psychological point of view, the fashion for "new professions" plays a certain (sometimes significant) role in affirming the prestige of a profession.

Statuses, entering into social relations not directly, but only indirectly (through their carriers), mainly determine the content and nature of social relations. A person looks at the world and treats others in accordance with his status. The poor despise the rich, and the rich disdain the poor. Dog owners don't understand people who love cleanliness and order on their lawns. A professional investigator, albeit unconsciously, divides people into potential criminals, law-abiding ones, and witnesses. A Ukrainian is more likely to show solidarity with a Ukrainian than with a Chinese or Tatar, and vice versa.

All possible roles of a person in society as a person cannot arise without an appropriate predetermining factor. In this case, it is the position of the individual in society, which is a very complex system. At the same time, it is quite simple to understand what social status is, how it is related to the previous aspects.

Human role in society

Any modern resident is endowed with many rights and responsibilities, and therefore a number of specific roles. If we are talking about a child, then its main functions will be those that are part of the range of responsibilities in the family, school, public transport, in circles, etc. If we consider the social status of a woman, then it is common for her to simultaneously fulfill the roles of a wife, mother, daughter , employee, student, customer, friend and be in other, equally important guises. However, one cannot deny the fact that it would be somehow strange and unnatural to see an adult wealthy man sitting at a school bench, and a first-grader driving a trolleybus. Such actions are contrary to the corresponding position occupied by a person in the world around him.

Determination of social status

Social status is the position of an individual in a social system - society, which is predetermined by the presence of appropriate opportunities, interests, knowledge, rights and responsibilities. As a rule, a self-sufficient full-fledged person has several statuses at the same time, realizing their components throughout his life.

Among the complex status set, the so-called superstatus can be distinguished, which is the main indicator of the integration of a person into society. Often, this criterion is considered a profession, place of work, or the main type of employment. When we meet a person, we almost always think about what a stranger does for his living.
Other qualities and properties of the individual are also of interest. Although the decisive factor may be other factors, including national, religious or racial affiliation, sexual orientation, past life experience or previous convictions.

Varieties of position in society

When trying to recognize what social status is, you should familiarize yourself with its classification. Any position of an individual in the life of society can be attributed to two fundamental types. The first type represents the performances prescribed to a person regardless of his desire, capabilities and financial components. These include gender, place of birth, national characteristics, ethnic origin. The second type is the achieved social status or acquired, as it is often said about it. It is on the desire and abilities of a person that the achievement of his goals and heights directly depends. After all, husbands, leaders, doctors of sciences, football players, writers or engineers are not born, they become.

Prescribed social status

The modern system of society is a very complex functioning formation, the institutions of which cease to work if any person fails to fulfill the mass of duties indicated by relations in individual social groups. With the aim of unanimously agreed fulfillment of the duties of the prescribed status, from the very birth, a person goes a long way of preparation and training to fulfill the established roles. The initial stage of personality formation takes place in early childhood according to additional criteria, which often serve as a formula for achieving success in the future. Age and sex criteria serve as the basis for role prescriptions in society. They are followed by race, nationality, and also religious and class gradations.

The first role-based learning that continues in childhood is some gender-based socialization processes. In later life, they will have a huge impact on the formation and characteristics of the social status of an already established adult. For example, from the moment of birth, girls are prepared with pink undershirts, many dolls and princesses. Young girls are gradually prepared for adulthood, teaching culinary tricks and the secrets of keeping the hearth home. Little ladies are not usually raised in a boyish style. And although this type of upbringing can sometimes be found, it is mostly considered bad form.

Features of Prescribed Status

As for the education of boys, in adulthood it demonstrates the consequences of the educational process, which can be safely attributed to the opposite type. From an early age, they know that it is better to be strong than weak, because they have to protect timid girls, and then become the support and strong shoulder of their whole family. Such methods, contributing to the formation of personality, determine in the future also different social statuses of men and women.

It should be noted that many modern professions are relevant for both sexes. Some jobs are available for women to do, and they can do them as well as men, and vice versa. For example, in some states, girls are not hired as domestic workers in wealthy homes. In particular, in the Philippines, only men are hired to do secretarial work, while some of the hard work in the agricultural industry lends itself mainly to the weak half of humanity.

Acquired position in society

What is social status can be understood through the prism of the results achieved. Each personality is provided with a wide range of possibilities due to the prescribed statuses. Each person can acquire a new position in society using their individual abilities, preferences, diligence or, oddly enough, luck. After all, Michael Young, the famous British sociologist, was quite successfully able to formulate such a phenomenon. He spoke of the fact that important titles of kings, lords and princesses are prescribed social statuses that are assigned to an individual, regardless of his efforts to achieve high ranks.

The acquired social status of a person in society is not given from birth; only persons who are suitable for this can take possession of the corresponding position. Not all people born in male guise can acquire the status of husband or father. This will not happen automatically - it all depends on the actions, behavior and attitude to life of a particular individual. The desired status is achieved through the use of talent, desire, dedication and active position.

The predominance of social statuses

Often in traditional societies, the prescribed statuses are decisive, since the further type of activity and the corresponding occupation of a particular public place depends on many factors associated with the moment of birth. Men often try to be like their fathers and grandfathers, imitating them and wanting to adopt their skills in professions familiar from childhood. In addition, by nature, a man is a hunter, fisherman and warrior. Naturally, in the literal sense, it is quite difficult to realize this part of male destiny in industrial societies, but having the freedom to choose occupations to achieve this or that position, incredible opportunities open up for today's "earners".

Ranking in society by social status

For the successful functioning of the social system, a sufficient level of mobility of labor resources is required, which leads to the priority manifestation of orientation towards the personal characteristics of individuals, to the change of one status to another by applied efforts. Meanwhile, the movement up the status ladder is under the constant control of the entire society in order to comply with the principles of justice, which allow only those people who were able to truly prove themselves to acquire a high position in society. Those who have not been able to find their successful "environment" will have to pay with non-competitiveness and failure in new roles.
Hence the huge number of people who, being in the current situation, do not feel a sense of satisfaction.

How to achieve a high place in society?

Understand what social status is high level and how to use its privileges can only be a person who has passed a long and difficult path. It also happens that the acquired position in the future obliges the individual to make changes not only in work, but also in everyday life, place of residence, circle of acquaintances and friends. When a person has to face difficulties that are far removed from the experience of their ancestors due to significant differences between their social status and the social status of their parents, the process of accepting new roles is predetermined by the status that has arisen.

An ideal society is considered to be where the predominant number of social statuses are acquired. Is it not fair if every person finds his place under the sun and strives for it, proving it with his abilities, work or talent? In addition, the opportunity to successfully prove yourself provides a chance to justify any significant shortcomings.

The absolutely opposite picture is society, where in most cases the position in society is prescribed, and a person does not expect an increase in his status, does not apply even the slightest effort to this. People who earn little money doing non-prestigious work do not feel guilty that they have a low social status. Without comparing the current state of affairs with the situation of other, more ambitious and impetuous people, such an individual is not oppressed by a feeling of discontent, insecurity, or fear of losing something.

Human social status - this is social status, which he occupies in the structure of society. Simply put, it is the place that an individual occupies among other individuals. For the first time this concept was used by the English lawyer Henry Maine in the middle of the 19th century.

Each person simultaneously possesses several social statuses in different social groups. Consider the main types of social status and examples:

1. Inborn status. Unchanged, as a rule, the status received at birth: gender, race, nationality, class or estate.
2. Acquired status. What a person achieves in the course of his life with the help of knowledge, skills and abilities: profession, position, title.
3. Prescribed status. The status that a person acquires due to factors beyond his control; for example - age (an older man cannot do anything about the fact that he is old). This status changes during life and passes into another.

Social status gives a person certain rights and responsibilities. For example, having achieved the status of a father, a person receives the responsibility to take care of his child.

The totality of all the statuses of a person that he possesses at the moment is called status dialing.

There are situations when a person in one social group occupies a high status, and in another - a low one. For example, on the football field you are Cristiano Ronaldo, and at the desk you are a poor student. Or there are situations when the rights and obligations of one status interfere with the fulfillment of the rights and obligations of another. For example, the president of Ukraine, who is engaged in commercial activities, which he has no right to do under the constitution. Both of these cases are examples of status incompatibility (or status mismatch).

Social role concept.

Social role is a set of actions that a person is obliged to perform in accordance with the achieved social status. More specifically, it is a pattern of behavior that follows from the status associated with this role. Social status is a static concept, and social role is dynamic; as in linguistics: status is the subject, and the role is the predicate. For example, the best football player in the world in 2014 is expected to play great. Great acting is a role.

Types of social role.

The generally accepted system of social rolesdeveloped by the American sociologist Talcott Parsons. He divided the types of roles according to four main characteristics:

By the scale of the role (that is, by the range possible actions):

• broad (the roles of husband and wife imply a huge number of actions and varied behavior);
• narrow (the roles of the seller and the buyer: gave money, received goods and change, said "thank you", a couple more possible actions and, in fact, that's all).

By the way you get a role:

• prescribed (roles of man and woman, young man, old man, child, etc.);
• achievable (the role of a student, student, employee, employee, husband or wife, father or mother, etc.).

By the level of formalization (formality):

• formal (based on legal or administrative norms: police officer, civil servant, official);
• informal (emerging spontaneously: the role of a friend, "soul of the company", a merry fellow).

By motivation (according to the needs and interests of the individual):

• economic (the role of an entrepreneur);
• political (mayor, minister);
• personal (husband, wife, friend);
• spiritual (mentor, educator);
• religious (preacher);

In the structure of the social role, an important point is the expectation by those around him of a certain behavior from a person according to his status. In case of failure to fulfill or one's role, various sanctions are provided (depending on a specific social group), up to depriving a person of his social status.

Thus, the concepts social status and role inextricably linked, as one follows from the other.

Social statuses and roles are important elements of the personality structure. The concepts of "social status" and "social role" have steadily entered the vocabulary of terms in the social sciences and humanities. In scientific circulation in the 1930s. they were introduced by the American social anthropologist and sociologist Ralph Linton (1893–1953).

Social status

The word "status" is borrowed by sociology (social sciences) from the language of Roman jurisprudence. In ancient Rome status meant the legal status of a person. Thus, under social status the position (position) of an individual in a society or a group is understood, related to his rights and obligations. Highlighting a status position allows:

• a) see a place, which a person occupies in society, a group, including through the prism of generally recognized indicators social achievements, chances of success;
• b) show the surrounding social status environment,
• c) understand volume of social benefits (resources) and rights and obligations, which he possesses.

It is customary to distinguish social statuses in a certain way.

Socio-demographic statuses (also called sociobiological or natural) may be related:

• 1) with the age of a person ( age statuses) - a child, teenager, youth, person of mature, old age;
• 2) kinship ( kinship, family statuses) - father, mother, son, daughter, etc .;
• 3) human sex ( sexual statuses) - man Woman;
• 4) race (racial status). This social category arose in the 19th century, when biologists and anthropologists tried to classify diversity physical types a person in three groups - Caucasians, Negroids, Mongoloids;
• 5) health (health status) - for example, a disabled person, a person with disabilities.

Social statuses proper - their formation and existence is possible only in society; they are the product of a system of social ties that have developed in society. These include statuses:

economic (owner, tenant, rentier, landowner, employee, etc.);

political (reflect this or that attitude of people's social positions to power);

legal (belonging to a status is often associated with the corresponding legal scope of the rights and obligations of persons);

professional (these include all professions and specialties within them);

sociocultural (consist of four basic areas: science, education, art, religion);

territorial (for example, a city dweller, a peasant; a Siberian, a resident of the Far East, etc.).

Social statuses are also subdivided into formal and informal.

Allocate prescribed (ascriptive), achievable and mixed social statuses.

Prescribed call the statuses that the individual received and possesses them without making any efforts to acquire them. For example, the status of social origin, inherited aristocratic titles, socio-demographic statuses.

Achievable are called status positions that an individual acquired through my own efforts. Thus, educational and professional and job status are examples of achieved status positions. Modern open societies are focused on ensuring that the achieved statuses are of the main, decisive importance in society (self-made-man - a man who made himself), and not prescribed, as in traditional and closed societies.

Mixed call the statuses that at the same time have signs of prescribed and attainable status. For example, children decided to follow in the footsteps of the older generation and chose the same profession as their parents, under the influence of their example, overt or tacit influence, explicit or implicit consent, assistance. This is not uncommon in the families of lawyers, doctors, actors, musicians, financiers, and successful businessmen. Positions desired by a person, but received by him through patronage, thanks to various social connections, can also be classified as mixed status.

In the aggregate of statuses, it is customary to highlight main status, i.e. the status most characteristic of a given individual; that social position by which others distinguish him and he first of all identifies himself. In modern society, the main status often coincides with the professional and official status of a person (financial analyst, chief researcher, lawyer, unemployed, housewife).

Distinguish private and social statuses.

Social status is predominant in the system of impersonal formal relations, in large organizations, among strangers. Personal status prevails among people familiar to a person. Personal statuses are informal; their influence and effectiveness are determined by the fact that it is important for most people to maintain and increase their personal status in the group. People are highly sensitive to the expectations and demands of those they know and respect personally, and sometimes risk the outrage of officials to maintain their trust.

The distinction between personal and social status is consistent with the distinction that the Chinese make between the two ways of saving face. Social status refers to the position of a person in society: the respect he enjoys is based on what social category he belongs to and how this category is assessed in the system of social assessment and prestige. A person retains his social status if he lives in accordance with the norms of this social category. When the Chinese talk about conservation " mian"they mean preserving the reputation that a person has gained through his position in society. Thus, a successful businessman is expected to provide his daughter with an excellent dowry, even if for this he has to go into debt.

The Chinese also talk about conservation " lian"A person cannot live without" lian ", it depends on how he will be evaluated as a human being, the loss of" lian "will lead to the fact that he will be isolated. A person is unlikely to be forgiven if he is convicted of dishonesty, meanness, betrayal, if he has an unforgivable paucity of mind, inability to keep his word. ”The preservation of" lian "is not connected with social status, its approval depends personally on the person himself.

In the middle of the 20th century, Robert Merton introduced the term into scientific vocabulary "status dialing" (as a synonym for this concept the term is used "status portrait" person). Under status dialingthe set of all statuses belonging to one individual is understood.

For example, lord N is a middle-aged man, teacher, doctor of science, scientific secretary of the dissertation council, head of a department, a member of a trade union, a member of one of the parties, a Christian, a voter, husband, father, uncle, etc. This is the status set, or portrait, of a person N.

From point of view rank value highlight social statuses high, medium, low rank. The rank value, for example, distinguishes the status positions of a top manager, middle or lower-level manager.

When analyzing social statuses, you need to remember about status incompatibility... There are two forms of status incompatibility:

• 1) when a person takes a high position in one group and a low one in another;
• 2) when the rights and obligations of one status contradict, exclude or interfere with the implementation of the rights and obligations of another status.

An example of the first form of status incompatibility is when the CEO large company in his family is not the head of the family, this role is performed by his spouse. Examples of the second form of status incompatibility include the fact that an official has no right to engage in commercial activities, a police officer cannot be a member of a mafia group. Criminals who are servants of the law are considered "werewolves in uniform."

Social status - the position of the person or social group in the social system.

Status rank - the position of the individual in the social hierarchy of statuses, on the basis of which the status worldview is formed.

Status set - a set of several status positions that an individual simultaneously occupies.

Ideas about social status

The concept of "social status" was first used in science by the English philosopher and lawyer of the 19th century. G. Main. In sociology, the concept of status (from Latin status - position, state) is used in different meanings... The dominant concept is the concept of social status as the position of an individual or a social group in a social system, which is characterized by certain distinctive features (rights, duties, functions). Sometimes social status is a set of such distinctive features. In ordinary speech, the concept of status is used as a synonym for prestige.

In modern scientific and educational literature, it is defined as: o the position of the individual in the social system, associated with certain rights, responsibilities and role expectations;

• the position of the subject in the system of interpersonal relations,
• defining his rights, duties and privileges;
• the position of the individual in the system of interpersonal relations, due to his psychological influence on the members of the group;
• the relative position of the individual in society, determined by his functions, duties and rights;
• the position of a person in the structure of a group or society, associated with certain rights and obligations;
• an indicator of the position occupied by an individual in society;
• the relative position of an individual or social group in a social system, determined by a number of features characteristic of a given system;
• the position occupied by an individual or a social group in a society or a separate subsystem of society, determined by characteristics specific to a particular society - economic, national, age, etc .;
• the place of an individual or group in the social system in accordance with their characteristics - natural, professional, ethnic, etc .;
• a structural element of the social organization of society, which appears before the individual as a position in the system of social relations;
• the relative position of an individual or group, determined by social (economic status, profession, qualifications, education, etc.) and natural characteristics (gender, age, etc.);
• a set of rights and obligations of an individual or a social group associated with their performance of a certain social role;
• prestige that characterizes the position of an individual or social groups in the hierarchical system.

Each person in society performs certain social functions: students study, workers produce material goods, managers manage, journalists talk about the events taking place in the country and the world. For execution social functions certain responsibilities are imposed on the individual in accordance with his social status. The higher the status of a person, the more responsibilities he has, the more stringent the requirements of society or a social group to his status duties, the greater the negative consequences of their violation.

Status set Is a set of status positions that each individual occupies at the same time. In this set, the following statuses are usually distinguished: ascriptive (assigned), achieved, mixed, main.

The social status of the individual was relatively stable due to the estate or caste structure of society and was fixed by the establishment of religion or law. In modern societies, the status positions of individuals are more mobile. However, in any society there are ascriptive (assigned) and achieved social statuses.

Attributed status - this is a social status received "automatically" by its bearer due to factors independent of him - by law, birth, sex or age, race and nationality, consanguinity system, socio-economic status of parents, etc. For example, you cannot get married, participate in elections, get a driver's license, before reaching the required age. The assigned statuses are of interest to sociology only if they are the basis for social inequality, i.e. affect social differentiation and social structure of society.

Achieved status - it is a social status acquired by its bearer thanks to his own efforts and merit. The level of education, professional achievements, career, rank, position, socially successful marriage - all this affects the social status of an individual in society.

There is a direct connection between the assigned and achieved social statuses. The achieved statuses are acquired mainly in the competitive struggle, however, some achieved statuses are largely determined by the ascriptive ones. Thus, the possibility of obtaining a prestigious education, which in modern society is a necessary prerequisite for a high social status, is directly related to the advantages of family origin. On the contrary, the presence of a high achieved status to a large extent compensates for the low ascriptive status of an individual due to the fact that no society can ignore the real social successes and achievements of individuals.

Mixed social statuses have signs attributed and achieved, but achieved not at the request of a person, but due to a combination of circumstances, for example, as a result of job loss, natural disasters or political upheavals.

Main social status the individual is mainly determined by the position of a person in society, his way of life.

demeanor. When it comes to to a stranger, we first of all ask: “What is this person doing? How does he make a living? " The answer to this question says a lot about a person, therefore, in modern society, the main status of an individual is, as a rule, professional or official.

Lynn status manifests itself at the level of a small group, for example, a family, work collective, a circle of close friends. In a small group, the individual functions directly and his status is determined by personal qualities and character traits.

Group status characterizes an individual as a member of a large social group as, for example, a representative of a nation, denomination or profession.

The concept and types of social status

The meaningful difference between comes down to the fact that the role is fulfilled, and the status is. In other words, the role presupposes the possibility of a qualitative assessment of how an individual meets the role requirements. Social status - this is the position of a person in the structure of a group or society, which determines certain rights and obligations. Speaking about status, we abstract from any qualitative assessment of the person who occupies him and his behavior. We can say that status is a formal and structural social characteristic of a subject.

Like roles, there can be many statuses and, in general, any status implies a corresponding role and vice versa.

The main status is key of the entire set of social statuses of an individual, mainly determining his social position and importance in society. For example, the main status of a child is age; in traditional societies, the main status of women is gender; in modern society, as a rule, professional or official status becomes the main status. In any case, the main status acts as a decisive factor in the lifestyle and standard of living, dictates the manner of behavior.

Social status can be:

• prescribed - received from birth or due to factors independent of its carrier - gender or age, race, socio-economic status of parents. For example, it is prohibited by law to obtain a driver's license, marry, vote, or receive a pension before reaching the required age;
• achievable - acquired in society through the efforts and merit of the individual. A person's status in society is affected by the level of education, professional achievements, career, and socially successful marriage. No society can ignore the real successes of the individual, therefore the existence of the achieved status bears the opportunity to largely compensate for the low attributed personality status;
• private - manifests itself at the level of a small group, in which the individual functions directly (family, work collective, circle of close friends), he is determined by his personal qualities and character traits;
• group - characterizes an individual as a member of a large social group - a representative of a class, nation, profession, bearer of certain sex and age characteristics, etc.

Based on opinion polls, it has been established that the majority of Russians are currently satisfied with their position in society rather than dissatisfied. This is a very significant positive trend in recent years, since satisfaction with one's position in society is not only an essential prerequisite for social stability, but also a very important condition for people to feel comfortable in their socio-psychological state in general. Among those who rate their place in society as “good”, almost 85% believe that their life is going well. This indicator depends little on age: even in the group over 55, about 70% share this opinion. Among those who are dissatisfied with their social status, the picture turned out to be the opposite - almost half of them (with 6.8% in the whole sample) believe that their life is not going well.

Status hierarchy

The French sociologist R. Boudon considers social status as having two dimensions:

• horizontal, which forms the system social contacts and mutual exchanges, both real and simply possible, developing between the bearer of the status and other individuals who are at the same level of the social ladder;
• vertical, which is formed by contacts and exchanges that arise between the status bearer and individuals at higher and lower levels.

Based on this view, Budon defines social status as a set of equal and hierarchical relations maintained by an individual with other members of society.

The status hierarchy is typical for any organization. Indeed, without carrying it is impossible; precisely due to the fact that all members of the group know the status of each, the interaction of the links of the organization takes place. However, the formal structure of an organization does not always coincide with its informal structure. Such a gap between hierarchies in many organizations does not require sociometric research, but is visible to a simple observer, since the establishment of a status hierarchy is the answer not only to the question “Who is the most important here?”, But also to the question “Who is the most authoritative, most competent, most popular with workers? " Real status is largely determined by personal qualities, qualifications, charm, etc.

Many modern sociologists pay attention to the functional dissonance arising from the discrepancy between the hierarchical and functional statuses. Such a discrepancy can arise due to individual compromises, when the orders of the leadership acquire the character of a "stream of consciousness", providing subordinates with a "zone of free action." The result can be generally positive, manifested in an increase in the organization's responsiveness, or negative, expressed in functional chaos and confusion.

Confusion of statuses acts as a criterion of social disorganization and, possibly, as one of the reasons for deviant behavior. The connection between violations of the status hierarchy and the state of anomie was considered by E. Durkheim and suggested that the discord in the status hierarchy in industrial society takes two forms.

First, the expectations of the individual in connection with the position he occupies in society and the counter-expectations of other members of society directed towards the individual become largely uncertain. If in a traditional society everyone knew what to expect and what awaited him, and in accordance with this was well aware of his rights and obligations, then in an industrial society, due to the growing division of labor and instability of labor relations, the individual is increasingly faced with situations that he I did not foresee and for which I am not ready. For example, if in the Middle Ages, studying at a university automatically meant a sharp and irreversible increase in social status, now no one is surprised by the abundance of unemployed university graduates willing to take any job.

Secondly, status instability affects the structure of social reward and the level of individual satisfaction with their lives.

To understand what determines the status hierarchy in traditional - pre-industrial - societies, one should turn to modern societies East (except caste). Here you can find three important elements that affect the social position of the individual - gender, age and belonging to a particular "class", which fix each member of society with his rigid status. At the same time, the transition to another level of the status hierarchy is extremely difficult due to a number of legal and symbolic restrictions. But even in traditionally oriented societies, the spirit of entrepreneurship and enrichment, the personal favor of the ruler affect the distribution of statuses, although the legitimization of status occurs through reference to the traditions of ancestors, which in itself reflects the weight of the attributable elements of status (antiquity of the family, personal valor of ancestors, etc.) ).

In modern Western society, the status hierarchy can be viewed from the standpoint of either meritocratic ideology as a fair and inevitable recognition of personal merits, talents and abilities, or holistic sociologism as a result strictly conditioned by social processes. But both theories offer a very simplified understanding of the nature of status, and there remain points that cannot be explained in the context of either of them. For example, if status is entirely determined by personal qualities and merit, then how to explain the presence of formal and informal status hierarchies in almost any organization?

Within an organization, such duality means a mismatch of competence and power, observed in different forms and at different levels, when decisions are made not by competent and impartial experts, but by "capitalists" who are guided by the logic of personal gain, or "soulless technocrats." The discrepancy between professional qualifications and material and status remuneration is also inexplicable. Inconsistencies in this area are often denied or hushed up in the name of the meritocratic ideal of meritorious status. For example, in modern Russian society, a typical situation has become a situation of low material remuneration and, as a consequence, low prestige and status of highly educated and highly intellectual people: “The physics profession in the USSR in the 1960s. enjoyed high prestige, and the accountant - low. In modern Russia, they have changed places. In this case, prestige is strongly linked to the economic status of these types of occupation. "

Since systems are more complex and subject to faster evolution, the mechanism for assigning status remains uncertain. First, the list of criteria involved in determining the status is very extensive. Secondly, it becomes more and more difficult to reduce the totality of various status attributes belonging to each individual to a single symbol, as in traditional societies, where it was enough to say “this is the son of such and such” to immediately become aware of the social status of a person, his material level, circle of acquaintances and friends. In traditional societies, the personality and its status were very closely related. Personality and status tend to diverge these days. The identity of the personality is no longer set: she herself builds it through her efforts throughout her life. Therefore, our perception of ourselves as an individual is split into many aspects in which our social status is manifested. Personal identity is felt not so much through a connection with a fixed status, but through a sense of one's own worth and uniqueness.