Consider the definition of what a role is. This is a problem of social sciences. In sociology, this term means a certain model of a person in the circumstances specified by social institutions. This concept is closely related to the social status of the individual, since it involves a set of actions that people expect from a person in accordance with his social position.
Classification of behavior patterns
The role of a person, as a rule, is determined by several factors: his official status, family, friends, with whom he enters into informal communication. We briefly describe the main components of given situations. Professional duties give a person a formal model of behavior, which he involuntarily has to adhere to. Colleagues, bosses at work expect from the subject such actions that would meet the needs of the team.
The family also involves a wide range of different behaviors. Interpersonal relations between spouses are built both on an emotional and sensual level, and on legal norms enshrined in public institutions. And each time a person acts, depending on which of the above levels, contact occurs.
What is the role in informal communication can be traced by the example of such phenomena as the allocation of a leader in a group, the presence in any team of a person to whom everyone is neglected, or a favorite in the family, etc. Each of these situations determines a specific behavior of its participants, which is most often formed at a subconscious level.
Ways to acquire a role
Any person can increase or, conversely, lower his social status, which, in turn, will lead to a change in his manners and actions in society. Most often, a person achieves this in the professional field: for example, a student can achieve a scientific degree and become a professor, or a simple soldier can rise to the rank of general, or an ordinary official can get a promotion. However, biological roles cannot be changed; in this case we are talking about how much a person corresponds to them.
The degree of formalization of relations
The characterization of the question of what such a role implies is to clarify the relationship between the interpersonal and official models of human behavior in a given status. If a person for a long time occupies a certain position in society, then in his behavior, as a rule, formal and informal elements are combined. For example, in the case when a person has been serving in one job for a long time, his relations with his boss are likely to develop in exactly the same way. The subordinate will behave in accordance with the prescribed norms, but at the same time, due to a long-standing acquaintance, the behavior will sometimes be determined not by rules and attitudes, but by emotions and feelings.
Motives and stereotypes
A person, often without thinking about what such a role is, nevertheless acts in accordance with predetermined standards, which depend on his social status. Interpersonal relationships depend on affection and sympathy, which determine informal behavior. For example, parents' natural affection for their children is a motivation to take care of them. The pursuit of wealth or high social status is often an excellent incentive to enhance a career. The moral sense of duty also determines a person’s behavior in difficult circumstances.
The role in the society of an individual is often built on stereotypes.The last concept is understood as sustainable actions and attitudes towards certain events, facts, and people. Certain patterns of perception of reality often form in advance the views and, therefore, the actions of man. With the help of stereotypes, a person forms his own, maybe even a somewhat simplified idea of the world around him, which forms his behavior in relation to given objects.
Gender norms
A large role in the development of society is played by a set of norms and ideas about how a person should behave, depending on whether he is male or female. Perhaps this is one of the earliest attitudes in human society. It is significant that scientists do not consider it possible to say that the gender role in society was originally a biologically predetermined constant. On the contrary, some researchers tend to see social or cognitive elements in it.
The fact is that this concept implies certain social expectations on the part of society in relation to a man and a woman. For example, from time immemorial it is generally accepted that the spouse is the earner, and the wife and mother are the guardian of the hearth and the educator of children. However, in recent times there has been a tendency to change these ideas: for example, women tend to perform male functions in connection with feminization.
