Introduction
2. Social status of the individual. Its structure
3. The influence of self-esteem on the social status of an individual
Conclusion
Bibliography
Introduction
The word "status" came to sociology from the Latin language. In Ancient Rome it denoted the state, the legal status of a legal entity. At the end of the nineteenth century. the British historian Maine gave it sociological significance.
Status is a certain position in the social structure of a group or society, connected to other positions through a system of rights and responsibilities. Social status is the general position of an individual or social group in society, associated with a certain set of rights and obligations.
Any person holds several positions as he participates in various groups and organizations. Each person is thus characterized by a status set (the term was introduced by R. Merton). Status set is the totality of all statuses occupied by a given individual.
Social status provides certain rights and opportunities and obliges a lot. With the help of statuses, relationships between people are ordered and regulated. Social statuses are reflected both in external behavior and appearance - clothing, jargon, manners, and in the internal position of the individual - attitudes, value orientations, motives. Each status requires and gives people the opportunity to achieve social expectations of people from their modification, if it does not create conditions for the implementation of these expectations. In this sense, the famous Polish sociologist F. Znaniecki (1882-1958) is right, who believed that the sociologist must take the human individual not only as he “really is” organically and psychologically, but as he is “made” by others and by himself in them and his own experience of social life.
From a sociological point of view, in an individual, his social position and function are primary. The organic and psychological characteristics of an individual, according to Znaniecki, are simply the material from which a social personality is formed in the process of education and self-education. The social status of an individual influences his behavior. Knowing the social status of a person, you can easily determine most of the qualities that he possesses, as well as predict the actions that he will carry out. In the process of interaction with other individuals, each person performs certain social functions that determine his social status. However, despite the fact that the behavior of an individual is largely determined by the status that he occupies and the roles that he plays in society, he (the individual) nevertheless retains his autonomy and a certain freedom of choice. And although in modern society there is a tendency towards unification and standardization of personality, its complete leveling, fortunately, does not occur.
An individual has the opportunity to choose from a variety of social statuses and roles those that allow him to better realize his plans and make the most effective use of his abilities. Any role prescription outlines only a general pattern of human behavior, preserving for him the opportunity to choose the ways of its implementation.
In the multitude of statuses that a person has in the system of social connections, general (universal) statuses play a special role. The first is the status of a person, his rights and obligations. Another general status is the status of a member of a given society, state (citizen). General statuses are the foundation of a person’s status position. The remaining statuses are considered special, that is, they differentiate a particular society.
1. Types of statuses. Their characteristics and differences
An important characteristic of each status is the range and freedom of other statuses. In any society there is a certain hierarchy of statuses, which represents the basis of its stratification. Certain statuses are prestigious, others are the opposite. Prestige is society’s assessment of the social significance of a particular status, enshrined in culture and public opinion.
This hierarchy is formed under the influence of two factors:
The real usefulness of the social functions that a person performs;
A value system characteristic of a given society.
If the prestige of any status is unreasonably overestimated or, conversely, underestimated, it is usually said that there is a loss of status balance. A society in which there is a tendency to lose this balance cannot function normally.
A distinction is made between ascribed (innate) and achieved (acquired) statuses. A person receives the assigned status automatically - based on ethnic origin, place of birth, family status - regardless of personal efforts (daughter, Buryat, Volzhanka, aristocrat). The achieved status - writer, student, spouse, officer, laureate, director, deputy - is acquired through the efforts of the person himself with the help of certain social groups - family, brigade, party.
The ascribed status does not coincide with the innate one. Only three social statuses are considered natural: gender, nationality, race. Negro is an innate status that characterizes a race. Man is an innate status that characterizes gender. Russian is an innate status that determines nationality. Race, gender and nationality are given biologically; a person inherits them against his will and consciousness.
Recently, scientists have begun to question whether birth status even exists if gender and skin color can be changed through surgery. The concepts of biological sex and socially acquired sex appeared.
When parents are of different nationalities, it is difficult to determine what nationality the children should be. They often decide for themselves what to write in their passport.
Age is a biologically determined trait, but it is not an innate status, since during the course of a person’s life he moves from one age to another and people expect very specific behavior from a specific age category: from young people, for example, they expect respect for their elders, from adults - to care for children and old people.
The kinship system has a whole set of ascribed statuses. Only some of them are natural born. These include the statuses: “son”, “daughter”, “sister”, “nephew”, “grandmother” and some others that express blood relationship. There are also non-blood relatives, the so-called legal relatives, who become due to marriage, adoption, etc.
Achieved status. Significantly different from the ascribed status. If the ascribed status is not under the control of the individual, then the achieved status is under control. Any status that is not automatically given to a person by the very fact of birth is considered attainable.
A person acquires the profession of a driver or engineer through his own efforts, preparation and free choice. He also acquires the status of world champion, doctor of science or rock star thanks to his own efforts and enormous work.
The achieved status requires independent decisions and independent actions. The status of a husband is achievable: in order to get it, a man makes a decision, makes an official proposal to his bride and performs a lot of other actions.
Achieved status refers to positions that people occupy due to their efforts or merit. “Graduate student” is a status that university graduates achieve by competing with others and demonstrating outstanding academic achievements.
The more dynamic a society is, the more cells in its social structure are designed for the achieved statuses. The more achieved statuses in a society, the more democratic it is.
Statuses can also be formalized or informal, which depends on whether a particular function is performed within the framework of formalized or informal social institutions and, more broadly, social interactions (for example, the statuses of a plant director and the leader of a company of close comrades).
Social status is the relative position of an individual or group in a social system. The concept of social status characterizes the place of an individual in the system of social relations, his activities in the main spheres of life and the assessment of the individual’s activities by society, expressed in certain quantitative and qualitative indicators (salary, bonuses, awards, titles, privileges), as well as self-esteem.
Social status in the meaning of the norm and social ideal has great potential in solving problems of socialization of the individual, since the orientation towards achieving a higher social status stimulates social activity.
If a person misunderstands his own social status, then he is guided by other people's behavior patterns. There are two extremes in a person’s assessment of his social status. Low status self-esteem is associated with weak resistance to external influence. Such people are not confident in themselves and are more often prone to pessimistic moods. High self-esteem is often associated with activity, enterprise, self-confidence, and optimism in life. Based on this, it makes sense to introduce the concept of status self-esteem as an essential personality trait, irreducible to individual functions and actions of a person.
Personal status is the position that a person occupies in a small (or primary) group, depending on how he is assessed by his individual qualities.
Social status plays a dominant role among strangers, and personal status among familiar people. Acquaintances constitute the primary, small group. When introducing ourselves to strangers, especially employees of any organization, institution, or enterprise, we usually name our place of work, social status and age. For people we know, it is not these characteristics that are important, but our personal qualities, that is, informal authority.
Each person, as a rule, has not one, but several social statuses. Sociologists distinguish:
natural status- the status a person received at birth (gender, race, nationality). In some cases, birth status may change: the status of a member of the royal family is from birth and as long as the monarchy exists.
acquired (achieved) status- the status that a person achieves through his own efforts (position, post).
prescribed (attributed) status- a status that a person acquires regardless of his desire (age, status in the family); it can change over the course of his life. The prescribed status is either innate or acquired.
Status incompatibility
Status incompatibility occurs under two circumstances:
when an individual occupies a high rank in one group and a low rank in the second;
when the rights and obligations of one person's status conflict with or interfere with the rights and obligations of another.
Examples: a scientist had to leave to work as a salesman at a commercial kiosk, an elderly man was used as an errand boy, a policeman had to become a racketeer, a minister had to participate in negotiations with terrorists. A highly paid official (high professional rank) will most likely also have a high family rank as a person who provides material wealth for the family. But it does not automatically follow from this that he will have high ranks in other groups - among friends, relatives, colleagues.
13.1 . Social status(from lat. status - position, condition) - the position of a person in society, occupied by him in accordance with age, gender, origin, profession, marital status and other indicators and implying certain rights and responsibilities. Every person occupies several positions in society. The word “status” came to sociology from the Latin language. In Ancient Rome it denoted the state, the legal status of a legal entity. However, at the end of the 19th century, the English historian Maine gave it a sociological sound. Status set– the totality of all statuses occupied by a given individual. Social set(Robert Merton) = social status + status set. 13.2 . Types (classifications) of statuses: 13.2.1. Statuses determined by an individual's position in a group: 1) social status- the position of a person in society, which he occupies as a representative of a large social group (profession, class, nationality, gender, age, religion). Professional – job status– the basic status of an individual, fixes the social, economic, production and technical position of a person (banker, engineer, lawyer, etc.). 2) Personal status- the position that a person occupies in a small group, depending on how he is assessed by his individual qualities. Personal status plays a primary role among familiar people. For people we know, it is not the characteristics of where you work and your social status that are important, but our personal qualities. 3) Main status- the status by which an individual is identified by others, determines the lifestyle, circle of acquaintances, manner of behavior with which a person is identified by other people or with which he identifies himself. For men, most often - status associated with work, profession; for women - housewife, mother. Although other options are possible.
The main status is relative: it is not uniquely associated with gender, profession, or race. The main thing is status, which determines the style and lifestyle, circle of acquaintances, and behavior. 13.2.2. Statuses acquired due to the presence or absence of free choice: Ralph Linton: 1) ascriptive status (prescribed, attributed, innate status); 2) achieved status (achieved, achieved, acquired status).
Prescribed status– imposed by society, regardless of the efforts and merits of the individual (ethnic origin, place of birth, etc.). 1) Attributed status- the social status with which a person is born (innate, natural status is determined by race, gender, nationality), or which will be assigned to him over time (inheritance of title, fortune, etc.). Natural status– essential and most stable characteristics of a person (men and women, childhood, youth, maturity, etc.). !!! The ascribed status does not coincide with the innate one. Only three social statuses are considered innate: gender, nationality, race (i.e. biologically inherited); (negro – innate, characterizing race; man – innate, describing gender; Russian – innate, showing nationality). 2) Achievable(acquired) status is a social status that is achieved as a result of a person’s own efforts, desire, free choice, or acquired through luck and luck. 3) Mixed status has the characteristics of what is prescribed and achieved, but achieved !!! not at the request of a person: disabled, refugee, unemployed, emperor, American-born Chinese. Political upheavals, coups d'etat, social revolutions, wars can change or even cancel some statuses of huge masses of people against their will and desire. The title of academician is at first achievable, but later it turns into an ascribed one, because is considered lifelong. 13.3 . Hierarchy of statuses: Intergroup hierarchy occurs between status groups; intragroup – between the statuses of individuals within one group. Status rank– place in the hierarchy of statuses: high, medium, low. 13.4 . Status mismatch occurs: 1) when an individual occupies a high position in one group and a low position in another; 2) when the rights and obligations of one status contradict or interfere with the exercise of the rights and obligations of another status. 13.5 . Elements (components) of social status: 13.5.1. status role– a behavior model focused on a specific status; 13.5.2. status rights and obligations determine what the holder of this status can do and what he must do; 13.5.3. status range– boundaries within which status rights and obligations are exercised; free manner of behavior, suggesting behavior options in the implementation of a status role; 13.5.4. status symbols– external insignia that allows one to distinguish between holders of different statuses: uniforms, insignia, clothing style, housing, language, gestures, demeanor; 13.5.5. status image, image(from English. image - image, image) - a set of ideas that have developed in public opinion about how a person should behave in accordance with his status, how his rights and responsibilities should relate; Image– a widespread or purposefully formed idea about the nature of a particular object (person, profession, product, etc.). 13.5.6. status identification– identification of oneself with one’s status and status image. The higher the rank of status, the stronger the identification with it. The lower the personal status, the more often the advantages of social status are emphasized. 13.5.7. status vision of the world– features of the vision of the world, social attitudes that have developed in accordance with status. 13.6 . Prestige and authority. Prestige (French. prestige, originally - charm, charm) - an assessment by society or a social group of the social significance of certain positions occupied by people. Authority (him. Autoritat, from Lat. auctoritas - power, influence), in a broad sense - the generally recognized influence of a person or organization in various spheres of public life, based on knowledge, moral virtues, experience. Prestigious can be a profession, position, or activity; authoritative can be a well-defined, specific person.
23) The choice of sociological research methods, the development of procedures, the size and calculation of the sample largely depend on theoretical ideas about the nature of the elements of the social structure and their basis. Let us try to highlight the main characteristics of the main elements of the social structure.
Social classes
These are large groups of people, differing in their place in a historically defined system of social production, in their relationship (mostly enshrined and formalized in laws) to the means of production, in their role in the social organization of labor, and, consequently, in the methods of obtaining and the size of that share the social wealth they have. In conditions of antagonistic formations, one class can appropriate for itself the labor of the exploited, subordinate class. In addition to these basic, socio-economic characteristics, classes are also characterized by secondary, derivative ones: conditions, way of life and way of life; interests; their socio-political role in society, social behavior, activity; the degree of socio-political organization, education, culture, vocational training; consciousness, ideology, outlook, their spiritual appearance, social psychology. These indicators are used in the study of other elements of social structure. When characterizing the working class and peasantry as a class, it is necessary to keep in mind that these are workers, unlike the intelligentsia, who directly or indirectly (through a system of machines and mechanisms) influence tools and objects of labor. It is relevant to study the process of overcoming the alienation of workers and peasants from property, their real access to management at all levels.
In the modern conditions of our country, the sociological study of the nature, main features and characteristics of the newly emerging class of entrepreneurs, a new layer of cooperators, rural tenants and farmers, employees of joint ventures, other groups and layers brought to life by the past and ongoing socio-economic and political events is of great importance. transformations. Social groups
These are objectively existing stable categories of people who occupy a certain place and play a certain, inherent role in social production. Unlike social classes, they do not have a specific relationship to the means of production. Social groups can be considered such groups as the intelligentsia, office workers, people of mental and physical labor, the population of cities and villages.
The intelligentsia is a social group of people professionally engaged in skilled mental work that requires high professional education (higher or secondary specialized). In the literature, there is also a broad interpretation of the intelligentsia, including all mental workers, both specialist intellectuals and non-specialist employees1, engaged in unskilled, simple mental work that does not require high education (accountants, bookkeepers, cashiers, secretaries-typists, savings bank controllers, etc. .d.).
The role, place and structure of the intelligentsia in society is determined by its performance of the following basic functions: scientific, technical and economic support of material production; professional management of production, society as a whole and its individual substructures; development of spiritual culture; education of people; ensuring the mental and physical health of the country. The intelligentsia is divided into scientific, industrial, pedagogical, cultural and artistic, medical, managerial and military. The intelligentsia is also divided into layers according to qualifications, place of residence, relationship to the means of production, as well as socio-demographic characteristics.
For sociological practice, it is important to note that people of mental and physical labor as social groups differ from each other: 1) in the different content of the work they perform, the ratio of the costs of physical and intellectual forces, in the degree of complexity of work, in the conditions under which their work takes place; 2) according to the cultural and technical level of physical and mental workers (qualification, professional composition); 3) according to the level of cultural and material well-being, cultural and living conditions. The difference between them is: the attitude (often disdainful) towards one or another type of work. These social differences can be used as social indicators in sociological research.
In the practice of sociological research, it is important to take into account that at the present stage people of mental labor are represented by four subgroups: intellectuals, non-specialist employees, partly workers, peasants and other cooperators. It should also be borne in mind that the social differences between people of mental and physical labor, which, depending on the type of social structure, take on the nature of the opposite of complexity or significant differences, are not identical to the differences between mental and physical labor. However, these concepts, like the phenomena themselves, are interconnected and interdependent. The first find their manifestation in the socially unequal, unequal position in society of people of mental physical labor (expressed in the differences noted above), the second have their basis and express the social heterogeneity of labor, i.e. they require different training, different costs on the part of society, and therefore differently and are assessed.
The subject of sociological research can be changes in the nature, conditions and content of labor, which, under favorable social conditions and under the influence of scientific and technological progress, manifests itself in the intellectualization of physical and technicalization of mental labor. The consequence of this is changes in the social status of these workers and their rapprochement with each other. In unfavorable social conditions, in crisis and pre-crisis situations, there is stagnation of these processes, impoverishment of the content of labor, deterioration of its conditions, and, consequently, the social status of mental and physical workers, conservation, and inhibition of the global trend of labor transformation.
Population of the city and village
how social groups differ by place of residence. The city and the countryside remain the main human settlements, despite the existence of a whole system of transitional forms of settlement, which in modern conditions are becoming more numerous and widespread
The problem of city and village cannot be reduced, as it often was, to a problem of classes or the problem of a city and a collective farm village (at best, a state farm village), agricultural industry, state and cooperative forms of ownership. This is a complex problem, affecting all aspects and spheres of public life. All elements of the integral structure of society exist in both the city and the countryside, although to varying degrees and in different proportions.
In sociological research, when analyzing the unity and significant differences between city and village, it is necessary to take into account their nature (production, technical and social) and types. Firstly, one should keep in mind the differences between city and village as types of settlements (their size, population concentration, level of development of productive forces, combination of industrial and agricultural production, saturation of cultural and community facilities, landscaping, development of transport, communications, etc. , d.). Secondly, take into account the differences between the population of the city and the village as social groups that differ from each other in their entire position in society (place of residence, content of work, differences in educational and cultural level, level of well-being, household structure, lifestyle, etc. .).
Rural and urban populations can also be considered as one of the types of socio-territorial communities of people.
For conducting sociological research, the problem of typology of settlements is very important. Its basis may be the above-mentioned differences between city and village as types of settlements. When typologizing cities, they mainly use such indicators as the concentration of the population in them, its size, as well as the administrative role of a particular city. We used a richer typology when studying the problems of the village: by type of economy (collective farm, state farm, collective farm-state farm, collective farm-industrial village); by the share of people employed in certain sectors of the national economy (purely rural, agricultural; predominantly rural; agro-industrial, etc.).
Social strata
These are parts of a certain class, social group. Their distinction and social appearance depend on the maturity of the existing mode of production. Thus, under capitalism, intra-class strata are distinguished primarily depending on the size of property: large, middle and petty bourgeoisie. In the transition period to socialism, especially at the initial stage, the structure of the working class, say, is represented, firstly, by cadre workers, secondly, by workers who still retain economic ties with the small-holder economy, and thirdly, by the labor aristocracy, i.e. people connected with the capitalist classes. In pre-revolutionary conditions and before the establishment of cooperative forms of ownership, the peasantry was divided into: 1) poor peasants, farm laborers; 2) middle peasants and 3) rich peasants. Under socialism, other characteristics begin to play a major role, and above all the nature of labor, its quality and the associated qualifications of workers, their cultural and technical level, contribution to social production and the ensuing amounts of income received.
In sociological studies, when studying the problems of the working class, it is most often divided into layers of low, medium and high skilled workers. Within the collective farm peasantry and other groups of cooperative workers, four layers are distinguished: 1) workers of unskilled and semi-skilled labor who do not have special professional training; 2) workers engaged in non-mechanized skilled labor (builders, gardeners, etc.); 3) skilled workers working with machines and mechanisms (livestock breeders on mechanized farms, poultry farmers, etc.); 4) machine operators (drivers, tractor drivers, combine operators). The division of the peasantry is also possible by industry: livestock breeders, plant breeders, etc. The intelligentsia can be divided into layers according to the level of education (secondary specialized, higher, with an academic degree and title), as well as “practitioners,” people engaged in skilled mental labor and non-skilled workers. having the appropriate diploma. The intelligentsia and non-specialist employees are also divided into layers, using criteria such as place of residence (urban and rural intelligentsia), place in social production (industrial and non-industrial intelligentsia), etc.
Layer division based on the nature and content of work leads to the professional division of people, the formation socio-professional
structure as a unique type of social-class structure along the “vertical”. On this basis (the state of social labor), groups of people engaged in mental and physical labor, managerial and executive labor, industrial and agricultural labor are distinguished (distribution and division of labor); the working-age population and two groups of people not engaged in social production: 1) before inclusion in socially necessary labor and 2) those who have retired from active socially productive labor - pensioners not engaged in social production.
The socio-professional structure is based on the professional division of labor and its sectoral structure. The presence of highly developed, moderately developed and underdeveloped industries determines the unequal social status of workers. This specifically depends on the level of technical development of industries, the degree of complexity of labor, the level of qualifications, working conditions (severity, harmfulness, etc.).
Social or socio-demographic groups.
These are young people, women and men, pensioners, schoolchildren, etc. The criteria for identifying socio-demographic groups are differences in gender and age. Not being, in themselves, in the strict sense of the word, social differences, these natural differences in class societies can, and do, acquire the character of social differences. This is evidenced by the unequal, unequal position in society of men and women, representatives of different generations, the difficult, as a rule, social position of the elderly, labor veterans, etc.
The sex and age structure is usually studied either by one (sex and age) or by both characteristics. Demographers pay special attention to the importance of dividing the population into three age groups: children (0-14 years), young and middle ages (15-49 years), and seniors (elderly) - 50 years and older. This is explained by the need to know the labor potential of the population and the dynamics of its development. This is natural, because the criterion of involvement in labor activity is taken as the basis for such a division: pre-labor, labor and post-labor
age. It is known that the modern city has a progressive structure (in it the proportion of people under 15 years of age is greater than the proportion of people 50 years of age and older). The village is characterized by "aging". It's already
installed. How this process will develop further, how it looks meaningfully in different regions, districts, towns, this can be found out by sociological methods, using the proposed typology of the population. Sociologists (together with demographers and other specialists) can propose an optimal structure of sex and age groups both on a regional and intraregional scale. It is necessary to emphasize the importance of highlighting youth
as a specific socio-demographic group. What makes it so is the commonality of age, socio-psychological and physiological characteristics, the presence of specific interests and needs. Taking this into account, the main attention in sociological research is drawn to the study of the social and professional orientation of young people, their needs and interests, the degree of compliance with their interests and the needs of society, the adaptation of young people in different groups, their social activity, participation in informal associations, attitude towards the process of social reforms etc.
An important element of the social structure of society is family
Most often in population censuses it is understood as a group of people living together, related by kinship or marriage and having a common budget. At the same time, the family is considered by some scientists as several groups of relatives living together, although they do not have a common budget. Some understand family as a group of relatives living separately. The first approach to understanding the family
seems most justified, for sociological research it is important to keep in mind (especially when compiling a “passport”, i.e. socio-demographic parts
questionnaires, other instruments) highlighting in composition of the population
not only families, but also separately living family members and single.
To analyze social processes and various aspects of social life, it is necessary to take into account marital status
population. On this basis, they distinguish between married (married), single (unmarried), widowed, divorced and separated. In a number of countries (Germany, Hungary, etc.) the nature of the marriage is taken into account, regardless of whether it is registered or not.
Sociological studies should also take into account the average family size. This is especially important when studying urban and rural populations, certain processes in different regions of the country.
Of fundamental importance in the sociological study of social structure and other problems is taking into account the composition of families, carried out on various grounds: the number of generations in the family; number and completeness of married couples; number and age of minor children; the degree of kinship between representatives of one or two adjacent generations, etc. These indicators of the demographic composition of families are especially important in the study of social problems, income, consumption levels, housing conditions, etc.
Families are also divided by social composition. Taking into account social affiliation, the following groups of families are distinguished: homogeneous (homogeneous) in social terms, in which all family members belong to the same social group, class, layer (families of workers, peasants, employees; families of skilled workers; families of unskilled peasants, etc. .d.); heterogeneous (heterogeneous, mixed) families, whose members belong to different classes, social groups, strata (families of workers and peasants; families of workers and employees; families of skilled and unskilled workers, etc.) Such a division is necessary first of all when studying processes of development of elements of the social structure of society.
When studying national processes, families are divided according to nationality.
When studying migration processes, they use the genetic structure of the family, taking into account those born in a given area and those who came here.
An important element of social structure is team
(unit of society) -
This is an organized, relatively compact group of people united by a specific type of socially useful activity carried out within the framework of one or another form of ownership, as well as the relationships of cooperation, mutual assistance and mutual responsibility that develop during this activity, interests, value orientations, attitudes and norms of behavior. The team combines public interests ,
group and individual.
In the practice of sociological research, it is necessary to take into account the types of collectives: labor, socio-political, educational, sports, cultural, etc. The main place in the system of collectives belongs to labor collectives. In our country in the late 80s. there were about 2.5 million labor collectives, including: more than 150 thousand production; over 1,450 thousand teams in the service sector; over 850 thousand groups in the field of culture, education, and medicine.
At the present stage, sociological research into problems related to the transition to a new economic mechanism, the processes of democratization and openness, the solution of social problems, issues of education and other aspects of the life of collectives is especially relevant.
The most important element of the social structure of society is socio-ethnic
communities of people. They included (taking into account the evolution of human society) clan, tribe, nationality, and nations. The generic concept here is ethnos,
meaning a historically established stable set of people in a certain territory who have common features, stable characteristics of culture (including language) and psychological make-up, aware of their unity and difference from similar entities (i.e., possessing self-awareness). Signs of an ethnic group: language, folk art, customs, rituals, traditions, norms of behavior, habits, i.e., such components of culture that are passed on from generation to generation form the so-called ethnic culture.
Ethnic groups, while maintaining ethnic features, at the same time, as society developed, underwent changes, especially in the social sphere, forming certain stable socio-ethnic communities. The first such community was the clan, which is a group of blood relatives descending from the maternal or paternal line. He replaced the primitive human herd. Due to exogamy (prohibition of marriages within the clan), it was united into tribes. The characteristic features of the clan were primitive collectivism, the absence of private property, class division, and a monogamous family. It collapsed with the emergence of class society. But remnants of tribal division have survived to this day among many peoples. And this must be taken into account when regulating relations between socio-ethnic groups.
The main distinguishing feature of a clan of tribal associations is the consanguinity of its members.
Nationality is a form of socio-ethnic community of people, historically following the tribal community. The beginning of its emergence dates back to the period of decomposition of primitive communal relations. If tribal associations are characterized by blood ties, then nationalities are characterized by territorial ties. Nationality is characteristic primarily of slavery and feudalism. Under capitalism, with strengthening economic and cultural ties, it turns into a nation. However, nationalities exist under capitalism and socialism, because for a number of reasons (lag in development, small numbers, etc.) they did not form into a nation.
A nation is a historically emerging type of ethnic group, a historical community of people, characterized by a stable integrity (commonality) of economic life (the main feature), language, territory, some features of culture and life, psychological make-up and ethnic (national) self-awareness. The nation is replacing the nationality. This is a broader form of community than nationality, which develops with the emergence and formation of the bourgeois formation. The socialist nations emerging in the process of socialist transformations differ from bourgeois nations in their economic and political basis, social class structure and spiritual appearance. Nations of a transitional type are also distinguished.
Along with the considered socio-ethnic communities, science also uses the concept of people as an integrative concept that arises in the course of the development and rapprochement of social-class and socio-ethnic groups. In this case, the concept of people is used only in the noted context. Along with the considered grounds (forms of ownership, social labor, territorial-settlement, demographic, family, ethnic grounds), the literature also proposes to take into account the so-called normative basis. This refers to the distribution of members of society regarding the adoption and implementation of the norms and principles of the existing social system. This is connected not so much with the social position of the individual, social stratum, group, but with their position. As life shows, social status and social position are not always directly related to each other.
In addition to the considered social (classes, intelligentsia, employees, people of mental and physical labor, urban and rural population) and socio-demographic groups (youth, women, pensioners, etc.), sociological and especially sociological-psychological studies also use other qualifications of groups of people, both intersecting and not intersecting with the above grounds. Below are the names of these groups and a brief description of them.
This is first of all large group
By which we mean a group with a large number of members, unlike a small group, it is characterized by different types of connections and does not require mandatory personal contacts. Its main types are:
a) conditional, statistical; b) formed by certain behavioral characteristics (audience, public); c) class, national and other groups; d) territorial (city, state).
TO small group
(contact) refers to groups of people who have direct contact.
Nominal group
This is a type of large group; a set of people identified according to some characteristic that is important for the purposes of the study (age, way of thinking, place of residence, etc.).
Primary group
is a type of small group (family, peer group, friends, neighborhood group, brigade, etc.), which is characterized by a high degree of emotionality in relationships and identification of members with the group. It mainly ensures the process of primary socialization and indirect entry into other groups, called, in contrast to primary, secondary (large and formal groups).
Under the reference group
is understood as a real or imaginary social (socio-psychological) group, community, with the values, norms and attitudes of which the individual correlates his behavior with the aim of accepting or comparing them.
Formal group
(official, target) is a social (public) group that has legal status, is part of a social institution, organization, and aims to achieve a certain result based on the division of labor and specialization of functions, delegation of power, establishment of permanent lines of communication, systems for coordinating actions within a particular social institution or organization. Functions, goals, rules of behavior, as well as membership in formal groups themselves, are formalized, the so-called. fixed in regulations, charters, instructions and other regulatory documents. Formal groups also include informal groups, whose members are in special socio-psychological, informal relationships with each other (friendly, comradely, relationships of leadership, prestige, sympathy, etc.).
Ethnic group
This is part of an ethnic group (tribe, nationality, nation), the core of which is located in another social organism (country, republic, etc.). Ethnic groups can be either compact or dispersed (scattered).
Let's point out the declassed elements,
by which are meant persons who have lost stable ties with social groups and have sunk to the “bottom” of social life. Their usual activities are theft, petty speculation, fraud, prostitution, and short-term hired work. The reasons for the emergence and growth of declassed elements are economic and socio-political crises, mass unemployment, and impoverishment of the lower strata of the population.
The difficulty of a truly scientific study of the problems of social structure lies in the fact that one cannot limit oneself to any one basis when studying a particular object, but take into account other reasons and other characteristics.
Social status is the position of a person in society, occupied by him in accordance with age, gender, origin, profession, marital status.
One person has many statuses because he participates in many groups and organizations. He is a man, a father, a husband, a son, a teacher, a professor, a doctor, a middle-aged man, a member of the editorial board, an Orthodox Christian, etc. One person can occupy two opposite statuses, but in relation to different people: for his children he is a father , and for his mother a son.
The totality of all statuses occupied by one person is called a status set (this concept was introduced into science by the American sociologist Robert Merton).
In a status set there is sure to be a main status. The main status is the most characteristic status for a given person, with which he is identified (identified) by other people or with which he identifies himself. The main status is relative - it is not uniquely associated with gender, race or profession. The main thing is always the status that determines the style and lifestyle, the circle of acquaintances, and the manner of behavior.
Although statuses do not directly enter into social relations, but only indirectly through their bearers, they mainly determine the content and nature of social relations. A person looks at the world and treats other people in accordance with his status (the poor despise the rich, and the rich treat the poor with disdain, a professional investigator divides people into potential criminals, law-abiding and witnesses, a Russian is more likely to show solidarity with a Russian than with a Jew, and vice versa).
Political, religious, demographic, consanguineous, economic, professional statuses of a person determine the intensity, duration, direction and content of people’s social relations.
Social statuses can be prescribed or acquired. The first category includes nationality, place of birth, social origin, etc., the second - profession, education, etc. Some statuses are prestigious, others - on the contrary.
Prestige- this is society’s assessment of the social significance of a particular status. This hierarchy is formed under the influence of two factors:
- the real usefulness of the social functions that a person performs;
- value systems characteristic of a given society.
The social status of an individual, first of all, influences his behavior.
The social role of an individual is a set of social functions acquired and performed by a person and their corresponding patterns of behavior.
Social role- a behavior model focused on this status. It can be defined differently - as a patterned type of behavior aimed at fulfilling the rights and responsibilities prescribed by a specific status.
Each person has not one, but a whole set of social roles that he plays in society. Their combination is called the role system.
Each individual has the opportunity to choose from a variety of social statuses and roles those that allow him to better realize his plans and use his abilities as effectively as possible.
Personal status call the position of an individual in a social group, depending on how he is assessed and perceived by members of this group (friends, relatives) in accordance with his personal qualities. To be a leader or an outsider, the soul of the party or an expert means to occupy a certain place in the system of interpersonal relations.
Social norms—prescribed rules of behavior—characterize a role, not a status. A role is also called the dynamic side of status. The words “dynamic”, “behaviour”, “norm” indicate that we are not dealing with social relationships, but with social interaction. So we have to learn.
- Social roles and social norms relate to social interaction;
- Social statuses, rights and responsibilities, the functional relationship of statuses relate to social relations;
- Social interaction describes the dynamics of society, social relations - its statics.
Only behavior that meets the expectations of those functionally associated with a given status is called a role. Any other behavior is not a role.
A social role is impossible without such conditions as:
- expectations of group members functionally associated with this status;
- social norms that fix the range of requirements for fulfilling this role.
We can say that status emphasizes the similarities of people, and role emphasizes their differences. Thus, the role is individual behavior in accordance with one’s status. A person has the same status in each specific situation, but he can behave differently.
Each person has not one, but a whole set of social roles that he plays in society. Their combination is called the role system. The variety of social roles can cause internal conflict of the individual (if some of the social roles contradict each other).
However, despite the fact that the behavior of an individual is largely determined by the status that it occupies and the roles that it plays in society, it (the individual) nevertheless retains its autonomy and a certain freedom of choice. And although in modern society there is a tendency towards unification and standardization of personality, its complete leveling, fortunately, does not occur. An individual has the opportunity to choose from a variety of social statuses and roles those that allow him to better realize his plans and make the most effective use of his abilities. Any role prescription outlines only a general pattern of human behavior, preserving for him the opportunity to choose the ways of its implementation.
Social status- a certain position in the social structure of a group or society, connected with other positions through a system of rights and obligations. The status “teacher” makes sense only in relation to the status “student”, but not in relation to the salesman, pedestrian or engineer. For them, just an individual.
The teacher is obliged to transfer scientific knowledge to the student, test and evaluate it, and monitor discipline. He is endowed, in particular, with the right not to certify the student and leave him for the second year. And everyone knows how this can affect the fate of a teenager. The student is required to regularly attend classes, fulfill the teacher’s requirements, and prepare homework. In other words, the teacher and student enter into social relations with each other as representatives of two large social groups, as bearers of social status.
It is important to understand the following:
- social statuses are interrelated with each other, but do not interact with each other;
- Only subjects (holders, bearers) of statuses interact with each other, i.e. people;
- It is not statuses that enter into social relations, but their bearers;
- social relations connect statuses, but these relations are realized through people who are carriers of statuses.
One person has many statuses because he participates in many groups and organizations. He is a man, a father, a husband, a son, a teacher, a professor, a doctor of science, a middle-aged man, a member of the editorial board, an Orthodox Christian, etc. One person can occupy two opposite statuses, but in relation to different people: for his children he is a father , and for his mother a son. The totality of all statuses occupied by one person is called status set(this concept was introduced into science by the American sociologist Robert Merton).
In the status set there will definitely be a main one. Main status name the most characteristic status for a given person, with which he is identified (identified) by other people or with which he identifies himself. For men, the main thing most often is the status associated with the main place of work (bank director, lawyer, worker), and for women - with the place of residence (housewife). Although other options are possible. This means that the main status is relative - it is not uniquely associated with gender, race or profession. The main thing is always the status that determines the style and lifestyle, the circle of acquaintances, and the manner of behavior.
There are also social and personal statuses. Social status is the position of a person in society, which he occupies as a representative of a large social group (profession, class, nationality, gender, age, religion).
Personal status is the position of an individual in a small group, depending on how he is assessed and perceived by members of this group (friends, relatives) in accordance with his personal qualities. To be a leader or an outsider, the life of the party or an expert, means to occupy a certain place in the structure (or system) of interpersonal relationships (but not social ones).
Varieties of social status are ascribed and achieved statuses. Ascribed is the status in which a person is born ( inborn status), but which is later necessarily recognized as such by society or group.
This includes gender, nationality, and race. Negro is an innate status in the sense that it is impossible to change the color of the skin and the physiological characteristics of the body associated with it. However, blacks in the USA, South Africa and Cuba have different social statuses. In Cuba, as in most countries, the Negro, a representative of the indigenous population, which constitutes the absolute majority, has equal rights with others. In South Africa, as in Cuba, blacks are the majority of the population, but during the apartheid period they were subjected to political and social discrimination.
In the United States, blacks are a minority of the population, but the legal situation in a certain historical period was reminiscent of the situation in South Africa.
Thus, the Negro is not only a born (given by nature), but also an ascribed status. Ascribed and innate statuses include: “member of the royal family,” “descendant of a noble family,” etc.
They are innate because royal and noble privileges are inherited by a child as a blood relative. However, the liquidation of the monarchical system and the destruction of noble privileges indicate the relativity of such statuses.
The innate status must be reinforced in public opinion and the social structure of society. Only then will it be innate and ascribed at the same time.
The kinship system gives a whole set of innate and ascribed statuses: son, daughter, sister, brother, mother, father, nephew, aunt, cousin, grandfather, etc. They are received by blood relatives. Non-blood relatives are called in-laws. The mother-in-law is the mother-in-law, the father-in-law is the father-in-law. These are ascribed, but not innate, statuses, because they are acquired through marriage. These are the statuses of stepson and stepdaughter obtained through adoption.
In the strict sense, ascribed is any status acquired against one's own free will, over which the individual has no control. Unlike him achievable status is acquired as a result of free choice, personal effort and is under the control of a person. These are the statuses of a president, a banker, a student, a professor, an Orthodox member of the conservative party.
The statuses of husband, wife, godfather and mother are attainable because they are obtained at will. But sometimes the type of status is difficult to determine.
In such cases we talk about mixed a status that has the characteristics of ascribed and achieved. For example, the status of unemployed, if it was obtained not voluntarily, but as a result of a massive reduction in production, an economic crisis.
So, let's summarize what has been said: status is the position of an individual in a group or society. Therefore, there are personal and social statuses. In addition to them, there is the main (what you identify with), attributed (given by circumstances beyond your control), achieved (by free choice) and mixed.
The listed sets of statuses existing in human society are not exhausted. Attributed, achieved, mixed, social, personal statuses, as well as professional, economic, political, demographic, religious and consanguineous statuses belong to the variety main statuses.
In addition to them, there are a huge number of episodic, non-core statuses. These are the statuses of a pedestrian, passer-by, patient, witness, participant in a demonstration, strike or crowd, reader, listener, television viewer, standing in line for housing, dining in a canteen, etc.
Typically this is temporary states. The rights and obligations of holders of such statuses are often not registered in any way. They are generally difficult to detect, say, in a passerby. But they exist, although they influence not the main, but the secondary traits of behavior, thinking and feeling. Thus, the status of a professor determines a lot in the life of a given person. What about his temporary status as a passerby or a patient? Of course not.
So, let’s summarize: a person has basic (they determine the main ones in life) and non-basic (they influence the details of behavior) statuses. The first are significantly different from the second.
At no point in time does any person exist outside of status or statuses. If he leaves one cell, he will definitely end up in another. It is not at all necessary that at a given moment in time one person has only one status. Quite the contrary, there are a lot of them, and much more than we suspect.
Behind each status - permanent or temporary, main or non-main - there is large social group, or social category. Orthodox Christians, conservatives, engineers, men (main statuses) form real groups. All tenants, patients, pedestrians standing in line for housing (non-primary statuses) form nominal groups, or statistical categories. As a rule, holders of non-main statuses do not coordinate their behavior with each other in any way and do not interact. They are a typical object of statistics.
A person is characterized by at least two types of mismatches:
- thoughts, words and actions (according to the principle: I think one thing, say another, and do a third);
- needs, values and motives. Both relate to our inner world.
However, there are other types of mismatches. One of them describes the external position of the individual in society or group. It's called mismatch (or divergence) of statuses.
An individual has many statuses and belongs to many social groups, the prestige of which in society is not the same: businessmen are valued higher than plumbers or general workers; men in production have greater social weight than women; belonging to the main nation is not the same as belonging to a national minority, etc.
In public opinion, it is developed over time, orally transmitted, supported, but, as a rule, is not registered in any documents status hierarchy and social groups where some are valued and respected more than others.
A place in such an invisible hierarchy is called rank. They talk about high, middle or low ranks. Hierarchy can exist between groups within the same society (in which case it is called intergroup) and between individuals within the same group ( intragroup). And here a person’s place is denoted by the same term “rank”.
Status discrepancy describes the contradiction in intergroup and intragroup hierarchies. It occurs under two circumstances:
- when an individual occupies a high rank in one group and a low rank in the second;
- when the rights and duties of one status conflict or interfere with the rights and duties of another.
A highly paid banker (high professional rank) will most likely also have a high family rank - as a person who provides material wealth for the family. But it does not automatically follow from this that he will have high ranks in other groups - among friends, relatives, co-workers or Sunday joggers.
Another example: a woman’s relatively low production rank will most likely cause her subordinates to doubt her high professional qualities as a department head. It is generally accepted that women are bad leaders.
Another situation: it is officially prohibited to combine the functions of a people's deputy and a minister, but unofficially, that is, again in public opinion, the combination of statuses by police officers as members of a criminal gang is not approved.
So, let's conclude: some human statuses are in harmony, while others are in contradiction. It is called status mismatch: a high rank in one social group and a low rank in another.
Although statuses do not enter into social relations directly, but only indirectly - through their carriers, they mainly determine the content and nature of social relations. A person looks at the world and treats other people in accordance with his status.
The poor despise the rich, and the rich disdain the poor. Dog owners do not understand non-owners who complain that they have become the owners of a forest park. A professional investigator, although unconsciously, divides people into potential criminals, law-abiding and witnesses. A Russian is more likely to show solidarity with a Russian than with a Jew or Tatar, and vice versa.
Political, religious, demographic, consanguineous, economic, professional statuses of a person determine the intensity, duration, direction and content of people’s social relations.
If you want to find out what kind of relationship you will have with a non-relative or non-friend (and relative and friend are statuses in different structures), you must find out the content of their statuses. Status determines the interest that a given person will explicitly or implicitly, permanently or temporarily, pursue and defend. An entrepreneur is interested in you only as a client, a woman - as a potential sexual partner, a seller - as a possible buyer.
This is the hidden motive of their relationship with you. Interest in you, the duration and intensity of your relationship will be determined by how soon this other person realizes that you are not giving what he expected to receive from you.
Of course, a person does not express true interest directly. He disguises it and surrounds it with rules of polite behavior. The latter create the illusion that a trusting relationship has developed between you.
So, let's summarize what has been said: it is statuses that determine the nature, content, duration or intensity of human relationships - both interpersonal and social.
The social status of an individual is an indicator of how high a position in society a person occupies. This is not necessarily a job description: a person’s status may vary depending on his gender, age, marital status or profession. This position on the social ladder not only indicates a person’s place, but also gives him certain rights and responsibilities. They may be different for each society.
How to determine social status?
You should not think that everyone has a single social status assigned to them. Each of us simultaneously has several positions, which depend on the system to which they belong. For example, a woman’s social status can have many faces: she is, for example, a wife, a mother, a daughter, a sister, an employee of a company, a Christian, and a member of an organization (besides this, there are many more examples of social status). The set of these provisions is called the status set. From the above example it is clear how social status is determined: this includes marital status, religious views, professional activities, personal interests, etc.
As a rule, the person himself determines his main socio-psychological status, but this is also influenced by which group other people identify him with in the first place. In addition, it is also possible to change the social status of an individual: for example, we change our status when we receive a higher education, start a family, find a new job, etc.
Types of social statuses
There are two main types of human positions on the social ladder: acquired and prescribed (innate) social status. The first of them is characterized by what a person acquires during his life: level of education, political views, profession, etc. The prescribed social status is what is given to a person by nature: nationality, language, place of birth, etc.
At the same time, not all social statuses of women and men are assessed equally by others. Some of them are prestigious, and some are the opposite. The hierarchy of prestige depends on such provisions as the real usefulness of a particular social function and the value system operating in that particular society.
In addition, there are several other types of social statuses: personal and group. Personal status is status at the level of a small group of people with whom a person interacts constantly. For example, this group could be a family, a work team, or a group of friends. As a rule, it is determined by character traits and various personal qualities.
Group status characterizes a person as a member of one or another large social group. This includes a person's status as 
a representative of a certain class, profession, nation, gender, age, etc.
Depending on social status, a person adjusts his behavior. For example, at home a man is a father and husband, and he behaves accordingly. But at work he is a professor and teacher, and, accordingly, he will behave completely differently. Depending on how successfully a person corresponds to one or another of his statuses, one speaks of his ability to fulfill his social role. That is why there are such expressions as “a good specialist”, “a bad father”, “an excellent friend” - all this characterizes this particular indicator. Moreover, the same person can cope with his social roles differently, which is why he can be “bad” from one point of view and “good” from another.
