STATUS AND ROLE

In every society and every group, each member has some function or activity with which he is
associated and carries some degree of power or prestige. What the individual does or performs,
we generally call his role. The degree of prestige or power we refer to as his status. Roles are
related to statuses.

In a sense, ‘status’ and ‘role’ are two words for the same phenomenon. Therefore, Linton
remarked, “role is the dynamic aspect of status,” or the behaviour or tasks associated with or
ascribed to a status. In other words, status and role are two sides of a single coin. It simply
means that both are closely related and one cannot be separated from the other.

Social status and role are analytic terms; they have a more general quality than the concrete
descriptive terms they reference. Sociologist prefers to choose such analytic terms rather than
descriptive terms like bus conductor, customer, father or mother etc. After Linton, these two
terms have become the basic features of the structural-functional theory. Later on, many
sociologists have refined and added many ideas to these two terms.

For instance, R.K. Merton (1968), who is known to be the champion of role theory, departs
from Linton’s conception of status and role. According to Merton, each social status involves
not a single associated role, but an array of roles he calls ‘role set’.

The concepts of status and role are basic building blocks of social structure or social systems.
According to Parsons, ‘status-roles’ are the sub-units of society. Participation by an actor in
social system means that he is ‘located’ relative to other actors. This is his ‘status’. In this
position, he does various things, and what he does is called his ‘role’. For him, ‘status-role’ is
the proper unit of the social system. A social system can be thought of as a network of statuses
and their associated roles.

Interrelationships between social status and role

The concepts of status and role have a growing significance in the social sciences. Status and
role are simplified by Ralph Linton when he said, ‘you occupy a status, but you play a role’.
Every position or status in society carries with it a set of expected behaviour patterns. Status
and role are ‘two sides of the same coin’.

Statuses and Roles constitute an important element in social structure. Young and Mack say
“A role is the function of a status”. A person in a social set-up is bound to play a role.
Sometimes he plays so many roles at a given time. According to his role, he gets status.

Similarly, the status of an individual gives him a definite role. Sometimes status is ascribed and
sometimes it is achieved. Therefore, status and role, both are interrelated.

1. The terms ‘role’ and ‘status’ are inter-related: A status is simply a position
in society or a group. A role is the behavioural aspect of status. Statuses are occupied
and roles are played. A role is how a given individual fulfills the obligations of status
and enjoys its privileges and prerogatives.
 2. The role is a relational term: An individual plays a role vis-a-vis another
person’s role, attached to a ‘counter-position’.

3. Role and status point out two divergent interests: Status is a sociological
concept and sociological phenomena. On the other hand, the role is a concept and a
phenomenon of social psychology.

4. Both are dynamic: Role changes with each new incumbent in a status. The
status changes as the norms attached to it are altered. New obligations and new
responsibilities may be added to status or old ones may be removed over time.
Sometimes more rigorous role-playing may expand the functions of a status.

5. Both are correlative: Though status and role are co-related, it is possible to
have one without the other. A status without a role may simply denote an unfulfilled
position in an association. In the same way, roles are often played without occupying a
status.

6. Status as an institutionalized role: The structure of society consists of statuses

and not roles. It has become regularized, standardized, and formalized in the society at
large or any specific association with society. It is statuses together with norms that
give an order, predictability and even possibility to social relations.

Therefore, the concepts of status and role are the initial tools for the analysis of social structure.
A status is simply a position in society or a group. Every society and every group have many
such positions and every individual occupies as many positions as there are groups to which
one belong.

STATUS

What is Status?

Simply defined, status is a socially defined position in a group or a social system, such as
female, student, teacher, child, mother, father etc. A status occupant is expected by others to
behave in a special way, relative to the specific situation. The relation of the father and the
child is reciprocal and gives to each a position in the family group. The position is always
relative; status always implies a group. With every status certain privileges, rights and duties
are associated.

Most sociologists have used the two terms position and status synonymously, but some have
made a distinction between these terms. ‘Position’ denotes one’s situation in the role structure.

Which is subjective, while ‘status’ refers to the evaluative aspect of position whether others
see it as ‘high’ or ‘low’. In this sense, it is an objective term.
Definition of Status

1. Ralph Linton says that “status is the place in a particular system, which a
certain individual occupies at a particular time.”

2. For Morris Ginsberg, “A status is a position in a social group or grouping, a

relation to other positions held by other individuals in the group or grouping”.

3. According to Kingsley Davis, “status is a position in the general institutiona l

system, recognized and supported by the entire society”.

4. For Horton and Hunt, “status is the rank or position of an individual in a

group”.

5. Status in Weber’s theory refers to the esteem or ‘social honour’ given to

individuals or groups.

Types of Status

Statuses are culturally defined, despite the fact that they may be based on biological factors
such as sex, caste or race. Ralph Linton has noted two types of status:

1. Ascribed status:

An ascribed status is a social position assigned at birth and is, therefore, usually
permanent. Hence, an ascribed status is one into which a person is born and in which
he or she remains throughout his or her life, e.g., sex, caste, race and age. A Brahmin,
for example, enjoys the ascribed status of a Brahmin by virtue of his birth. In addition,
sex, ethnic background, place of birth, and family name supply assigned statuses. Such
statuses are said to be ascribed. Ascribed statuses are usually fixed at birth. In India,
caste status is generally ascribed, although several changes have been going through
‘Sanskritization’ and ‘inter-caste marriages’.

2. Achieved status:

An achieved status is one that is chosen or achieved, such as a married person, a parent,
a friend, a doctor or an engineer. An achieved status is acquired through one’s efforts.
Society recognizes such changes in achieved status. Statuses that are not fixed by
inheritance, biological characteristics, or other factors, over which the individual has
no control, are known as achieved statuses. An achieved status is entered as a result of
some degree of purposive action and choice. Thus, an achieved status, by contrast, is
one that is based on something the person has done. For example, a boy of 17 can be
an athlete, a guitarist, a student of history and a member of a local club enjoying
different forms of achieved status.

Ascribed and achieved statuses have numerous differences and similarities. They each affect a
person’s and a group’s roles both socially and industrially, and they may even affect the
characteristics of a person and the public’s perception of them.
Another concept of status that existed to not known in the study matter is ‘Master Status’. Let
us put in simple, a master status is the defining social position a person holds, to choose
interactions or to relate self to others. A person’s social identity influences that person’s roles
and behaviours in a societal context and often shape a person’s entire life. For many people
occupation determines the basic status and everything revolves around it. For example,
occupation is often a master status because it forms such an important part of a person’s identity
and affects the other roles one may occupy such as a family member or friend, a resident of a
city, or even a hobby enthusiast. In this way, a person may identify as a teacher, firefighter, or
pilot. Gender, age, and race are also common master statuses. Often physical disabilities serve
as a master status to the point where the person's entire life suffers from de-humanization
affecting the possibility of achieving any status.

Characteristics of Status:
1.Status is the result of needs and interest of society,
2.Status has some degree of authority over others,
3.Status is relative,
4.Status may also indicate social stratification,
5.Status has some degree of prestige,
6.Status cannot be isolated from role,
7.The status is determined by the cultural situation of the particular society,
8.The status is determined only in relevance of the other members of the society,
9. Every individual has to play certain role in accordance with the status,
10.Status is only a part of the society as a whole, as a result of status the society is
divided into various groups,

Characteristics of Status
ROLE

The role, is expected of an individual who occupies a given social position or status. A role is
a comprehensive pattern of socially recognized behaviour, providing a means of identifying
and placing an individual in a society. It also serves as a strategy for coping with recurrent
situations and dealing with others' roles (e.g., parent-child roles). The term, borrowed from
theatrical usage, emphasizes the distinction between the actor and the part. A role remains
relatively stable even though different people occupy the position: any individual assigned the
role of the physician, like any actor in the role of Hamlet, is expected to behave in a particular
way. An individual may have a unique style, but this is exhibited within the expected
behaviour’s boundaries.

Definition of Role

1. According to Ogburn and Nimkoff a role is “a set of socially expected and

approved behavior patterns consisting of both duties and privileges, associated with a
particular position in a group”.

2. According to Johnson “role is expectations and obligations held by other

members concerning the behaviour of the position incumbent”.

3. Alex Inkles ‘role’ refers to “the set of expected or normative rights and
obligations allowed to and demanded of persons generally felt to be incumbent of a
recognized status by others who participate in the same social system”.

Classification Of Roles

We can further classify roles into 1) ascribed roles and achieved roles. 2)
relational and non-relational roles. 3) basic, general and independent roles.

Ascribed and Achieved Roles

Like ascribed statuses, the ascribed roles are the ones that are given at birth.
From the time an individual is born, role learning begins which is a part of what
we know as socialization. These roles pertain to one’s sex (gender), age, kinship,
caste, class, and so on.

The achieved roles on the other hand are the ones that are largely acquired over
a lifetime on the basis of merit such as occupational roles of a farmer, salesperson,
banker, shopkeeper, driver, lawyer, professor et cetera.
 Relational and Non-relational Roles

There are certain roles which are complementary in nature and are conceived of
and defined in relation to another. One good example of relational role is that of
a wife which cannot be conceived of without the husband. Similarly, the role of
a debtor cannot exist without the role of a creditor.

Non-relational roles on the other hand are not dependent or complementary

such as the role of a musician, researcher, and painter. Age and sex roles largely
fall in the category of non-relational roles whereas kinship roles can be classified
as relational.

Basic, General and Independent Roles

Basic roles: Basic roles are mostly determined by sex and age, ascribed to
individuals at birth and these roles shape conduct in a large number of
social contexts.

General roles: General roles are mostly assigned on the basis of merit of
the individual.

Independent roles: Independent roles are determined by merit and have

very less implications for other roles and on the way people respond to the
person who occupies the independent role. Examples of independent roles
are leisure roles and many occupational roles.

Usually an individual’s sex role shapes the individual’s conduct and the response
of others towards him or her more than any other role. Occupational roles also
shape the way people respond to an individual particularly in work space or
social gatherings. The leisure roles are more independent and have limited
influence outside of a particular setting for example, golfer in a golf club.

Characteristics of Role:

1. Action Aspect of Status:

The role is in fact the action aspect of status. In involves various types of actions that a person
has to perform in accordance with the expectations of the society. These actions are dependent
not on the individual’s will but on the social sanction. That is why it is said that every social
role has a cultural basis.

2. Changing Concept of Role:

Social roles as already stated, are in accordance with the social values, ideals, patterns etc.
These ideals, values and objects change and so the concept of the role also changes. The role
which is justified at a particular time may not be justified at some other time.
3. Limited Field of Operation:
Every role has a limited area of operation and the role has to be confined within that. For
example an officer has a role to play in the office but when he reaches his family, that role
ceases.

4. Roles are not Performed 100% for the Fulfillment of the Expectations:
It is not possible for anyone to perform his role fully in accordance with the expectations of the
society. There is bound to be some distinctions. For example one may not be able to perform
his role to the full satisfaction of the children.

5.Difference in the Importance of Role:

From the socio-cultural point of view all the roles are not equally important. Some of the roles
are more important while the others are less. The, roles that are most important are called key
roles while the roles that are of general importance, are called general roles.

6. Role is the dynamic aspect of status

7. Normative aspect of role is culture.

8. Role is relative.

Terms related with Role:

Role expectations include both actions and qualities: a teacher may be expected not only to
deliver lectures, assign homework, and prepare examinations but also to be dedicated,
concerned, honest, and responsible. Individuals usually occupy several positions, which may
or may not be compatible with one another: one person may be husband, father, artist, and
patient. Each role entailing certain obligations, duties, privileges, and rights vis-à-vis other
persons.

Role learning begins at a young age when children start observing how people
in their surroundings behave with them and toward each other. In fact children
often engage in role playing games where they enact the role of a mother, father,
or teacher. Individuals also have role models in their lives whose certain pattern/
s of behaviour is incorporated in one’s own behaviour.

Merton argues that “each status has an array of roles” associated with it. This is what Merton
calls role set. It is a “complement of role relationships in which persons are involved by virtue
of occupying a particular status”.

Multiple roles, on the other hand, refers to the roles associated with the various
social statuses of an individual.

Role signs act as ways of communication by shaping our relationship,

expectations and interactions. They also help in controlling behaviour and
checking deviation from the role both for the individual playing the role and
signalling others as well. If such distinguis hing signs are totally abandoned,
everyday life and activities may become very chaotic.

Role Conflict results from the competing demands of two or more roles that vie for our time
and energy. The more statuses we have, and the more roles we take on, the more likely we are
to experience role conflict.