Social role of the citizen examples. Social roles and their types

Types of social roles are determined by diversity social groups, types of activities and relationships in which the individual is involved. Depending on the public relations distinguish social and interpersonal social roles.

Social roles are associated with social status, profession or type of activity (teacher, student, student, seller). These are standardized impersonal roles, built on the basis of rights and responsibilities, regardless of who plays these roles. There are socio-demographic roles: husband, wife, daughter, son, grandson... Man and woman are also social roles, biologically predetermined and presupposing specific modes of behavior, enshrined in social norms and customs.

Interpersonal roles are associated with interpersonal relationships that are regulated at the emotional level (leader, offended, neglected, family idol, loved one, etc.).

In life, in interpersonal relationships, each person acts in some dominant social role, a unique social role as the most typical individual image, familiar to others. Changing a habitual image is extremely difficult both for the person himself and for the perception of the people around him. The longer a group exists, the more familiar the dominant social roles of each group member become to those around them and the more difficult it is to change the behavior pattern habitual to those around them.

An attempt to systematize social roles was made by Talcott Parsons and his colleagues (1951). 3 They believed that any role could be described using five basic characteristics:

1. Emotionality.

2. Method of receipt.

3. Scale.

4. Formalization.

5. Motivation

1. Emotionality. Some roles (such as a nurse, a doctor, or a funeral home owner) require emotional restraint in situations that typically involve intense emotional expression ( we're talking about about illness, suffering, death). Family members and friends are expected to show less reserved expressions of feelings.

2. Method of receipt. Some roles are conditioned by prescribed statuses - for example, child, youth or adult citizen; they are determined by the age of the person playing the role. Other roles are won; When we talk about a doctor of medicine, we mean a role that is not achieved automatically, but as a result of the individual’s efforts.

3. Scale. Some roles are limited to strictly defined aspects of human interaction. For example, the doctor and patient roles are limited to issues that directly relate to the patient's health. A broader relationship is established between a small child and his mother or father; Each parent is concerned about many aspects of their child’s life.

4. Formalization. Some roles involve interacting with people according to set rules. For example, a librarian is obliged to issue books for a certain period of time and demand a fine for each day of overdue from those who delay the books. When performing other roles, you may receive special treatment from those with whom you have a personal relationship. For example, we do not expect a brother or sister to pay us for a service rendered to them, although we might accept payment from a stranger.

5. Motivation. Different roles due to various motives. It is expected, say, that an enterprising person is absorbed in his own interests - his actions are determined by the desire to obtain maximum profit. But it is assumed that the employee social sphere like the Unemployment Compensation Bureau works primarily for the public good, not for personal gain.

According to Parsons, every role includes some combination of these characteristics. For example, the role of a prostitute. Usually these ladies do not show any feelings towards their clients. This role is achieved rather than prescribed, since it is acquired on the basis of certain activities. It is strictly limited to sex offered for money. Typically, prostitutes serve their clients in accordance with accepted rules - for certain type services established fee. Prostitutes work for their own benefit - sexual services for personal gain.

While performing roles, a person, as a rule, experiences emotional and moral experiences, may come into conflict with other people, experience a moral crisis, and duality. This gives rise to discomfort, uncertainty, and psychological distress, which are signs of role tension.

The main causes of role stress are primarily role conflicts.

Just as the forms, reasons, and situations that give rise to role tension are diverse, so are the ways to overcome them. We are not talking about overcoming the fundamental principles, the root causes of psychological stress during role behavior- we are talking only about ways to overcome stress and possible depression.

One such way is the method of rationalizing role expectations, which creates illusory but seemingly rational excuses for failure.

Rationalization of role expectations can reduce aspirations, transfer aspirations from one prestigious status to another, but in a different area (for example, from production to family, and vice versa).

The essence of the principle of separation of roles, as a way to overcome role tensions, is the conscious differentiation of the rules, techniques, norms inherent in the performance of one role, from the norms, patterns of behavior inherent in another role.

The principle of role hierarchization can also play a huge role in overcoming serious psychological experiences generated by the clash of role predictions. “What is more important to me – children, family, or science?” Faced with such a dilemma, a person finds himself in a dead end, the way out of which is for the individual to choose one of these roles as a priority. And in conflict situations you should follow the instructions of the preferred role.

Role regulation is the conscious, purposeful actions of a society, nation, team, family, the purpose of which is to overcome the psychological stress of the individual caused by role conflict.

One of the forms of role regulation associated with the approval (propaganda) by government bodies and the media of new standards of role behavior (could play significant role in establishing in our society a model of an entrepreneur, farmer, etc., increasing their prestige).

The influence of social role on personality development

The influence of social role on personality development is quite large. Personality development is facilitated by its interaction with persons playing whole line roles, as well as her participation in the maximum possible role repertoire. The more social roles an individual is able to reproduce, the more adapted to life he is. Thus, the process of personality development often acts as the dynamics of mastering social roles.

It is equally important for any society to prescribe roles according to age. Adaptation of individuals to constantly changing ages and age statuses is an eternal problem. Before an individual has time to adapt to one age, another one immediately approaches, with new statuses and new roles. As soon as a young man begins to cope with the embarrassment and complexes of youth, he already stands on the threshold of maturity; As soon as a person begins to show wisdom and experience, old age comes. Each age period is associated with favorable opportunities for the manifestation of human abilities, moreover, it prescribes new statuses and requirements for learning new roles. At a certain age, an individual may experience problems associated with adapting to new role status requirements. A child who is said to be older than his age, that is, has reached the status inherent in the older age category, usually does not fully realize his potential childhood roles, which negatively affects the completeness of his socialization. Often such children feel lonely and defective. At the same time, the status of an immature adult is a combination of adult status with attitudes and behavior characteristic of childhood or adolescence. Such a person usually has conflicts when performing roles appropriate to his age. These two examples show unsuccessful adaptation to the age statuses prescribed by society.

Mastering a new role can make a huge difference in changing a person. In psychotherapy, there is even a corresponding method of behavior correction - image therapy (image - image). The patient is asked to enter new image, play a role, as in a play. In this case, the responsibility function is not borne by the person himself, but by his role, which sets new patterns of behavior. A person is forced to act differently based on a new role. Despite the conventionality of this method, the effectiveness of its use was quite high, since the subject was given the opportunity to release suppressed drives, if not in life, then at least during the game. The sociodramatic approach to the interpretation of human actions is widely known. Life is viewed as a drama, each participant in which plays his own specific role. Playing roles gives not only a psychotherapeutic, but also a developmental effect.

In psychology and sociology there are many theories about personality and its attributes. The concepts of “social role” and “personal status” are used to explain human behavior in society, as they influence many aspects of an individual’s functioning. His self-esteem, self-awareness, communication, direction largely depend on them.

Concept of personality

From the point of view of sociology, personality is an individual who, during socialization, acquires a specific set of social significant qualities, properties, knowledge, skills and abilities. As a result of inclusion in social relations and communication, he becomes a responsible subject of volitional activity. According to psychologists, personality is an integral set of various traits of biogenic and sociogenic origin, which is formed during life and affects human behavior and activity. In both cases, the social role and status of the individual play important role in the formation and self-realization of the individual.

The basis for the formation are four groups of phenomena: biological features human body and his innate experience, learning results, experience social life and interactions with other people, the results of self-esteem, reflection and self-awareness. In the personality structure, groups of characteristics can be distinguished that influence all human behavior.

These include the following psychological traits, such as abilities, motivation, strong-willed qualities, social attitudes and stereotypes, character, orientation, emotions, temperament. Also the personality includes a set social features, such as social statuses and roles, the system of dispositions and various role expectations, a complex of knowledge, values and beliefs, interests and worldview. The process of crystallization of personality traits often occurs under the influence of external and internal environment and proceeds uniquely, creating a unique integrity.

Concept of social status

Also in late XIX century, the English scientist Henry Men introduces a new concept into circulation. Since then, social status has been analyzed and studied a lot. Today, it is understood as a certain place of a person in social system or group. It is determined by a number of characteristics: material and marital status, possession of power, functions performed, education, specific skills, nationality, special psychological characteristics and many others. Since the individual is simultaneously part of various groups, then its status in them may be different.

It not only denotes a person’s position in society, but also gives him certain rights and responsibilities. Typically, the higher it is, the greater the set of rights and responsibilities. Often in everyday consciousness the concepts of social status and roles are equated with the concept of prestige. It certainly accompanies status, but is not always its mandatory attribute. Status is a moving category. A person can change it with the acquisition of new qualities or roles. Only in traditional social systems it could be inherited, secured by law or in accordance with religious canons. Today, a person in his development can achieve the desired statuses or lose them under certain circumstances.

Hierarchy of statuses

A set of different positions of one person in society is usually called a status set. In this structure there is usually a dominant, main status, and a set of additional ones. The first determines the main position of the individual in this social system. For example, a child or an elderly person will have a primary status according to age. At the same time, in some patriarchal societies, a person’s gender will be the main feature for determining his position in the system.

Since there is a division into main and non-main statuses, researchers talk about the existence of a hierarchy of social positions of the individual. Social roles and status are the most important factor influencing an individual’s overall satisfaction with his or her life. The assessment takes place in two directions. There are stable interactions of statuses at the horizontal and vertical levels.

The first factor is a system of interaction between people at the same level of the social hierarchy. Vertical, respectively, communication between people at different levels. The distribution of people along the steps of the social ladder is natural phenomenon for society. Hierarchy supports the role expectations of the individual, stipulating an understanding of the distribution of responsibilities and rights, allows a person to be satisfied with his position or forces him to strive for a change in status. This ensures personality dynamics.

Personal and social status

Traditionally, based on the size of the community in which a person functions, it is customary to distinguish between personal and social statuses. They function at different levels. Thus, social status is the sphere of professional and social relations. Professional position, education, political position, and social activity are of utmost importance here. They are the signs by which a person is placed in the social hierarchy.

Social role and status also function in small groups. In this case, researchers talk about personal status. In a family, a small group of interests, a circle of friends, a small working group a person occupies a certain position. But to establish a hierarchy, not professional, but personal, are used here. psychological signs. Leadership qualities, knowledge, skills, sociability, sincerity and other character traits allow a person to become a leader or an outsider and gain a certain personal status. There is a significant difference between these two types of positions in a social group. They allow a person to realize himself in various fields. Thus, a small clerk who occupies a low position in the work team can play a significant role, for example, in the society of numismatists, thanks to his knowledge.

Types of social statuses

Since the concept of status covers an extremely broad area of social activity of an individual, that is, there are many of their varieties. Let's highlight main classifications. Depending on dominance different signs The following statuses are distinguished:

Natural, or socio-demographic. These statuses are established in accordance with such characteristics as age, kinship, gender, race and health status. Examples could be the positions of a child, a parent, a man or a woman, a Caucasian, or a disabled person. The social role and status of a person in communication are reflected in this case by endowing the individual with certain rights and responsibilities.
Actually social status. It can only develop in society. Economic statuses are usually distinguished depending on the position held and the availability of property; political, in accordance with the views and social activity, also a sign of the allocation of status is the presence or absence of power; sociocultural, which include education, attitude towards religion, art, science. In addition, there are legal, professional, territorial statuses.

According to another classification, prescribed, achieved and mixed statuses are distinguished in accordance with the method of obtaining it. Prescribed statuses are those assigned by birth. A person receives them unwillingly, without doing anything for it.

Achieved, on the contrary, are acquired as a result of effort, often significant. These include professional, economic, and cultural positions in society. Mixed - those that combine the two previous types. An example of such statuses can be various dynasties, where by right of birth a child receives not only a position in society, but a predisposition to achievements in a certain field of activity. Formal and informal statuses are also distinguished. The first are formally enshrined in some documents. For example, when taking office. The latter are assigned by the group behind the scenes. A striking example is the leader in the small group.

Concept of social role

In psychology and sociology, the term “social role” is used, which refers to expected behavior dictated by social status and other members of the group. Social role and status are closely related. Status imposes obligations of law on an individual, and they, in turn, dictate a certain type of behavior to a person. Any person, due to his sociality, must constantly change behavior patterns, so each individual has a whole arsenal of roles that he plays in different situations.

Social role determines social status. Its structure includes role expectation, or expectation, performance, or play. A man gets into typical situation, where participants expect a certain model of behavior from him. Therefore, he begins to bring it to life. He doesn't need to think about how to behave. The model dictates his actions. Each person has his own role set, i.e. a set of roles for different cases life in accordance with their statuses.

Psychological characteristics of social roles

There is an opinion that the role in society determines social status. However, the sequence is reversed. Receiving another status, a person develops behavior options. There are two psychological components to every role. Firstly, this is a symbolic-informational part, which is the script of a typical performance. It is often presented in the form of instructions, reminders, principles. Each individual has unique characteristics that give the role a distinctive and subjective character. Secondly, this is the imperative-control component, which is the mechanism for starting the game. The imperative component is also associated with values and norms. He dictates how to act, based on cultural stereotypes and moral standards of society.

The social role has three psychological parameters by which it can be assessed and classified:

Emotionality. Various degrees manifestations of sensuality are characteristic of each role. So, the leader should be restrained, and the mother can be emotional.
Formalization. Roles can be formal or informal. The first ones are described by a certain scenario, fixed in some form. For example, the role of the teacher is partly described in job description, and is also fixed in the stereotypes and beliefs of society. The latter arise in specific situations and are not recorded anywhere except in the psyche of the performer. For example, the role of the ringleader in the company.
Motivation. Roles are always closely related to the satisfaction of various needs, each of them has one or more initial needs.

Types of social roles

Society is infinitely diverse, so there are many types of roles. Social status and social role of a person are interconnected. Therefore, the former often duplicate the latter and vice versa. Thus, there are natural roles (mother, child) and achieved ones (manager, leader), formal and informal. Social role and status, examples of which everyone can find in their personality structure, have a certain sphere of influence. Among them, there are status roles that are directly related to a certain position in society and interpersonal roles that arise from the situation, for example, the role of the loved one, the offended, etc.

Functions of social roles

Society constantly needs mechanisms to regulate the behavior of its members. The social role and status in communication primarily perform a regulatory function. They help you quickly find an interaction scenario without spending large resources. Social roles also perform an adaptation function. When a person’s status changes, or he finds himself in a certain situation, he needs to quickly find an appropriate model of behavior. Thus, the social role and status of the nation allow it to adapt to the new cultural context.

Another function is self-realization. Performing roles allows a person to demonstrate his various qualities and achieve desired goals. The cognitive function lies in the possibilities of self-knowledge. A person, trying on different roles, learns his potential and finds new opportunities.

Social role and status: ways of interaction

In the personality structure, roles and statuses are closely intertwined. They allow a person to decide various social objectives, achieve goals and satisfy requirements. The social role and status of an individual in a group are important for motivating her to perform activities. Wanting to improve his status, a person begins to study, work, and improve.

Groups are a dynamic entity and there is always the possibility of redistribution of statuses. A person, using the range of his roles, can change his status. And vice versa: changing it will lead to a change in the role set. The social role and status of an individual in a group can be briefly characterized as driving force individuals on the path to self-realization and achieving goals.

Social role is a socially necessary type social activities and the method of personality behavior. The concept of social role was first proposed by American sociologists Mead and Linton back in the thirties of the last century.

Main types of social roles

The diversity of social groups and relationships in their groups, as well as types of activities, became the basis for the classification of social statuses. Currently, types of social roles are distinguished as: formal, interpersonal and socio-demographic. Formal social roles are associated with the position a person occupies in society. This refers to his occupation and profession. But interpersonal roles are directly related to various types relationships. This category usually includes favorites, outcasts, and leaders. As for socio-demographic roles, these are husband, son, sister, etc.

Characteristics of social roles

American sociologist Talcott Parsons identified the main characteristics of social roles. These include: scale, method of obtaining, emotionality, motivation and formalization. Typically, the scope of a role is determined by the range interpersonal relationships. Here it is observed directly proportional dependence. For example, the social roles of husband and wife have a very significant scope, because a wide range of relationships is established between them.

If we talk about the method of obtaining a role, it depends on the inevitability of this role for the individual. Thus, the roles of a young man or an old man do not require any effort to acquire. They are determined by a person's age. And other social roles can be achieved during life if certain conditions are achieved.

Social roles may also differ in their level of emotionality. Each role is characterized by its own manifestation of emotions. Also, some roles involve the establishment of formal relationships between people, others - informal ones, and still others can combine both relationships.

His motivation depends on the needs and motives of a person. Different social roles may be determined by certain motives. For example, when parents take care of their child, they are guided by a feeling of care and love for him. The manager works for the benefit of some enterprise. It is also known that all social roles can be subject to public evaluation.

It is believed that the concept of social role in sociology was first introduced by R. Linton, although already in F. Nietzsche this word appears in a completely sociological sense: “Concern for maintaining existence imposes on the majority of male Europeans a strictly defined role, as they say, a career.” From a sociological point of view, any organization of society or group presupposes the presence of a set of distinct roles. In particular, P. Berger believes that “society is a network of social roles.”

Social role - it is a system of expected behavior that is determined by normative duties and the rights corresponding to these duties.

For example, an educational institution as a type social organization presupposes the presence of a director, teachers and students. Weight is social roles associated with a specific set of responsibilities and rights. Thus, the teacher is obliged to follow the orders of the director, not be late for his lessons, prepare for them conscientiously, orient students towards socially approved behavior, be sufficiently demanding and fair, he is prohibited from resorting to physical punishment students, etc. At the same time, he has the right to certain signs of respect associated with his role as a teacher: students must stand up when he appears, call him by name and patronymic, and unquestioningly follow his orders related to educational process, keep quiet in class when he speaks, etc. However, fulfilling a social role allows for some freedom to express individual qualities: a teacher can be harsh and soft, maintain a strict distance in relation to students and behave with them like an older comrade. A student can be diligent or careless, obedient or impudent. All of these are acceptable individual shades of social roles.

Regulatory requirements associated with social role, as a rule, are more or less known to the participants in role interaction, and therefore give rise to certain role expectations: all participants expect from each other behavior that fits into the context of these social roles. Thanks to this, people's social behavior becomes largely predictable.

However, role requirements allow for some freedom and the behavior of a group member is not mechanically determined by the role he performs. Thus, from literature and life, there are cases when, at a critical moment, a person takes on the role of leader and saves the situation, from whom, due to his usual role in the group, no one expected this. E. Goffman argues that an individual performing a social role is aware of the existence of a distance between himself and his role. emphasized the variability of normative requirements associated with a social role. R. Merton noted their “dual character.” For example, a research scientist is required to adhere to the principles and methods established by science and at the same time create and substantiate new ideas, sometimes to the detriment of accepted ones; a good surgeon is not only one who performs routine operations well, but also one who can take a risky, unconventional decision, saving the patient’s life. Thus, a certain amount of initiative is an integral part of fulfilling a social role.

An individual always performs not just one social role at the same time, but several, sometimes even many. The position of a person who performs only one role is always pathological and assumes that he lives in conditions complete isolation from society (is a patient in a psychiatric clinic or a prisoner in prison). Even in a family, a person plays not one, but several roles - he is a son, a brother, a husband, and a father. In addition, he performs a number of roles in others: he is a boss for his subordinates, a subordinate for his boss, a doctor for his patients, and a teacher for his students. medical institute, and a friend of his friend, and a neighbor of the inhabitants of his house, and a member of some political party, etc.

Role-based regulatory requirements are an element of the system social norms adopted by this society. However, they are specific and valid only in relation to those who occupy a certain social position. Many role requirements are absurd outside of a specific role situation. For example, a woman who comes to see a doctor undresses at his request, fulfilling her role as a patient. But if a passer-by on the street makes a similar demand, she will run or call for help.

The relationship between special role norms and generally valid norms is very complex. Many role prescriptions are not associated with them at all, and some role norms are of an exceptional nature, putting the people who perform them in a special position when they are not subject to general norms. For example, a doctor is obliged to maintain medical confidentiality, and a priest is obliged to maintain the secret of confession, therefore, by law, they are not subject to the obligation to disclose this information when testifying in court. The discrepancy between general and role norms can be so great that the role holder is almost subject to public contempt, although his position is necessary and recognized by society (executioner, secret police agent).

Ideas about social role

It is believed that the concept of “social role” was introduced into sociology in the first half of the 19th century. American scientist R. Linton. For the German philosopher F. Nietzsche, this word appears in a completely sociological sense: “The concern for maintaining existence imposes on the majority of male Europeans a strictly defined role, as they say, a career.”

From a sociological point of view, any organization of society or group presupposes the presence of a set of roles that differ from each other. In particular, the American sociologist P. Berger believes that modern society is a “network of social roles.”

Social role is a system of expected behavior that is determined by normative responsibilities and the rights corresponding to these responsibilities. For example, an educational institution as a type of social organization presupposes the presence of a director, teachers and students. These social roles carry a specific set of responsibilities and rights. The teacher is obliged to follow the orders of the director, not be late for his lessons, prepare for them conscientiously, guide students towards socially approved behavior, be demanding and fair, he is prohibited from resorting to physical punishment of students, etc. At the same time, he has the right to certain signs of respect associated with his role as a teacher: students must stand up when he appears, call him by name and patronymic, follow his orders related to the educational process, maintain silence in the class when he speaks, etc. .P.

Nevertheless, fulfilling a social role allows some freedom for the manifestation of individual qualities: the teacher can be harsh or soft, keep a distance from the students or behave with them as a senior comrade. A student can be diligent or careless, obedient or impudent. All of these are acceptable individual shades of social roles. Consequently, the behavior of an individual in a group is not determined mechanically by the social role he performs. Thus, from literature and life there are cases when, at critical moments, people took on the role of leader and saved the situation, from whom no one expected this from their usual roles in the group.

The American sociologist R. Merton was the first to draw attention to the fact that everyone has not one social role, but several, and this position became the basis role set theories.

Thus, individuals, as bearers of certain social statuses, when entering into social relations, always simultaneously perform several social roles determined by one or another social status. The position of a person who performs only one role is always pathological and implies that he lives in isolation from society. Usually a person plays several roles in society. For example, a man's social status allows him to have many social roles: in a family he can be a husband and father or a son and brother; at work - a boss or a subordinate, and at the same time a boss for some and a subordinate for others; V professional activity he can be a doctor and at the same time a patient of another doctor; a member of a political party and a neighbor of a member of another political party, etc.

IN modern sociology a set of roles corresponding to a certain social status is called role set. For example, the status of a teacher of a particular educational institution has its own distinctive set of roles that connects it with holders of correlative statuses - other teachers, students, director, laboratory assistants, officials of the Ministry of Education, members of professional associations, i.e. with those who are somehow related to the professional activities of a teacher. In this regard, sociology distinguishes between the concepts of “role set” and “multiplicity of roles.” The latter concept refers to the various social statuses (set of statuses) that an individual possesses. The concept of “role set” denotes only those roles that act as dynamic aspects of only a given social status.

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Social role- a model of human behavior, objectively specified by the social position of the individual in the system of social (public and personal) relations. In other words, a social role is “the behavior that is expected of a person occupying a certain status.” Modern society requires an individual to constantly change his behavior pattern to perform specific roles. In this regard, such neo-Marxists and neo-Freudians as T. Adorno, K. Horney and others in their works made a paradoxical conclusion: the “normal” personality of modern society is a neurotic. Moreover, in modern society wide use received role conflicts that arise in situations where an individual is required to simultaneously perform several roles with conflicting requirements.

Irwin Goffman, in his studies of interaction rituals, accepting and developing the basic theatrical metaphor, paid attention not so much to role prescriptions and passive adherence to them, but to the very processes of active construction and maintenance. appearance"in the course of communication, to areas of uncertainty and ambiguity in interaction, errors in the behavior of partners.

Types of social roles

The types of social roles are determined by the variety of social groups, types of activities and relationships in which the individual is included. Depending on social relations, social and interpersonal social roles are distinguished.

§ Social roles associated with social status, profession or type of activity (teacher, student, student, salesperson). These are standardized impersonal roles, built on the basis of rights and responsibilities, regardless of who plays these roles. There are socio-demographic roles: husband, wife, daughter, son, grandson... Man and woman are also social roles, biologically predetermined and presupposing specific modes of behavior, fixed social norms, customs.

§ Interpersonal roles associated with interpersonal relationships that are regulated by emotional level(leader, offended, neglected, family idol, beloved, etc.).

[edit]Characteristics of a social role

The main characteristics of the social role were highlighted by the American sociologist Talcott Parsons. He proposed the following four characteristics of any role:

§ By scale. Some roles may be strictly limited, while others may be blurred.

§ By method of receipt. Roles are divided into prescribed and conquered (they are also called achieved).

§ According to the degree of formalization. Activities can take place either within strictly established limits or arbitrarily.

§ By type of motivation. The motivation can be personal profit, public good, etc.

Scope of the role depends on the range of interpersonal relationships. The larger the range, the larger the scale. For example, the social roles of spouses have a very large scale, since the widest range of relationships is established between husband and wife. On the one hand, these are interpersonal relationships based on a variety of feelings and emotions; on the other hand, relationships are regulated regulations and in a certain sense are formal. Participants of this social interaction are interested in the most different sides each other's lives, their relationship is practically unlimited. In other cases, when relationships are strictly defined by social roles (for example, the relationship between a seller and a buyer), interaction can only be carried out on a specific occasion (in in this case- purchases). Here the scope of the role is limited to a narrow range of specific issues and is small.

How to get a role depends on how inevitable the role is for the person. Thus, the roles of a young man, an old man, a man, a woman are automatically determined by the person’s age and gender and do not require special effort to purchase them. There can only be a problem of compliance with one’s role, which already exists as a given. Other roles are achieved or even won during the course of a person's life and as a result of targeted special efforts. For example, the role of a student, researcher, professor, etc. These are almost all roles related to the profession and any achievements of a person.

Formalization as a descriptive characteristic of a social role is determined by the specifics of interpersonal relationships of the bearer of this role. Some roles involve the establishment of only formal relationships between people with strict regulation of rules of behavior; others, on the contrary, are only informal; still others may combine both formal and informal relationships. It is obvious that the relationship between the traffic police representative and the rule violator traffic should be determined by formal rules, and relationships between close people should be determined by feelings. Formal relationships are often accompanied by informal ones, in which emotionality is manifested, because a person, perceiving and evaluating another, shows sympathy or antipathy towards him. This happens when people have been interacting for a while and the relationship has become relatively stable.

Motivation depends on the needs and motives of the person. Different roles are driven by different motives. Parents, caring for the well-being of their child, are guided primarily by a feeling of love and care; the leader works for the sake of the cause, etc.

[edit] Role conflicts

Role conflicts arise when the duties of a role are not fulfilled due to subjective reasons (unwillingness, inability).

Motivation is divided into externally organized and internally organized (or, as Western psychologists write, external and internal). The first is associated with the influence on the subject’s formation of the motive for the action or deed of other people (with the help of advice, suggestion, etc.). The extent to which this intervention will be perceived by the subject depends on the degree of his suggestibility, conformity and negativism.

Suggestibility- this is the subject’s tendency to uncritical (involuntary) compliance with the influences of other people, their advice, instructions, even if they contradict his own beliefs and interests.

This is an unconscious change in one’s behavior under the influence of suggestion. Suggestible subjects are easily infected by the moods, views and habits of other people. They are often prone to imitation. Suggestibility depends both on the stable properties of a person - a high level of neuroticism, weakness nervous system(Yu. E. Ryzhkin, 1977), and from his situational states - anxiety, self-doubt or emotional arousal.

Suggestibility is influenced by such personal characteristics as low self-esteem and a sense of inferiority, humility and devotion, an undeveloped sense of responsibility, timidity and shyness, gullibility, increased emotionality and impressionability, daydreaming, superstition and faith, a tendency to fantasize, unstable beliefs and uncritical thinking (N. N. Obozov, 1997, etc. .).

Increased suggestibility is typical for children, especially 10-year-olds. This is explained by the fact that their critical thinking is still poorly developed, which reduces the degree of suggestibility. True, at the age of 5 and after 10, especially among older schoolchildren, there is a decrease in suggestibility (A.I. Zakharov (1998), see Fig. 9.1). By the way, the latter was noted among older adolescents at the end of the 19th century. A. Binet (1900) and A. Nechaev (1900).

The degree of suggestibility of women is higher than that of men (V. A. Petrik, 1977; L. Levenfeld, 1977).

Another stable personality characteristic is conformity, the study of which was initiated by S. Asch (1956).

Conformity- this is a person’s tendency to voluntarily consciously (arbitrarily) change his expected reactions in order to get closer to the reaction of others due to the recognition that they are more right. At the same time, if the intention or social attitudes that a person had coincide with those of those around him, then we are no longer talking about conformity.

The concept of “conformity” has many meanings in Western psychological literature. For example, R. Crutchfield (1967) speaks of “internal conformity,” which is described as close to suggestibility.

Conformity is also called intragroup suggestion or suggestibility (note that some authors, for example, A.E. Lichko et al. (1970) do not equate suggestibility and conformity, noting the lack of dependence between them and the difference in the mechanisms of their manifestation). Other researchers distinguish between two types of conformity: “acceptance,” when an individual changes his views, attitudes, and corresponding behavior, and “agreement,” when a person follows the group without sharing its opinion (in national science this is called conformism). If a person tends to constantly agree with the opinion of the group, he is a conformist; if he tends to disagree with the opinion imposed on him, then he is a nonconformist (the latter, according to foreign psychologists, includes about a third of people).

There are external and internal conformity. In the first case, a person returns to his previous opinion as soon as the group pressure on him disappears. With internal conformity, he retains the accepted group opinion and after the pressure from the outside has ceased.

The degree of a person’s subordination to a group depends on many external (situational) and internal (personal) factors, which (mostly external) were systematized by A. P. Sopikov (1969). These include:

Age and gender differences: among children and youth there are more conformists than among adults (maximum conformity is noted at 12 years of age, its noticeable decrease is after 1-6 years); women are more susceptible to group pressure than men;

Difficulty of the problem being solved: the more difficult it is, the more the individual submits to the group; how more difficult task and the more ambiguous the decisions made, the higher the conformity;

A person’s status in a group: the higher he is, the less this person shows conformity;

The nature of the group affiliation: the subject entered the group of his own free will or under duress; V the latter case his psychological subjugation is often only superficial;

Attractiveness of the group for the individual: the subject lends himself more easily to the reference group;

Goals facing a person: if his group competes with another group, the subject's conformity increases; if group members compete with each other, it decreases (the same is observed when defending a group or personal opinion);

The presence and effectiveness of a connection that confirms the correctness or incorrectness of a person’s conforming actions: when an action is wrong, a person can return to his point of view.

With pronounced conformism, a person’s decisiveness increases when making decisions and forming intentions, but at the same time, the feeling of his individual responsibility for an act committed together with others weakens. This is especially noticeable in groups that are not socially mature enough.

Although the influence of situational factors often prevails over the role individual differences, yet there are people who are easily persuaded in any situation (S. Hovland, I. Janis, 1959; I. Janis, P. Field, 1956).

Such people have certain personality traits. It has been revealed, for example, that the most conforming children suffer from an “inferiority complex” and have insufficient “ego strength” (Hartup, 1970). They tend to be more dependent and anxious than their peers, and are sensitive to the opinions and hints of others. Children with such personality traits tend to constantly control their behavior and speech, i.e. they have high level self-control. They care about how they look in the eyes of others, they often compare themselves with their peers.

According to F. Zimbardo (1977), they are easily persuaded shy people who have low self-esteem. It is no coincidence that a connection has been identified between a person’s low self-esteem and his easy susceptibility to outside persuasion (W. McGuire, 1985). This happens due to the fact that they have little respect for their opinions and attitudes, therefore, their motivation to defend their beliefs is weakened. They consider themselves wrong in advance.

R. Nurmi (1970) provides data according to which conformers are characterized by rigidity and a weak nervous system.

It should, however, be kept in mind in what situation conformity manifests itself - in a normative or informational one. This may also affect her connections with others. personal characteristics. In an information situation, there is a noticeable tendency to connect conformity with extraversion (N. N. Obozov, 1997).