Status, Roles, Groups, and Networks Social Structure Status, Roles, Groups, and Networks

Social Structure and Status social structure - the underlying patterns of relationships in a group status - a position a person occupies within a social structure (mother, son, student, doctor, musician, athlete) ascribed status - a position that's neither earned nor chosen but assigned (gender, age) achieved status - a position that's earned or chosen (occupations, decision to be a spouse or a parent) status set - all of the statuses that a person occupies at any particular time master status - a position that strongly influences most other aspects of a person's life - can be achieved or ascribed (occupation, age, gender, race, ethnicity)

Ascribed and Achieved Status An ascribed status is one that is beyond an individual's control. It is not earned, but rather something people are either born with or had no control over. Examples of ascribed status include sex and race. Children usually have more ascribed statuses than adults since they do not usually have a choice in most matters. A family's social status or socioeconomic status, for instance, would be an achieved status for adults, but an ascribed status for children. Homelessness might also be another example. For adults, homelessness usually comes by way of achieving, or rather not achieving, something. For children, however, homelessness is not something they have any control over. They become as such by default of their parents' actions.      

Ascribed and Achieved Status An achieved status is one that is acquired on the basis of merit; it is a position that is earned or chosen and reflects a person's skills, abilities, and efforts. Being a professional athlete, for example, is an achieved status, as is being a lawyer, college professor, or criminal.

Ascribed and Achieved Status The line between achieved status and ascribed status is not always black and white. There are many statuses that can be considered a mixture of achievement and ascription. Take Paris Hilton, for example, who has an achieved status of being an actress. Many might argue that she would never have achieved the status of actress if she had not come from a wealthy family, an ascribed status of hers.  

Take a moment to reflect on your own statuses Take a moment to reflect on your own statuses. What are all of your statuses, and which are ascribed and which are achieved? Ascribed Status Achieved Status Master Status

Status Symbols Status Symbols material items we use as signs to display our status. These symbols can be positive or negative announce our status and smooth our interactions in everyday life A contradiction in status is called status inconsistency Status has built in norms that guide our behavior- status inconsistency upsets these expectations Status Anxiety - the desire of people in many modern societies to "climb the social ladder" and the anxieties that result from a focus on how one is perceived by others.

Social Structure and Roles role - an expected behavior associated with a particular status (status: doctor - roles: schedule appointments, diagnose illnesses, prescribe treatments) right - a behavior that individuals can expect from others (patient has the right to expect the doctor to reach an appropriate diagnosis) obligation - a behavior that individuals are expected to perform toward others (doctor must diagnose patient's illness) role performance - the actual behavior of an individual in a role social interaction - the process of influencing each other as people relate role conflict - performance of a role in one status interferes with the performance of a role in another status (teenagers may have difficulty balancing study and work demands) role strain - roles of single status are inconsistent or conflicting (high school student may wish to perform well academically, join a campus club, play a sport, socialize on weekends)

Culture and Social Structures members of a group: 1. are in regular contact with one another 2. share some ways of thinking, feeling and behaving 3. take one another's behavior into account 4. have one or more interests or goals in common social category - people who share a social characteristic (e.g., citizens of the U.S.) social aggregate - people temporarily at the same place at the same time (e.g., witnesses of a disaster) primary group - people who are emotionally close, know each other well, seek one another's company primary relationships - interactions that are intimate, caring, personal and fulfilling primary groups secondary group - people who share only part of their lives while focusing on a goal or task secondary relationships - impersonal interactions involving limited parts of personalities

Other Groups and Networks reference groups - groups used for self-evaluation and the formation of attitudes, values, beliefs and norms in-groups - exclusive groups demanding intense loyalty out-groups - groups targeted by an in-group for opposition, antagonism or competition social network - web of social relationships that join a person to other people and groups

Types of Social Interaction cooperation - interaction in which individuals or groups combine their efforts to reach a goal conflict - interaction aimed at defeating an opponent - positive effects: 1. promotion of cooperation and unity within opposing groups (Revolutionary War brought colonists together) 2. attention drawn to social inequalities (civil rights movement) social exchange - voluntary action performed in the expectation of getting a reward in return ("I'll scratch your back if you scratch mine.") - cooperation -> "How can we reach our goal?" - social exchange -> "What's in it for me?" coercion - individuals or groups are forced to behave in a particular way (e.g., enforced curfew) - done through physical force or social pressure conformity - behavior that matches group expectations groupthink - self-deceptive thinking that's based on conformity to group beliefs and created by group pressure to conform

Formal Organizations groups deliberately created to achieve one or more long-term goals (high schools, govt. agencies) bureaucracy - formal organization based on rationality and efficiency - major characteristics of bureaucracies: 1. a division of labor based on the principle of specialization 2. a hierarchy of authority 3. a system of rules and procedures 4. written records of work and activities 5. promotion on the basis of merit and qualifications power - ability to control the behavior of others authority - legitimate or social approved use of power rationalization - mind-set emphasizing knowledge, reason, and planning informal organization - group within a formal organization that's guided by norms, rituals, sentiments that aren't apparent in the formal organization iron law of oligarchy - theory that power increasingly becomes concentrated in the hands of a few members of any organization