The Importance Of Social Status

In society there are many social groups that we as individuals of society belong to, such as social status and a social role to fulfill. Social status can be understood as the position that we occupy in society or within a group. Social role is defined as our expectations of an individual in a given status or social position. As individuals in society it is predicted that we all occupy several statuses and play the roles that may be associated with them. Statuses and roles affect how we interact with others. Social Status can be understood as our relative social position within a group that we occupy. Such as being a student, child or parent in a given society. There are many ways in which individuals get their statuses, however it varies …show more content…
Such as being born into a very wealthy family, a given race or gender. In an ascribed status we do not make the decision to choose them because they are not voluntary statuses. For example, we do not pick the family we are born into also we do not select our own gender as female or male. On the other hand, both achieved and ascribed statuses interfere in some cultures. Some cultures choose to stress the importance of one or the other. For instance, in the United States an achieved status is mostly emphasized because it leads to an acceptance and encouragement of social class mobility in which it is the movement of individuals or groups between different social positions and it enforces a rejection of gender and ethnicity based restrictions. For example, many children are taught in schools from a very early age without being affected by the child 's ascribed status meaning the child may be born from a poor family, or may be a female or male but they are still allowed to aspire a great education, better their family economically, and become a leader in society that will be known as a achieved status afterwards. However, in India an ascribed status is mostly emphasized than an achieved status due to the fact that social mobility has been very difficult to achieve in India. For instance, if you are born poor or in a lower class you’re gonna live your life as being poor in society and there may not be anyway …show more content…
These roles are apart of who we are. These given roles tell us how to act and what we can and cannot do in society. As an example, as students in school our role is to learn from our teachers, take notes, and study. These set of behaviors are based on our position. A role is also the set of norms, values, behaviors, and personality characteristics that is attached to a status. In society many of these roles can be very difficult to maintain. Role playing can be difficult for example, if I decide not to go to class I will miss out on notes that were given on that day and it may affect me from passing the test. This can also be described as role strain that means making a choice that affects your role. Another example, would be if a parent has a sick child they have to decide whether they should still go to work or stay home and take care of their child. When it comes to our roles in society we also have role expectation that as individuals in society we take on. For instance, I’m a student and my role is to pay attention , and take notes, and pass the