Taste is a muscle that can be trained.(NN)

First Commandment Real Woman: I took off my heels and left the race. (NN)

Fashion is a matter of money. Style is a matter of individuality. (NN)

If you are struck by the beauty of a woman, but you cannot remember what she was wearing, it means she was dressed perfectly. (Coco Chanel)

Lack of attire sometimes serves as the best attire. (Petronius)

A well-dressed person is one who considers himself and others. (Pierre Cardin)

There is a legend that there are women who, when opening a closet, know what they will wear. (NN)

It is just as foolish to despise fashion as it is to follow it too zealously. (Jean de La Bruyère)
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Most people live by fashion, not by reason. (Georg Christoph Lichtenberg)
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There are people who even dress their thoughts according to the demands of fashion. (Bertold Averbach)
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An outfit is a preface to a woman, and sometimes the entire book. (Sébastien-Roch Nicolas de Chamfort)
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The expression on a woman's face is much more important than her clothes. (Dale Carnegie)
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Clothes make a person. Naked people have very little, if any, influence in society. (Mark Twain)
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We eat for our own pleasure, dress for the pleasure of others. (Benjamin Franklin)
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The worse things go for you, the better you should dress. (English saying)

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Modesty died when clothes were born. (Mark Twain)
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Women's clothing is painting, men's clothing is sculpture. (Barnett Newman)

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If men nowadays are more serious than women, it is only because their clothes are darker. (Andre Gide)
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Women dress best in areas where they often undress. (Fortunat Strovsky)
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Brevity is the soul of lingerie. (Dorothy Parker)
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A man does not like women in cheap clothes, except his own wife. (NN)
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A man who is about to take a decisive step thinks: “What will I say?”, and a woman: “How will I dress?” (Madeleine de Puisier)
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If a woman looks good in slacks, she will look good in anything. (NN)
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Judge a man not by his clothes, but by his wife's clothes. (Thomas Dewar)

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If women only dressed for one man, it wouldn't last so long. (Marcel Achard)
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If women dress up so carefully, it is only because a man's eye is better developed than his mind. (Doris Day)
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Women believe that they dress up for the sake of men or for their own pleasure; but in truth, they dress up for each other. (Francis de Miomandre)
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I dress for women and undress for men. (Angie Dickinson)
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The dress should be tight enough to show that you are a woman, but loose enough to show that you are a lady. (Edith Head)
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Wearing one dress for too long is harmful to the body. (Yanina Ipohorskaya)
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What do men like most about a woman's dress? Their idea of ​​what a woman would look like without any dress. (Brendan Francis)
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Modern dresses are like barbed wire: they protect the territory, but allow you to explore it. (Denny Kay)
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Cleavage is another form of matter preservation. (Tamara Kleiman)
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A woman's dress doesn't have to be tight, but if a woman is dressed, I want to see where exactly she is in the dress. (Bob Hope)

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An unloved suit never wears out. (NN)

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The most important thing about women's clothing is the woman who wears it. (Yves Saint Laurent)
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There's nothing special about a skirt when it flutters on the clothesline. (Lawrence Dow)
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Moth loves to change her wardrobe. (Antony Regulsky)
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Fashion passes, but style remains. (Coco Chanel)
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Fashion no longer exists. It is created for several hundred people. (Coco Chanel)
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You can follow fashion or run after fashion. But you can only run if you are young enough. (Jeanne Moreau)
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There are no ugly women - there are only women who do not know that they are beautiful. (Vivien Leigh)
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In everything that concerns sins, one should carefully follow fashion. (Lillian Hellman)
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It takes twenty minutes to look like a goddess. It takes three hours to look natural. (Women's folk wisdom)
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Beware of originality. IN women's fashion originality can lead to masquerade. (Coco Chanel)
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The best decoration for a girl is modesty and a transparent dress. (Evgeny Schwartz)
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Black flat shoes are worn by short, balding men. (Women's folk wisdom)
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Fashion exists for women who lack taste, etiquette exists for women who lack education. (Queen Maria of Romania)
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All people are naked under their clothes. (Heine)
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Many women's problems that the best psychiatrists give in to are often solved by a hairdresser of the second category. (Mary McCarthy)
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A woman’s clothes should be moderately modest, so that they are not conspicuous, and at the same time it is noticeable that she is wearing them. (Stas Yankovsky)
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Fashion is traditionalism squared: to be like everyone else and, moreover, to compete. (A. Kruglov)
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Wear rich clothes - they will open all doors for you. (Fuller)
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Every fashion looks as if it will last forever. (Georg Simmel)
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Taking fashion too seriously is certainly stupid. (Hans Georg Gadamer)
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The essence of fashion is that only part of the group always follows it, while the group as a whole is only on the way to it. (Georg Simmel)
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The breaking of fashion by kings becomes fashion for their subjects. (Emil German)
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The latest fashion statement usually echoes loudly in an empty pocket. loving man. (Eduard Aleksandrovich Sevrus (Vorokhov))
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I love clothes and don't like fashion. (Miucia Prada)
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The desire for novelty is a special gift that explains the absolute dominance of the French in the field of fashion. (Valerie Giscard D'estain)
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In fashion stores, look not for a thing, but for yourself. (NN)
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Perfume is business card. Without fragrance, a woman is anonymous. (Hubert de Givenchy)
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Shoes are made so that even in clothes a woman appears naked.
(Christian Louboutin)
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The value of the bag should be higher than the value of its contents. (GQ Magazine)
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A dress has no meaning if it doesn't make men want to take it off of you.
(Françoise Sagan)
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You can wear whatever you want, however you want, as long as it looks feminine and sexy. (Vivienne Westwood)
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The secret to the success of our costumes is in small details that are understandable at the level of sensations.
(Cristiano Corneliani, Director of Corneliani)
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If there are no clothes you would like to wear, create them yourself. (Hand-made principle)

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Taste is the ability to find a way out in the most natural in different circumstances.
(Fazil Iskander)
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I love vulgarity. Good taste is death. Vulgarity is life. (Mary Quant, inventor of the miniskirt)
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A person's style is the voice of his soul. (Ralph Waldo Emerson)
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Only superficial people do not judge by appearance. (Oscad Wilde)
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A well-tied tie is the first serious step in life. (Oscad Wilde

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A real man wears a suit, not jeans, but this suit looks like someone slept in it. (Susan Vega)
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She looked like she had been poured into the dress, slightly overflowing. (Palham Woodhouse)
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Better two folds on your face than one on your stocking. (Parisian woman's commandment)
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The person for whom she is dressing should undress a woman. (NN)
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To be beautiful, it is not enough to be beautiful. (Paul Raynal)
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Charm is beauty in motion. (Gotthold Lessing)
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Very expensive clothes make you look old. (Coco Chanel)
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Youth fashion - pleonasm; There is no such thing as old fashion. (Coco Chanel)
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I love it when fashion comes out into the streets, but I don't allow it to come from there. (Coco Chanel)
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Nothing makes a woman look older than an overly rich suit. (Coco Chanel)
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Fashion, like architecture, is a matter of proportions. (Coco Chanel)

To be irreplaceable, you need to change all the time. (Coco Chanel)

Fashion is something that goes out of fashion. (Coco Chanel)

People are not captivated by fashion, but by the few who create it. (Coco Chanel)

Clothes are like canvas, which different people drapes differently. (Donna Karan)

If a woman is poorly dressed, others will remember her clothes. If a woman is dressed well, those around her will remember her. (Coco Chanel)

A woman, not clothes, expresses sexuality. (GianiVersace)

Style is a person. (Buffon, French naturalist)

Fashion is what we dress ourselves in. What others wear is unfashionable. (Oscar Wilde)

What I wear is fashionable! (Coco Chanel)

Fashion lives not only in dresses, fashion is in the air, it is brought by the wind, we anticipate it, we breathe it, it is in the sky and on the road, it is inseparable from people, morals, and events. (Coco Chanel)

A well-dressed person is one who considers himself and others. (P. Cardin)

A real woman can be immediately recognized by her disobedience to fashion standards; she wears only what suits her. (I. A. Efremov)

A lover of rarities values ​​not what is good or beautiful, but what is unusual and outlandish, what he alone has. He values ​​what is fashionable and hard to find more than what is perfect. (J. Labruyère

The whims of women are not subject to fashion, but fashion is always in their power. (Valery Afonchenko)

Happiness is not in money, but in shopping. (Marilyn Monroe)

Bad taste is an indicator of the decline of morals.” In clothes, try to be graceful, but not dandy; the sign of grace is decency, and the sign of panache is excess. (Socrates)

Depending on your means, dress luxuriously, But not funny, rich - not colorful. Clothes speak about a person. (Shakespeare)

Elegance is more than ease, more than freedom from awkwardness and restrictions. Elegance implies inspired yet refined precision, detail and brilliance. (Garlits)

Each new generation laughs at the old fashion, switching to a new religion. (Thoreau)

The majority, lacking vanity, follows the new fashion, forgetting the old. (Hubert)

Fashion is the only attempt to transform art into a form of social interaction. (Oliver Wendelaer Holmes)

In any form, excess causes outrage, so every reasonable person should adhere to this rule both in dress and speech. Try to avoid foreign influences in everything, but follow, without undue haste, changes in fashion. (Moliere)

Try not to get ahead of fashion and keep up with it, and especially don’t go to its extremes. (Lavater).

Admit it, you sold your soul the first time you put on Jimmy Choo shoes! (film The Devil Wears Prada).

The best wardrobe is a chair! (NN)

The only thing that is cheap is what you wear without feeling confident. (NN)

Read even more new aphorisms about fashion and style on our page

Another result of socialization is the acquisition by people of various statuses, that is, certain positions in society. There are social and personal statuses. * Social status- This the position of an individual (or group of people) in society in accordance with his gender, age, origin, property, education, occupation, position, marital status etc. For example, people studying at a university have student status; those who have completed their working career due to age - pensioner status; those who have lost their jobs - unemployed status. Each status position implies certain rights and responsibilities.

People have in their lives not one, but many statuses. Thus, a person can be simultaneously a son, a husband, a father, a scientist, a mayor, a car enthusiast, a philanthropist, etc. At the same time, in the set of statuses one can single out one main status(usually an official), which is of decisive importance for a given individual.

Bright example - famous Russian economic and political figure of the 1990s. Yuri Luzhkov(born in 1936). Despite the rich diversity of his positions in society (up to senator, honorary professor Russian Academy sciences and the author of a popular book about Moscow), after all, the position of mayor of the capital of Russia is the main social status of this person. Depending on the role played by the individual himself in acquiring his status, two main types of social status are distinguished: prescribed and achieved. Prescribed status(it is also called assigned or attributed) - this is one that is received from birth, by inheritance or by coincidence of life circumstances, regardless of the desire, will and efforts of a person. These are, in particular, those acquired from birth, or natural born statuses associated with gender (woman, man), with nationality (Egyptian, Chilean, Belarusian), with race (representative of the Mongoloid, Negroid or Caucasian racial groups), with consanguinity (daughter, son, sister, grandmother), with inherited titles (queen, emperor, baroness). Prescribed statuses also include such “involuntarily” acquired statuses as stepdaughter, stepson, mother-in-law, etc.

Unlike the prescribed achieved status (or being achieved) acquired through the individual's own efforts. It is associated ♦ with obtaining education and labor qualifications (student, student, worker, master, engineer), ♦ with labor activity and a business career (farmer, banker, director, major, general, doctor of science, minister, member of parliament), ♦ with any special merits (people's artist, honored "teacher, honorary citizen of the city), etc.

According to Western analysts, in a post-industrial society it is the achievable(rather than prescribed) status of people. Modern societies gravitate towards the so-called meritocrats, which involves evaluating people according to their merits (knowledge, qualifications, professionalism), and not according to inheritance or personal connections with VIP.

Achieved and prescribed statuses are two main type of status. But life, as always, is “more bizarre” than schemes and can create non-standard situations, in particular, the status of an unemployed, an emigrant (who became such, say, due to political persecution), a disabled person (as a result, for example, of a road accident), an ex-champion 4. ex-husband. Where should we include these and other similar “negative” statuses, which a person, of course, initially does not strive for in any way, but which, unfortunately, he still received? One option is to classify them as mixed statuses, since they may contain elements of both prescribed and achieved statuses.

If social status determines an individual’s place in society, then personal status determines his position among the people immediately surrounding him. * Personal status - This a person’s position in a small (or primary) group, determined by how others treat him. Thus, each employee in any work collective enjoys a certain reputation among his colleagues, i.e. has a public assessment of its personal qualities(a hard worker is a lazy person, a good person is a miser, serious man- dummy, benevolent - evil, etc.). In accordance with such assessments, people often build their relationships with him, thereby determining his personal status in the team.

Levels of social and personal status may often not coincide. So, say, a minister (high social status) can be a nasty and dishonest person (low personal status). And vice versa, a “simple” cleaning lady (low social status), thanks to her hard work and sincerity, can enjoy great respect from others (high personal status).

Another result of socialization is the acquisition of different statuses by people, i.e. certain positions in society. There are statuses social And private.

Social status- this is the position of an individual (or group of people) in society in accordance with his gender, age, origin, property, education, occupation, position, marital status, etc. (student, pensioner, director, wife).

Depending on the role played by the individual himself in acquiring his status, two main types of social status are distinguished: prescribed And reached.

Prescribed status- this is one that is received from birth, by inheritance or by coincidence of life circumstances, regardless of the desire, will and efforts of a person (gender, nationality, race, etc.).

Reached status– a status that is acquired thanks to the will and efforts of the individual himself (education, qualifications, position, etc.).

Personal status- this is a person’s position in a small (or primary) group, determined by how others treat him. (hardworking, diligent, friendly).

Also highlighted natural And professional and official statuses.

Natural status personality presupposes significant and relatively stable characteristics of a person (men and women, childhood, youth, maturity, old age, etc.).

Professional official- this is the basic status of the individual, for an adult it is most often the basis of the integral status. It records the social, economic, production and technical position (banker, engineer, lawyer, etc.).

Social status denotes the specific place that an individual occupies in a given social system. Thus, it can be noted that social statuses are structural elements of the social organization of society, ensuring social connections between subjects of social relations. These relationships, ordered within the framework of social organization, are grouped in accordance with the socio-economic structure of society and form a complex coordinated system. Social connections between subjects of social relations, established in relation to the social functions provided, form certain points of intersection in the vast field of social relations. These points of intersection of connections in the field of social relations are social statuses. From this point of view, the social organization of society can be presented in the form of a complex, interconnected system of social statuses occupied by individuals who, as a result, become members of society, citizens of the state. Society not only creates social status, but also provides social mechanisms for distributing members of society into these positions. The relationship between social statuses prescribed by society to an individual, regardless of effort and merit (prescribed positions), and statuses, the replacement of which depends on the person himself (achieved positions), is an essential characteristic of the social organization of society. Prescribed social statuses are predominantly those whose replacement occurs automatically, due to a person’s birth and in connection with such characteristics as gender, age, kinship, race, caste, etc.

The correlation in the social structure of prescribed and achieved social statuses is, in essence, an indicator of the nature of economic and political power; there is a question about the nature of the social formation that imposes on individuals the corresponding structure of social status. The personal qualities of individuals and individual examples of social advancement in general do not change this fundamental situation.

Social statuses and roles are important elements of the personality structure. The concepts of “social status” and “social role” have steadily entered the dictionary of terms in the social and human sciences. Into scientific circulation in the 1930s. they were introduced by the American social anthropologist and sociologist Ralph Linton (1893-1953).

Social status. The word “status” was borrowed by sociology (social sciences) from the language of Roman jurisprudence. IN Ancient Rome status meant the legal status of a person. Thus, social status refers to the position (position) of an individual in society or a group, associated with his rights and responsibilities. Highlighting a status position allows you to:

• a) see place, which a person occupies in society, group, including through the prism of generally accepted indicators social achievements chances of success;
• b) show his surroundings social status environment;
• c) understand volume of social benefits(resources), as well as rights and responsibilities which he possesses.

Social statuses are usually distinguished in a certain way.

Socio-demographic statuses (also called sociobiological or natural) may be related:

• 1) with a person’s age ( age statuses)- child, teenager, youth, mature, elderly person;
• 2) kinship (related family statuses) - father, mother, son, daughter, etc.;
• 3) gender of the person ( sexual statuses) - man Woman;
• 4) race ( racial status). This social category arose in the 19th century, when biologists and anthropologists tried to classify the diversity of human physical types into three groups - Caucasians, Negroid, Mongoloids;
• 5) health ( health status)- for example, a disabled person, a person with limited physical capabilities.

Actually social statuses- their formation and existence is possible only in society; they are a product of the system of social connections that have developed in society. These include statuses:

• ? economic(owner, tenant, rentier, landowner, employee, etc.);
• ?political(reflect one or another attitude of people’s social positions to power);
• ? legal(belonging to a status is often associated with the corresponding legal scope of rights and obligations of individuals);
• ?professional(these include all professions and specialties within them);
• ? sociocultural(consist of four basic areas: science, education, art, religion);
• ?territorial(for example, city dweller, villager; Siberian, resident Far East etc.).

Social statuses are also divided into formal And informal.

Formal status -

This is a social position that is fixed and spelled out in one or another official document. For example, CEO joint stock company, tone manager of a trading company, rector of higher educational institution, director of the lyceum.

Unofficial (informal) status is not reflected in official documents. Typically, unofficial status positions develop in the process of interpersonal relationships in small groups, between friends, acquaintances, colleagues, and relatives. For example, we say about a person that he is “responsible” or “irresponsible”, “hardworking” or “a slacker”, “an upstart” or “deservedly occupies a high management position”, “the soul of the company” or “on his own mind”, etc. d.

Highlight prescribed (scriptive), achieved And mixed social statuses.

> Prescribed name the statuses that an individual received and possesses them without making any personal efforts to acquire them. For example, the status of social origin, inherited aristocratic titles, socio-demographic statuses.

> Achievable are called status positions that an individual acquired through his own efforts. Thus, educational and professional status are examples of achieved status positions. Modern open societies are focused on ensuring that the achieved statuses have the main, decisive significance in society ( self-made-man- a self-made man), and not prescribed, as in traditional and closed societies.

> Mixed name the statuses that simultaneously possess signs of a prescribed and achieved status. For example, children decided to follow in the footsteps of the older generation and chose the same profession as their parents, under the influence of their example, public or tacit influence, explicit or implicit consent, assistance. This is not uncommon in families of lawyers, doctors, actors, musicians, financiers, and successful businessmen. Mixed status can also include positions desired by a person, but received through patronage, thanks to various social connections.

In the totality of statuses it is customary to distinguish main status, i.e. the status most characteristic of a given individual; that social position by which others distinguish him and by which he primarily identifies himself. In modern society, the main status often coincides with the professional and official status of a person (financial analyst, chief Researcher, lawyer, unemployed, housewife).

Distinguish private And social statuses.

Social status- this is the position (position) of a person in society, largely determined by the representative of which social group he is.

Personal status- this is the position (position) of a person in the primary group, depending on how he (his qualities) are assessed by other members of the group.

Social status is of predominant importance in the system of impersonal formal relations, in large organizations, among strangers. Personal status prevails among people familiar to a person. Personal statuses are informal; their influence and effectiveness are determined by the fact that it is important for most people to maintain and increase their personal status in the group. People are very sensitive to the expectations and demands of those whom they personally know and respect, and in order to maintain their trust, they sometimes risk the resentment of officials.

The distinction between personal status and social status corresponds to the distinction that the Chinese make between the two ways of “saving face.” Social status refers to a person's position in society: the respect he enjoys is based on what social category he belongs to and how this category is valued in the system of social evaluation, prestige. A person maintains his social status if he lives in accordance with the norms of this social category. When the Chinese talk about conservation " Mian", they mean preserving the reputation that a person has acquired due to his position in society. Thus, a successful businessman is expected to provide his daughter with an excellent dowry, even if he has to go into debt to do so.

The Chinese also talk about preserving "l yang." A person cannot live without “Lian”, how he will be assessed as a human being depends on this, the loss of “Lian” will lead to the fact that he will be isolated. A person will hardly be forgiven if he is exposed in dishonesty, meanness, betrayal, if he is found to have an unforgivable poverty of mind and an inability to keep his word. The preservation of “lian” is not related to social status; its approval depends personally on the person himself.

In the middle of the 20th century, Robert Merton introduced the term into scientific vocabulary "status set"(the term is used as a synonym for this concept "status portrait" person). Under status set is understood as the totality of all statuses belonging to one individual.

For example, Mr. N is a middle-aged man, teacher, doctor of science, scientific secretary of the dissertation council, head of the department, trade union member, member of one of the parties, Christian, voter, husband, father, uncle, etc. This is the status set, or portrait, of a person N.

From point of view rank value highlight social statuses high, average, low rank. According to rank value, for example, status positions differ top manager, middle or lower level manager.

When analyzing social statuses, you need to remember about status incompatibility. There are two forms of status incompatibility:

• 1) when a person occupies a high position in one group and a low position in another;
• 2) when the rights and obligations of one status contradict, exclude or interfere with the implementation of the rights and obligations of another status.

An example of the first form of status incompatibility is a situation where the CEO of a large company in his family is not the head of the family; this role is filled by his wife. Examples of the second form of status incompatibility include the fact that an official does not have the right to engage in commercial activities, a police officer cannot be a member of a mafia group. Criminals who are servants of the law are considered “werewolves in uniform.”

Status incompatibility

is a position in which the same person in different group hierarchies occupies different ranks - high, middle, low.

In contrast to this status compatibility is a position in which the same person in different group hierarchies occupies approximately the same ranks - all high, all middle or all low.

Social role. If the key to understanding social status is the word “position,” then when we talk about social role, then the initial word here is “behavior”. Social statuses describe position, position of people in the social world, and social roles reveal people's behavior in the world of social statuses. We occupy status, but let's play(play) a role, therefore the role acts dynamic aspect social status.

A social role is a kind of model, pattern, format of behavior of an individual occupying a particular status. In origin, the word “role” is related to the Latin word persona(person, individual), which in ancient times meant actor's mask, depicting the character of a character (or role): villain, jester, hero, titan, etc. In a certain sense, a role is a mask that a person puts on when going out into people and society.

American Sociologist II. Berger writes: “...man plays dramatic roles in the grandiose play of society, and, sociologically speaking, he is the masks that he must wear while performing his roles.”

A role is the expected behavior of an individual occupying a certain status (R. Linton). All aspects of determining a social role are interconnected. So, a role is an individual’s behavior, but not all, but expected, i.e. such behavior that corresponds to the prevailing ideas in groups and society regarding the normality, adequacy, correctness, and dignity of a person’s actions in connection with his status position. Thus, role-playing is human behavior, considered in the coordinate system of expectations and status positions. In other words, only behavior that meets the expectations of those who are functionally associated with a given status is called a role; other behavior is not a role.

Talcott Parsons noted that each role can be described using five main characteristics - from the point of view of: 1) its emotionality; 2) method of receipt; 3) scale; 4) formalization; 5) motivation.

Taking into account these characteristics, let's compare two roles: the role of a policeman and the role of a mother.

• 1. The role of a police officer is much less emotional than the role of a mother. In general, emotional restraint is expected from a police officer, while the role of a mother can be associated with very strong expressions of feelings.
• 2. According to the method of obtaining, the role of a police officer is related to the achieved status. The role of the mother includes a prescribed (since women are mothers) and achieved (not all women become mothers) aspects.
• 3. The role of the policeman is formal; he can only do what is prescribed by law, instructions, or determined by orders. The role of the mother is largely informal, although, of course, it is formal in terms of the provisions recorded in legal acts and documents.
• 4. The role of the mother is larger than the role of the policeman, since the role of the policeman is limited only to the sphere of his professional performance. job responsibilities, while a much wider range of relationships develops between mother and child.
• 5. From the point of view of motivation, the role of a police officer is primarily focused on the implementation of public interests in lawfulness and security. But this role also includes personal motivation. It is associated with public recognition of the police service, worthy remuneration for the work of police officers, and their career interests. However, the determining factor in the role of a police officer is service to the legitimate interests of citizens, the law, i.e. First of all, the role of the police officer is socially motivated. The mother's role includes motivation for personal and social interests. The primary one here is personal motivation women to have children, which may coincide with society's interest in population reproduction.

In addition to the concept of “status set,” Robert Merton introduced the term "role set" Under role-playing set refers to a set of roles (role complex) associated with one status. Typically, each status includes several roles. For example, the status of a university professor is associated with the roles of teacher, researcher, supervisor of graduate students, youth mentor, scientific consultant, expert, author of scientific papers, etc. Thus, together with the concept of “status set”, the concept of “role set” is used, which describes all the diversity behavior patterns - roles assigned to one status (Fig. 10.1).

Is a role part of a person’s “I”, his personal structure, or is it just an external shell, a mask, a label for the inner “I”? To what extent "I" identifies(identify) himself with the role?

A role can be both part of the “I” and only an external mask. If one of the parents plays the role of Santa Claus at the New Year tree in kindergarten, then this role is nothing more than a mask that is with “I” this person may be completely unrelated. For a professional actor, playing the role of Santa Claus is something else. This one is for him

Rice. 10.1.

the role, of course, is a mask, but a mask associated with his profession; here the performance of the role is already, to a certain extent, included in the “I” of the person.

An even greater identification of the person’s inner “I” with the role is possible. The actor plays different roles: today the role of Prince Hamlet, tomorrow King Lear, then the inhabitant of the social bottom of Satin. But in reality, the actor is neither Hamlet, nor Lear, nor Satine, nor any of these and other dramatic characters. But for a doctor, a lawyer, a musician, their professional activity is not a theatrical performance; what they serve are the roles of their entire lives. So, the doctor calls himself, considers and identifies himself with a doctor, and not with a masquerade role-playing character in a white coat. At the doctor role of the doctor deeply rooted in his “I”.

Roles may suddenly find themselves in a rock bottom when they seem to begin to live their own lives separate from people. There are two main dangers here. The first is that it is impossible to live in society and avoid playing roles. Roles, among other things, are a form of social selection, the establishment of social filters, and control. If a person does not want or is unable to master role behavior, then he is threatened with non-recognition, rejection, and social isolation. The second danger: people tend to think that the roles they play are under their complete control; they believe that they can always enter or exit any role they need at will. However, you can play too much and one day discover that roles command people, and not people command roles; that roles brought people under their control and reduced their inner selves to ashes.

• See: Shibutani T. Social Psychology. Rostov n/d, 1998.P. 351-356.
• See: Belsky V. Yu., Kravchenko A. I., Kurganov S. I. Sociology for lawyers. M., 2009. P. 154.
• Berger P. L. Invitation to sociology: a humanistic perspective. pp. 99-100.

Social status— the position of an individual or social group in the social system.

Status rank- the position of the individual in social hierarchy statuses, on the basis of which a status worldview is formed.

Status set- a set of several status positions that an individual simultaneously occupies.

Ideas about social status

The concept of “social status” was first used in science by an English philosopher and lawyer of the 19th century. G. Main. In sociology, the concept of status (from the Latin status - position, state) is used in different meanings. The dominant idea is of social status as the position of an individual or a social group in a social system, which is characterized by certain distinctive features (rights, responsibilities, functions). Sometimes social status denotes a set of such distinctive features. In ordinary speech, the concept of status is used as a synonym for prestige.

In modern scientific and educational literature it is defined as: o the position of the individual in the social system, associated with certain rights, responsibilities and role expectations;

• the position of the subject in the system of interpersonal relations,
• defining his rights, duties and privileges;
• the position of the individual in the system of interpersonal relations, due to his psychological influence on group members;
• the relative position of the individual in society, determined by his functions, responsibilities and rights;
• the position of a person in the structure of a group or society, associated with certain rights and responsibilities;
• an indicator of the position occupied by an individual in society;
• the relative position of an individual or social group in a social system, determined by a number of characteristics characteristic of a given system;
• the position occupied by an individual or a social group in society or a separate subsystem of society, determined by characteristics specific to a particular society - economic, national, age, etc.;
• the place of an individual or group in the social system in accordance with their characteristics - natural, professional, ethnic, etc.;
• structural element social organization society, which appears to the individual as a position in the system of social relations;
• the relative position of an individual or group, determined by social ( economic situation, profession, qualifications, education, etc.) and natural characteristics (gender, age, etc.);
• a set of rights and responsibilities of an individual or social group associated with their performance of a certain social role;
• prestige characterizing the positions of an individual or social groups in a hierarchical system.

Each person in society performs certain social functions: students study, workers produce material goods, managers manage, journalists report on events taking place in the country and the world. To perform social functions, certain responsibilities are imposed on the individual in accordance with his social status. The higher a person’s status, the more responsibilities he has, the stricter the requirements of society or a social group for his status responsibilities, the greater the negative consequences of violating them.

Status set is a set of status positions that each individual occupies simultaneously. In this set, the following statuses are usually distinguished: ascriptive (assigned), achieved, mixed, main.

The social status of an individual was relatively stable due to the class or caste structure of society and was secured by the institutions of religion or law. In modern societies, individuals' status positions are more fluid. However, in any society there are ascriptive (assigned) and achieved social statuses.

Assigned status- this is a social status received “automatically” by its bearer due to factors beyond his control - by law, birth, gender or age, race and nationality, consanguinity system, socio-economic status of parents, etc. For example, you cannot get married, participate in elections, or obtain a driver's license before reaching the required age. Ascribed statuses are of interest to sociology only if they are the basis for social inequality, i.e. influence social differentiation and social structure society.

Achieved status - it is a social status acquired by its bearer through his own efforts and merits. The level of education, professional achievements, career, title, position, successful in socially marriage - all this affects the social status of the individual in society.

There is a direct connection between ascribed and achieved social statuses. Achieved statuses are acquired mainly through competition, but some achieved statuses are largely determined by ascriptive ones. Thus, the opportunity to obtain a prestigious education, which in modern society is a necessary prerequisite for high social status, is directly related to the advantages of family origin. On the contrary, the presence of a high achieved status largely compensates for the low ascriptive status of an individual due to the fact that no society can ignore the real social successes and achievements of individuals.

Mixed social statuses have signs of being ascribed and achieved, but achieved not at the request of a person, but due to a combination of circumstances, for example, as a result of losing a job, natural Disasters or political upheaval.

Main social status The individual is determined primarily by his position in society and his way of life.

manner of behavior. When we're talking about O stranger, we first ask: “What does this person do? How does he make a living? The answer to this question says a lot about a person, therefore in modern society the main status of an individual is, as a rule, professional or official.

Personal status manifests itself at the level of a small group, for example, a family, a work team, or a circle of close friends. In a small group, the individual functions directly and his status is determined by personal qualities and character traits.

Group status characterizes an individual as a member of a large social group as, for example, a representative of a nation, religion or profession.

Concept and types of social status

The substantive difference between them boils down to the fact that they perform a role, but have a status. In other words, a role presupposes the possibility of a qualitative assessment of how well an individual meets role requirements. Social status - This is the position of a person in the structure of a group or society, which determines certain rights and obligations. Speaking about status, we abstract from any qualitative assessment of the person who occupies it and his behavior. We can say that status is a formal-structural social characteristic subject.

Like roles, there can be many statuses and, in general, any status presupposes a corresponding role and vice versa.

Main status - key of the entire set of social statuses of an individual, primarily determining his social position and significance in society. For example, the main status of a child is age; in traditional societies, the main status of a woman is gender; in modern society, as a rule, the main status becomes professional or official. In any case, the main status acts as a decisive factor in the image and standard of living and dictates behavior.

Social status can be:

• prescribed- received from birth or due to factors independent of its bearer - gender or age, race, socio-economic status of parents. For example, by law you cannot obtain a driver's license, get married, vote in elections or receive a pension before reaching the required age;
• achievable- acquired in society thanks to the efforts and merits of the individual. A person’s status in society is affected by the level of education, professional achievements, career, and a socially successful marriage. No society can ignore the real successes of an individual, therefore the existence of an achieved status carries the opportunity to significantly compensate for the low ascribed status of the individual;
• private- manifests itself at the level of a small group in which the individual functions directly (family, labor collective, circle of close friends), it is determined by his personal qualities and character traits;
• group- characterizes an individual as a member of a large social group - a representative of a class, nation, profession, a bearer of certain gender and age characteristics, etc.

Based on sociological surveys, it has been established that the majority of Russians are currently more satisfied with their position in society than dissatisfied. This is a very significant positive trend in recent years, since satisfaction with one’s position in society is not only an essential prerequisite for social stability, but also a very important condition for people to feel comfortable in their socio-psychological state as a whole. Among those who rate their place in society as “good,” almost 85% believe that their lives are going well. This figure depends little on age: even in the group over 55 years old, about 70% share this opinion. Among those who are dissatisfied with their social status, the picture turned out to be the opposite - almost half of them (with 6.8% of the population as a whole) believe that their life is going badly.

Status hierarchy

The French sociologist R. Boudon considers social status as having two dimensions:

• horizontal, which forms a system of social contacts and mutual exchanges, both real and simply possible, that develop between the bearer of status and other individuals who are at the same level of the social ladder;
• vertical, which is formed by contacts and exchanges that arise between the bearer of status and individuals located at higher and lower levels.

Based on this idea, Boudon defines social status as a set of equal and hierarchical relationships maintained by an individual with other members of society.

Status hierarchy is characteristic of any organization. Indeed, without responsibility, organization is impossible; It is precisely due to the fact that all members of the group know the status of each that the links of the organization interact. However, the formal structure of an organization does not always coincide with its informal structure. Such a gap between hierarchies in many organizations does not require sociometric research, but is visible to a simple observer, since the establishment of a status hierarchy is the answer not only to the question “Who is the most important here?”, but also to the question “Who is the most authoritative, the most competent, the most popular among employees? Real status is largely determined by personal qualities, qualifications, charm, etc.

Many modern sociologists pay attention to the functional dissonance that arises due to the discrepancy between hierarchical and functional statuses. Such a discrepancy may arise due to individual compromises, when management orders acquire the character of a “stream of consciousness,” providing subordinates with a “zone of free action.” The result can be generally positive and manifest itself in increased flexibility of the organization's response, or negative, expressed in functional chaos and confusion.

Status confusion acts as a criterion for social disorganization and, possibly, as one of the reasons for deviant behavior. The connection between violations of the status hierarchy and the state of anomie was considered by E. Durkheim and suggested that discord in the status hierarchy in industrial society takes two forms.

Firstly, the expectations of the individual in connection with his position in society and the counter expectations of other members of society directed towards the individual become largely uncertain. If in a traditional society everyone knew what to expect and what awaited them, and in accordance with this was well aware of their rights and responsibilities, then in an industrial society, due to the growing division of labor and instability labor relations the individual is increasingly faced with situations for which he did not foresee and for which he is not prepared. For example, if in the Middle Ages studying at a university automatically meant a sharp and irreversible increase in social status, now no one is surprised by the abundance of unemployed university graduates willing to take any job.

Secondly, status instability affects the structure of social rewards and the level of individual satisfaction with one’s life.

To understand what determines the status hierarchy in traditional - pre-industrial - societies, you should turn to modern societies East (except caste). Here you can find three important element, influencing the social status of the individual - gender, age and belonging to a certain “class”, which assign to each member of society his rigid status. At the same time, the transition to another level of the status hierarchy is extremely difficult due to a number of legal and symbolic restrictions. But even in traditionalist-oriented societies, the spirit of entrepreneurship and enrichment, the personal favor of the ruler influence the distribution of statuses, although the legitimation of status occurs through reference to the traditions of ancestors, which in itself reflects the weight of the ascribing elements of status (the antiquity of the clan, the personal valor of the ancestors, etc. ).

In modern Western society The status hierarchy can be viewed from the standpoint of either meritocratic ideology as fair and inevitable recognition of personal merit, talents and abilities, or holistic sociologism as a result strictly determined by social processes. But both theories offer a very simplified understanding of the nature of status, and there remain aspects that cannot be explained in the context of either of them. For example, if status is entirely determined by personal qualities and merits, then how can we explain the presence of formal and informal status hierarchies in almost any organization?

Within an organization, such duality refers to the discrepancy between competence and power, observed in various forms and on various levels, when decisions are made not by competent and impartial experts, but by “capitalists” who are guided by the logic of personal gain, or “soulless technocrats.” The discrepancy between professional qualifications and material and status remuneration is also inexplicable. Inconsistencies in this area are often denied or suppressed in the name of the meritocratic ideal of “merit status.” For example, in modern Russian society The situation of low material remuneration and, as a consequence, low prestige and status of highly educated and highly intelligent people has become typical: “The profession of physicist in the USSR in the 1960s. enjoyed high prestige, while accountants enjoyed low prestige. IN modern Russia they switched places. In this case, prestige is strongly linked to the economic status of these types of occupations.”

Because systems are more complex and subject to faster evolution, the mechanism for assigning status remains uncertain. Firstly, the list of criteria involved in determining status is very extensive. Secondly, it is becoming increasingly difficult to reduce the totality of various status attributes belonging to each individual to a single symbol, as in traditional societies, where it was enough to say “this is the son of such and such” for the person’s social status, his material level, circle of acquaintances and friends. In traditional societies, personality and status were very closely linked. These days, personality and status tend to diverge. Personal identity is no longer given: she herself builds it with her own efforts throughout her life. Therefore, our perception of ourselves as individuals is split into many aspects in which our social status is manifested. Personal identity is felt not so much through connection with a fixed status, but through a sense of self-worth and uniqueness.