role theory

Examples of role theory in the following topics:

• Role Theory

  • Role theory is, in fact, predictive.
  • Many role theorists see Role Theory as one of the most compelling theories bridging individual behavior and social structure.
  • Role theory has a hard time explaining social deviance when it does not correspond to a pre-specified role.
  • Additionally, role theory does not explain when and how role expectations change.
  • An extension of role theory, impression management is both a theory and process.

• Gender Messages in the Family

  • Gender role theory posits that boys and girls learn the appropriate behavior and attitudes from the family with which they grow up.
  • This teaches their children that the expected gender roles for men and women require the father to work and the mother to remain in the domestic sphere.
  • Gender role theory posits that boys and girls learn the appropriate behavior and attitudes from the family and overall culture in which they grow up, and that non-physical gender differences are a product of socialization.
  • Social role theory proposes that social structure is the underlying force behind gender differences, and that the division of labor between two sexes within a society motivates the differences in their respective behavior.
  • Division of labor creates gender roles, which in turn, lead to gender-specific social behavior.

• Gender Roles in the U.S.

  • Much scholarly work on gender roles addresses the debate over the environmental or biological causes for the development of gender roles.
  • Gender role theory posits that boys and girls learn to perform one's biologically assigned gender through particular behaviors and attitudes.
  • Gender role theory emphasizes the environmental causes of gender roles and the impact of socialization, or the process of transferring norms, values, beliefs, and behaviors to group members, in learning how to behave as a male or a female.
  • Social role theory proposes that the social structure is the underlying force in distinguishing genders and that sex-differentiated behavior is driven by the division of labor between two sexes within a society.
  • With the popularization of social constructionist theories of gender roles, it is paramount that one recognize that all assertions about gender roles are culturally and historically contingent.

• Activity Theory

  • These activities, especially when meaningful, help the elderly to replace lost life roles after retirement and, therefore, resist the social pressures that limit an older person's world.
  • The theory predicts that older adults that face role loss will substitute former roles with other alternatives.
  • The theory was developed by gerontologist, or, scholar of aging, Robert J.
  • However, withdrawing from their central societal roles—working, marriage, raising a family—means they drastically lose social life space and so suffer crisis and demoralization.
  • Havighurst's activity theory is at deliberate odds with what some perceive as the pessimism of disengagement theory.

• Labeling Theory

  • Labeling theory is closely related to social-construction and symbolic-interaction analysis.
  • The theory was prominent during the 1960s and 1970s, and some modified versions of the theory are still popular today .
  • Labeling theory concerns itself not with the normal roles that define our lives, but with those very special roles that society provides for deviant behavior, called deviant roles, stigmatic roles, or social stigma.
  • A social role is a set of expectations we have about a behavior.
  • A social role is a set of expectations we have about a behavior.

• Vygotsky's Theories

  • The work of Lev Vygotsky and other developmental psychologists has become the foundation of much research and theory in developmental cognition over the past several decades, particularly of what has become known as social development theory.
  • Vygotsky's theories stress the fundamental role of social interaction in the development of cognition (Vygotsky, 1978; Wertsch, 1985), as he believed strongly that community plays a central role in the process of "making meaning."

• The Conflict Perspective

  • Conflict theory suggests that men, as the dominant gender, subordinate women in order to maintain power and privilege in society.
  • According to conflict theory, society is defined by a struggle for dominance among social groups that compete for scarce resources.
  • While certain gender roles may have been appropriate in a hunter-gatherer society, conflict theorists argue that the only reason these roles persist is because the dominant group naturally works to maintain their power and status.
  • According to conflict theory, social problems are created when dominant groups exploit or oppress subordinate groups.
  • Friedrich Engels, a German sociologist, studied family structure and gender roles from a Marxist perspective.

• Equity Theory

  • Equity theory explains the relational satisfaction in terms of fair or unfair distribution of resources within interpersonal relationships.
  • Regarded as one of many theories of justice, equity theory was first developed in 1963 by John Stacey Adams.
  • Equity theory focuses on determining whether the distribution of resources is fair to both relational partners.
  • Much like other prevalent theories of motivation, such as Maslow's hierarchy of needs, equity theory acknowledges that subtle and variable individual factors affect individuals' assessment and perception of their relationship with their relational partners.
  • Subtle or intangible compensation also plays an important role in feelings about equity.

• Four Theories of Leadership

  • Theories of effective leadership include the trait, contingency, behavioral, and full-range theories.
  • Experts have proposed several theories, including the trait, behavioral, contingency, and full-range models of leadership.
  • Behavioral theory also incorporates B.F.
  • Idealized influence: the degree to which the leader provides a role model for high ethical behavior, instills pride, and gains respect and trust
  • The father of behavioral theory showed the connection between behaviors and reward and punishment.

• Continuity Theory

  • The continuity theory proposes that older adults maintain the same activities, behaviors, personalities, and relationships of the past.
  • The external structure of an individual consists of relationships and social roles, and it supports the maintenance of a stable self-concept and lifestyle.
  • Maddox and Robert Atchley are most closely associated with the continuity theory.
  • The theory is criticized primarily for its definition of normal aging.
  • The theory also fails to explain how social institutions impact individuals and the way they age.