Social Roles

Examples of Social Roles in the following topics:

• Study questions

  • How are network roles and social roles different from network "sub-structures" as ways of describing social networks?
  • Did any studies use the idea of regular equivalence or social role?
  • Think about some social role (e.g.
  • Note the relational character of social roles -- one social role can only be defined with respect to others.
  • Provide some examples of social roles from an area of interest to you.

• Uses of the concept

  • Most approaches to social positions define them relationally.
  • Rather than relying on attributes of actors to define social roles and to understand how social roles give rise to patterns of interaction, regular equivalence analysis seeks to identify social roles by identifying regularities in the patterns of network ties -- whether or not the occupants of the roles have names for their positions.
  • The relationship between the roles that are apparent from regular equivalence analysis and the actor's perceptions or naming of their roles can be problematic.
  • What actors label others with role names, and the expectations that they have toward them as a result (i.e. the expectations or norms that go with roles) may pattern -- but not wholly determine actual patterns of interaction.
  • The identification and definition of "roles" by the regular equivalence analysis of network data is possibly the most important intellectual development of social network analysis.

• Gender Messages from Peers

  • Peer groups can serve as a venue for teaching gender roles, especially if conventional gender social norms are strongly held.
  • Social role theory proposes that the social structure is the underlying force for gender differences.
  • Social role theory proposes that sex-differentiated behavior is motivated by the division of labor between two sexes within a society.
  • Division of labor creates gender roles, which in turn lead to gendered social behavior.
  • Through gender-role socialization, group members learn about sex differences, and social and cultural expectations.

• The Role of Socialization

  • Socialization prepares people for social life by teaching them a group's shared norms, values, beliefs, and behaviors.
  • The role of socialization is to acquaint individuals with the norms of a given social group or society.  
  • Socialization is also important for adults who join new social groups.
  • Second, socialization teaches individuals how to prepare for and perform certain social roles—occupational roles, gender roles, and the roles of institutions such as marriage and parenthood.
  • The term "socialization" refers to a general process, but socialization always takes place in specific contexts.

• 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.
  • 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.
  • Socialization theory tells us that primary socialization - the process that occurs when a child learns the attitudes, values and actions expected of individuals within a particular culture - is the most important phase of social development, and lays the groundwork for all future socialization.

• Gender Roles in the U.S.

  • Gender roles refer to the set of social and behavioral norms that are considered to be appropriate for people of a specific sex.
  • Gender roles refer to the set of social and behavioral norms that are considered to be socially appropriate for individuals of a specific sex.
  • 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.
  • The division of labor creates gender roles, which in turn, lead to gendered social behavior.
  • 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.

• Stages of Socialization Throughout the Life Span

  • While there are scholars who argue that only one or the other of these occurs, most social scientists tend to combine the two, arguing that the basic or core identity of the individual develops during primary socialization, with more specific changes occurring later—secondary socialization—in response to the acquisition of new group memberships and roles and differently structured social situations.
  • The need for later-life socialization may stem from the increasing complexity of society with its corresponding increase in varied roles and responsibilities.
  • In adulthood, socialization involves more overt and specific norms and behaviors, such as those related to the work role as well as more superficial personality features.
  • In adulthood, though the socializee takes the role of student at times, much socialization occurs after the socializee has assumed full incumbency of the adult role.
  • By the time individuals are in their preteen or teenage years, peer groups play a more powerful role in socialization than family members.

• Childhood Socialization

  • Gender roles are taught from infancy through primary socialization, or the type of socialization that occurs in childhood and adolescence.
  • Social norms pertaining to gender are developed through socialization, the lifelong process of inheriting, interpreting, and disseminating norms, customs, and ideologies.The process of socialization continues throughout one's life and is constantly renegotiated, but socialization begins as soon as one is born.
  • Sociologists divide socialization into two different parts.
  • Secondary socialization refers to the socialization that takes place throughout one's life, both as a child and as one encounters new groups that require additional socialization.
  • Gender is instilled through socialization immediately from birth.

• Role Theory

  • Another more micro-oriented approach to understanding social life that also incorporates the more structural elements of society is Role Theory.
  • Role theory holds that a substantial proportion of observable, day-to-day social behavior is simply persons carrying out their roles, much as actors carry out their roles on the stage or ballplayers theirs on the field.
  • Many role theorists see Role Theory as one of the most compelling theories bridging individual behavior and social structure.
  • Roles, which are in part dictated by social structure and in part by social interactions, guide the behavior of the individual.
  • Role theory has a hard time explaining social deviance when it does not correspond to a pre-specified role.

• Theoretical Understandings of Socialization

  • Socialization, as a concept in social scientific research, has evolved over time.
  • Role Theory - socialization is seen as a process of acquisition of appropriate norms, attitudes, self-images, values, and role behaviors that enable acceptance in the group and effective performance of new roles; in this framework, socialization is seen as a conservative force, permitting the perpetuation of the social organization in spite of the turn-over of individual members through time
  • Reinforcement Theory - the self develops as a result of cognitive evaluations of costs and benefits; this understanding assumes that the socializee, in approaching new roles, is an independent and active negotiator for advantages in relationships with role partners and membership groups
  • Recent research suggests that human children are hard-wired to exactly imitate the roles of adults, including actions that are not pragmatic.
  • This conceptualization leaves socialization without a social home; it is all around but no place in particular.