Roles in human life: their choice, purpose and role analysis

Man is a very complex, multifaceted creature and therefore it is very difficult to create some kind of “complete” description of him, a “complete” model, most likely almost impossible. But at the same time, sometimes it is useful to simply take a certain image, a metaphor and, with its help, try to imagine some part of life. For example, one way to describe our life, our behavior is to introduce the concept of Role. A role is something we play; it seems to have its own purpose, its own direction. On the one hand, this is very convenient: the role has a more or less suitable set of behavior options for many situations. More precisely, a Role is a template by which behavior in a given situation is built. Plus, the Role is not us. And the mistakes made during execution are not our mistakes. It's Role's fault. The problem with the Role is its narrow focus and, very often, lack of flexibility and isolation. Usually, the developments and achievements of one Role are not available to another. One more thing: an ordinary person is used to playing 3-4 roles. A good actor has 7-9 types in his repertoire. But a very big plus of Raleigh is that they are well known. Their sets of rules of behavior and goals are regularly told by friends and acquaintances, discussed in the press and shown on television. A huge number of writers have devoted themselves to describing the most common Roles and their conflicts with each other. (As you understand, some Roles are written down that they absolutely cannot stand some other Roles). So, we can say that a Role is a template.

And I want to immediately note that I personally do not think that the Role is something bad and wrong. This is a very convenient thing, the only question is to learn how to use it with maximum efficiency.

And like any template, it has its advantages and disadvantages. And I am in no way suggesting that we abandon Roles (if such a thing is even possible).

The only question is who controls whom: you are Role or she is you.

Definition of the concept of social role

A social role is a dynamic characteristic of a social position, which is expressed in a set of behavior patterns.
Those, in turn, are consistent with social expectations, which are set by special norms addressed from the corresponding group to a person with a certain social position. We can shorten this definition a little:

Social role is a set of expectations that society places on people when they occupy certain social positions in the hierarchy.

The same person can have different roles. For example, in the family there is a mother or father, and at work there is a boss or a subordinate.

The more roles one person has, the more interesting and rich his life.

The concept of social role can be divided into the following elements:

• behavioral reactions - actions, speech, deeds;
• appearance - a doctor must wear a robe, a policeman must wear a uniform;
• human motivation - members of a social group approve or disapprove of a person’s actions and actions based on his motivation.

Summary

Each of us has our own purpose in life, for which we came into this world, and its fulfillment fills us with great happiness. And in order to find it, you must first find, love and accept yourself.

If you've been pushing yourself into the background your entire life, it's time to change that. In addition to the described practice, there are many ways to do this - psychological work, trainings, courses, constellations, astrology. It doesn't matter what you choose, the main thing is to try and get started.

This is a very interesting process - extracting yourself from yourself. You have a lot of interesting things ahead, I even envy you a little. Good luck!

Vadim Kurkin

Characteristics of a social role

American sociologist Talcott Parsons identified such characteristics of a social role as scale, method of obtaining, formalization and motivation.

The scope of the role depends on the range of interpersonal relationships. That is, the wider the range, the larger the scale.

For example, the social role of the spouse has a large scope, since there is a wide range of relationships between husband and wife. On the one hand, these are interpersonal relationships that are based on a variety of feelings and emotions; on the other hand, relations are regulated by regulations and can even be called formal. Participants in such social interaction are interested in different aspects of each other’s lives, their relationships are practically unlimited.

In other cases, when the relationship is strictly defined by social roles (for example, between a seller and a buyer), interaction occurs only for a specific reason (for example, a purchase). In this case, the scope of the role is reduced to a limited range of issues and is small.

The way a role is acquired depends on how inevitable the role is for the person. Thus, the roles of a young man, an old man, a man, a woman are automatically determined by age and gender and do not require special efforts to acquire them. In this situation, the problem can only be in the context of compliance with one’s role, which already exists as a given.

Other roles are achieved or even won over the course of a person's life and as a result of deliberate efforts. For example, the role of student, graduate student, scientist and other roles related to profession and achievements.

Formalization as a descriptive characteristic of a social role is determined by the specifics of interpersonal relationships. Some roles involve only formal relationships between people with regulation of rules of behavior; others are only informal; still others may combine both formal and informal relationships.

For example, the relationship between a traffic police representative and a traffic rule violator should be determined by formal rules, and relationships between close people should be determined by feelings.

Formal relationships are often accompanied by informal ones, in which emotionality is manifested, because a person, perceiving and evaluating another, shows sympathy or antipathy towards him.

Motivation depends on the needs and motives of a person. Different roles are driven by different motives. The motivation can be personal profit, public good, etc. When parents care about the welfare of their child, they are guided by a feeling of love and care, and the leader works for the sake of the cause.

Who we are and how we define ourselves

Each of us fills our own lives with a certain content, based on values ​​and worldview.
Some people need a grandiose super task that would make their existence conscious, others stopped asking philosophical questions in their youth, having come to terms with the fact that they are too complex. But everyone seeks and finds the meaning of life: in religion, philosophy, profession or relationships. Many people define themselves through the roles they play in society. When such a person is asked “Who are you?”, he answers: “I am the boss”, “I am the husband”, “I am a single mother”, as if he does not think of himself as anyone or anything else. And it would seem – what’s special? A mother, a wife or a leader are still completely socially acceptable ways of expressing oneself...

But what if tomorrow such a person will not be a boss, or a mother, or a wife? The children will leave, the company will go bankrupt, and the husband will leave for another? What's left?

But all these things are possible, and many are even inevitable. The most common situation is the departure of mature children, when it turns out that all this time the mother and father were only concerned with them, seeing themselves exclusively as parents. It seems to them that their life is ruined, and they begin to accuse their children of ingratitude. And no one is to blame. They themselves upset the balance by making their parenting functions more important than themselves.

Types of social roles

There are several classifications of social roles. Let's look at some of them.

By type of social relations

• Professional roles are associated with a person’s status and his professional activities. Such roles are characterized by depersonalization and independence from the performer (salesman, builder, teacher, driver).
• Socio-political roles - political leader, authoritative person, citizen.
• Family and household roles - husband, wife, daughter, son, father, mother.
• Situational roles - arise within the framework of changing circumstances, during joint activities (passenger, pedestrian, spectator).

By type of social values

• Represented social roles are the expectations of a person and members of his social group.
• Subjective social roles are a person’s ideas about his relationship to other people.
• The social roles played are behavioral attitudes that depend on a person’s position in society.

By type of role received

• Social roles prescribed by a public institution (woman - mother, daughter, wife, grandmother).
• Conventional social roles are the result of the adoption of a social agreement on a voluntary basis (professional).

How to play your roles in life correctly

After all, each of us can give a dozen answers to this question: I am a person, I am a woman, I am the daughter of my parents (or a wife, or an old maid, or the mother of an adult daughter), I am a librarian (or a saleswoman, or a student), I am a blonde with blue eyes (or a brown-eyed brown-haired woman), I am a beauty (or ugly), I am young, happy, cheerful (or lonely, sick and old). And so on, and so on... In addition, life circumstances can change so dramatically that all the answers will become completely different - as you know, now you can change not only eye color, but also gender.

Each of us is an impressive crowd of different personalities. The plurality of our selves is the plurality of roles that we play in life. At work I’m alone, on vacation I’m different, in my parents’ house I’m different from in my own. It is not so easy to determine which of this many “I” is the main, determining one.

From our youth we are taught: we must be a whole person, a harmonious person. But if our “I” is an alloy, a conglomerate of many such different and contradictory roles, then the task of coming to integrity makes it difficult for each of us. It is not so easy to determine which of this many personalities is the main, determining one.

We don’t understand to ourselves what we should do, maybe play only a few main roles and forget the secondary, unnecessary ones. However, this is not the case at all. As experience and practice show, in human life there is practically no division into main and secondary roles, into good and bad roles. All human roles are important and necessary. The effectiveness or ineffectiveness of a particular role depends not on its content, but on how consciously this role is chosen and how consciously it is performed.

It is important that our life roles are the result of our own script, that the roles are chosen consciously and performed with a specific, clearly understood purpose. It's not that we are different. And the fact is that the roles we play are unconscious, forced. It’s as if it’s not us, but something unknown in us that chooses these roles for us. It’s as if we are not living our own lives, we are not fulfilling our own script, but one that suddenly arises under the influence of circumstances, random situations, social, family environment - or anything, even the weather and time of year. In this spontaneous, random life, playing roles that we ourselves do not understand, we only sometimes hit the mark, and more often we make mistakes.

It is worth considering to what extent this or that role reflects my true essence, how much playing the role contributes to my life interests. This question in itself is useful. Let's say there is a certain woman. With her husband she is a sex bomb, in the eyes of her father she is a loser, with her child she is the most tender mother, at work she is fussy and petty. And all this happens spontaneously in her life, she doesn’t even notice a lot of things, she’s not aware of her own actions. And if she begins to impartially study what she is like at different moments in her life, in different circumstances, in different environments, then she will definitely ask herself in surprise: where am I?

We often lose our sense of our own existence. It seems as if I am not living, but they are living by me, living through me. As a beatotherapist, men and women, young and not so young, come to see me and say: “I make some decision and I feel inside the voice of my mother, who tells me: “I need to do this,” and I do what what this voice tells me.” Or the client admits that very often the choice in her own inner world is made not by her, but by her husband, and she goes against herself just to please him. Such fragmentation and internal contradiction is difficult to experience, and each of us is looking for a way out, looking for a way to gain inner confidence and inner harmony.

Beatotherapeutic practice invites us to become good observers of ourselves. If we enjoy watching the sunset and sunrise, then why don’t we watch ourselves as we watch the sunrise and sunset? This process is very interesting. We begin to see ourselves completely differently, in a new way, which is already a great thing. If you start to consciously engage with yourself, you will gradually understand: I’m doing this right, I’m wrong here, I’ll add here, I’ll remove this, and so on. It is useful if a person not only thinks through, but also describes his roles, his different manifestations in relation to each specific situation. And then she will think: to what extent are these roles spontaneous or imposed by someone, and to what extent are they conscious and necessary for her.

Photo: GLOBAL LOOK press/Andrey Arkusha

A simple example: at work you are mobilized in a certain way; when you return home, you relax. You dress differently, in speech, in movements, in communication you allow yourself a completely different manner. Is this right for you? Fits. Is it consistent with who you are? Compliant. And then you begin to play the role of a relaxed woman returning home after a hard day's work. You instruct yourself not only to be relaxed in your clothes, in your gait, in your conversation, but also to be gentle, calm and loving. And this will no longer be accidental and spontaneous, when today you are gentle and loving, and tomorrow you are harsh and tense. Your new behavior will come from the understanding that you must create a special atmosphere in the house, and then you can consciously work on the role of a caring wife, mother, and housewife. Consciously decide how to dress, consciously work on your voice so that it does not ring or thunder.

There is little spontaneity in a harmonious, happy person. He comprehends himself, trusts himself, takes responsibility for his every step. Yes, he becomes to some extent an actor. And the more consciously he plays his roles, the more holistic a person he is. The ability to play consciously is one of the components of the art of a happy life. And here we have to avoid our own internal traps in the form of absolutely false ideas that the concept of “game” automatically entails a chain of other concepts: pretense, hypocrisy, artificiality, falsehood. We think that the space of life becomes the space of the stage. We ask ourselves, where is the place on this stage for sincerity, spontaneity, reckless actions, unpredictable emotions, in a word, those spontaneous feelings without which life is unthinkable?

However, there is nothing more illusory and erroneous than this very spontaneity. Most often, behind the manner of behaving as you have to, only thoughtlessness and laziness are hidden. The practice of beatotherapeutic self-observation, carried out by many people, leaves no doubt that true spontaneity is something completely different. This is a game, this is joy, creativity, dance, this is a smile. Playing forced unconscious roles, people are usually tense, overloaded with negative emotions, psychophysically exhausted and feel constant fatigue from life. Often, unconsciously chosen roles are instead of naturalness - bad manners, instead of lightness - lack of restraint and laxity, and spontaneity is more like rudeness.

When we play roles, it is not spontaneity that is required, but conscious work. For example, if you want to enjoy a meal, you won’t grab a piece of bread, cut sausage on a newspaper, or drink from a dirty glass. It is possible, of course, so. But there will be no pleasure. And a feast means a beautiful tablecloth and napkins, formal dishes, good drinks, thoughtful food, flowers, candles, music, chosen people with whom we are pleased to share this feast. All this requires conscious effort, careful and precise preparation. But the result is the pleasure, the grace of a feast of communication, the ease and spontaneity of sincere fun that will arise as a result of our creative efforts.

Photo: GLOBAL LOOK press

People often object to this and think that if in life we ​​so carefully calculate and check every step we take, then won’t we be like that centipede that thought about which foot to walk on, and in the end could not budge. Let's think about the results that misunderstood spontaneity and sincerity usually produce.

For example, every woman will remember the moment when she sorted out the relationship with her beloved man. When she screamed and screamed, or stood on her knees and begged for love, or humiliatedly muttered something inarticulate, or wrung her hands and said that she would commit suicide if he left. She will also remember that when time passed and she mentally returned to this situation, she probably said to herself: “My God, why did I do that! After all, there was an opportunity to behave much smarter!” And the main thing is that this smart, subtle, winning behavior is much more consistent with the nature of this woman than the unconsciously manifested spontaneity.

Or another plot twist. A woman understands that a man does not behave towards her the way she would like. If she wants to change the situation and win, then what should she do? She must, in the silence of solitude, think through what she really wants. After all, often, screaming and wringing our hands, we ask for something that is not at all what we want. We say “go away,” but we want him to stay, but become different. We say: “I don’t need anything from you,” but we demand a lot, and even that which no one in the world can give. Everything is inaccurate, approximately - and that is why everything is unsuccessful. So here it is.

If a woman concentrates, listens to her true nature and clearly understands what she wants, then her inner voice will tell her how to behave. And there are many options for effective behavior. Even a scandal can be creative. Moreover, many men love the scandals that the women they love sometimes throw at them. Listen to the men, they will tell you. A scandal awakens a man and forces him to mobilize. The scandal gives a woman a special alluring attractiveness. In a well-thought-out, constructed scandal there is a woman’s extraordinary charm, there is a certain joy of being, there is a game, an intrigue that is always needed in a relationship, even if people have been married for twenty years.

So what does a woman do? She doesn't make a scandal when she doesn't look good. She goes to the hairdresser, puts on the most winning dress and high-heeled shoes. And in precise, thoughtful words she says what she doesn’t like. And even if at this moment a woman allows herself to scream, she still has enough strength to preserve the man’s dignity and not to lose her own, especially if a passionate, emotionally rich speech suits her individuality. A woman should study what suits her not only in clothes and makeup. If this is a small, fragile brunette, like Carmen, then she can allow herself sudden movements, maybe break a couple of cups or a boring vase. And if a woman is tall, large, with rounded movements, with soft plasticity, then she can sit quietly, shed one stingy tear, say: “Oh, you’re so good, I expect a completely different attitude from you, because I know you can give me much more,” and so on. You never know what could happen! It’s useful to think that when we talk about some fake pretense: “Oh, this is such an actress!”, We are wrong. In this case, we should say: “she is a bad actress,” that would be more accurate.

Photo: GLOBAL LOOK press/Chris Robbins

Another objection to conscious acting in life is that it supposedly suggests constantly being in the chosen role, so to speak, always in theatrical makeup. It cannot be denied that moments of sublime love, true intimacy do not require, of course, any game. But life consists of more than just these moments. And you need to understand when and where intrigue and play are applicable, which give the necessary spice to relationships or help you simply stand up for yourself. However, there are moments when you need to completely entrust yourself to another person, recklessly surrender to intimacy, the fullness of experiences. That's the whole point: variety is needed.

Today one thing is required, tomorrow another. But it happens that we relax when we need to strain and play, and we act - instead of sincerity, trust, simplicity. We are talking about a precise choice of behavior that is dictated by the naturalness of life. But in order to unmistakably feel this naturalness, you need to constantly observe and study yourself. We cannot live two identical days. Life in us requires something new every time, it requires change. And the more complete and happy a woman is, the better actress she is. And the more accurately he feels the situation where the game is intolerable and stupid.

Yes, anyone who would like to be happy must learn to be conscious, prudent, careful, delicate. Life is wise, and if we want to be the embodiment of life, we must possess its wisdom to some extent. Happiness and wisdom are synonyms. Every person is created for happiness and has every opportunity to be happy, but for this it is necessary to learn, observe, study oneself, reveal and manifest one’s hidden capabilities, master the skill of conscious choice, conscious and joyful performance of a variety of life roles.

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Social role and social status

Social status is a person’s position in society, which corresponds to his age, gender, profession, origin and marital status.

To achieve a certain status, a person must adhere to one or another type of behavior, conform to the role, that is, perform specific actions.

For example, the coach of a basketball team is an authoritative status in a sports society. To lead the team to victory, he needs to train and train athletes. Thus, the social role represents a full range of actions to achieve social position and maintain it in the future.

We conclude: social status is a position, and a role is a pattern of behavior that is associated with status.

Social role theory

The American sociologist Merton was the first to draw attention to the fact that any social status has a whole set of social roles. This discovery formed the basis of his theory.

Currently, in science, such a set is called a role set . It is assumed that the richer it is, the better for the realization of the person himself. If a person has a small number of roles, then in this case we can talk about severe isolation from society.

Balance is the basis of everything

Something similar can happen with any role. But this does not mean that you need to avoid them. Moreover, it’s unlikely that you won’t be able to avoid trying them on yourself at all. Our whole life consists of roles; we constantly enter into relationships with others, performing certain functions. And in fact, the more there are, the more fulfilling the life and the more stable the psychological state.

If, for example, you are a wife, a mother, a successful worker, a member of an embroidery club, and are also into sports, then you have five roles at once, giving you a healthy sense of your own importance and a certain place in life. In addition, a large number of roles provides some guarantee of stability - since it is unlikely that they will all disappear at the same time. After all, a person, having lost support in one area, can at least rely on others.

As with everything, balance is important here. There is nothing wrong with roles if you understand what is happening, realize what you are trying on and why, remember your purpose and live for it, remaining in the center of what is happening. But often the meaning of a person’s life is determined by roles with which he completely merges and no longer thinks of himself in any other way. Dissolving into the image of an exemplary wife or a caring father, we do not know ourselves, we do not know how to be ourselves and with ourselves. And when something changes, disaster occurs. We become defenseless and feel a huge inner emptiness.

And if you enjoy the game, but are able to live without it, then you are the master of the situation. And here we come to what position to act from.

It is important to distinguish yourself from the role, understand and remember your interests, your essence. To do this, you need to study yourself, be interested in yourself.

Types

Since the definition under consideration is influenced by the immediate surrounding world, its level of development and historical stage, the following types can be distinguished:

1. Mythological. People could not explain the phenomena of social life or nature, as a result of which myths arose.
   Their basic principle is the predominance of fantastic explanations of what is happening to a person.

   However, in mythology one can also observe moral and ethical problems and values.

2. Religious . Religious teachings contain certain dogmas that followers of this teaching should adhere to. Any religion includes moral norms and their strict observance, as well as the issue of morality, good and evil, etc., on which it builds its beliefs.
3. Philosophical . The basic element of this type is theoretical thinking or, in other words, generalization, systematization and logic. While the mythological type is more based on the emotions and feelings of people, the philosophical type is based on the human mind. The philosophical type presupposes free-thinking and the presence of all kinds of alternative interpretations.
4. Ordinary.
   The fundamental basis of this type is common sense, as well as experience gained in the process of life. Its peculiarity is that the view of reality is formed spontaneously, it cannot be systematized and predicted.
5. Humanistic. It is based on the fact that a person is the main value of society, he has the right to satisfy existing needs, the necessary development and self-realization. In this regard, the fundamental idea of ​​this type is the idea that all people are equal and everyone can realize their desires and aspirations.
6. Scientific _ It can be called a modern interpretation of a philosophical type. The main components also include generalization, systematization, logic and reason. The only thing is that sometimes science deviates too much from human needs, resulting in developments aimed at manipulating and intimidating people.

Principles of a person’s worldview

As we have already found out, a person’s worldview represents a whole complex of ideas of a given person about the world around him and himself.

Based on this definition, the following principles :

• it includes knowledge that justifies the attitude towards the world and is necessary for self-determination,
• develops not as a result of assimilation of various knowledge and bringing it into the system, but as a result of expanding the area of ​​self-determination of the individual and giving them special value,
• its formation is carried out due to dissatisfaction with one’s interests , thoughts and actions, their instability and banality,
• cannot be formed immediately in finished form;
  the creation process is gradual throughout life. Reflection and theoretical thinking are helpful.
• is distinguished by its individual and creative character . That is, these are not internalized mass stereotypes.

Concept in psychology

Society is a mechanism that has a complex set of rules and relationships that have developed during its development and represents a certain set of values ​​and attitudes. In this mechanism, everyone is a participant in the existence of a social group. Therefore, specific expectations are imposed on him - how he should behave, in accordance with the ideas of others about correct behavior.

What is a social role? In the first half of the 20th century, this quality was represented as a system of norms established by society. At the same time, it was also designated as a game where the individual learns the relevant laws and becomes part of society. Today we can say that this is an attempt by the individual to combine the individual with what is considered generally accepted.

Thus, this is the expectation of the surrounding reality that a person, as a bearer of a certain status, will adjust his behavior in accordance with it.

How to determine your position

This is quite easy to do. It is enough to try to “fit” yourself into the system of relations with society. Remember that the concept begins where the specific responsibilities are present:

• Children are required to obey their parents, and adults are required to help children.
• A pedestrian should take into account traffic signals and walk on the pedestrian area, and the driver should follow the traffic rules set forth by law.
• The student is required to attend lectures, pass sessions and behave correctly in class.
• A friend is expected to provide support and share hobbies and interests.

Due to the diversity of roles, an individual must constantly change his own behavior model. So, a professor at the university should be strict and all-knowing, and when he comes home and turns into a spouse and father, he shows care and love. These requirements are contradictory and it is often difficult for many to 100% comply with their positions.

Social the role of a person is

Speaking about this definition, it is worth mentioning its structure:

• role expectation;
• performance of the role.

Absolute equality is never achieved between these characteristics. Society places hopes on an individual, and how he fulfills his responsibilities depends on his psychological characteristics and value system. A public place does not create a detailed model of actions and actions. The position provides a range of opportunities. And how he uses them constitutes the process of socialization and development within the system.