08 Mar Social Identity

In society, your social identity is often determined by your status, which is the term used to reference the position an individual occupies. Statuses are fluid and will change many times throughout an individual’s lifetime. Also, an individual can occupy multiple statuses at the same time. When you are aware of an individual’s status, it will serve as a gauge for how he or she will behave towards you and how you are expected to behave as well.

Status Categories

Status can be further examined in three distinct categories. Achieved status is worked for by putting forth effort demonstrated through personal behaviors and decisions. A college student, office manager, teacher, or director of operations are examples of achieved statuses. Unfortunately, there are less desirable achieved statuses that can be attained as well. Being a gambler, thief, or drug dealer are considered as “achieved” because the status is the result of the individual’s behaviors and decisions. However, we must consider achieved statuses can be influenced by an individual’s social environment.

Ascribed status is assigned at birth or throughout an individual’s lifetime. The status is not based on behaviors and decisions and an individual has no control over them. Age, ethnicity, gender, and race are common examples of ascribed statuses. Sometimes an individual’s financial stability can be viewed as an ascribed status. Being born into a wealthy family ascribes financial stability without any effort being put forth.

There is one status that has the potential to determine your overall social identity. A master status can override who you are and everything you have accomplished in life. Usually, what others tend to focus on the most will determine your status. For example, if we look at R. Kelly, he was born African American and male (ascribed statuses) and he was considered to be a great entertainer or musical genius (achieved statuses). Although, he achieved success as an entertainer, there were also less desirable achieved statuses attached to him based on his inappropriate behaviors towards women. Therefore, his master status is tied to his inappropriate behaviors instead of his many accomplishments. Even though, he made great music for decades, people will always focus on his inappropriate behaviors that led to his downfall. For many, he will never be viewed as one of the Kings of R&B again.

Roles

Roles are the expected behavior for a status in a social system. Usually, the behavior serves as a way to identify and categorize an individual within society. For example, a college student is expected to attend classes, complete assignments, and graduate. In turn, a professor is expected to lecture, provide an environment to discuss and exchange ideas, and prepare students to graduate. Status and roles co-exist, designating a position and the expected behaviors in society.

Sometimes roles can create issues, especially when others are involved and they do not adhere to the expected behaviors. Take a marriage for example, there are expected behaviors between a husband and a wife. However, there may be in-laws who try to dominate the family dynamics of the relationship which can lead to issues because the boundaries of the roles are ignored.

Role strain are issues related to a single status with conflicting demands. If we look at the status of a mother, at any given time she can experience conflicting demands. She may need to prepare breakfast for her children and get dressed for work at the same time. Role conflict come into play when multiple statuses have conflicting demands. For example, a mother is expected to put the needs of her children first but if she’s employed she may not be able to do so all the time. As an employee she is expected to be at work 5 days a week, 8 hours a day but may be unable to do so because her children may become ill or the school is closed for some reason causing her to take time off.

Last but not least, there are different social relationships based on a particular social status known as a role set. For instance, a college student will interact with a variety of people such as professors, counselors, peers, and other administration. The role set includes the different behaviors used for the social status of being a student.

Conclusion

Now that you have a high level overview of social identity, you should be able to categorize and identify the expected behaviors for the statuses and roles you may occupy. To recap, your social identity is often determined by your status which can be broken down into three categories: achieved, ascribed, and master status. Of the three, the master status is the one that ultimately determines your social identity because others tend to focus on it the most. If your social identity is important to you, it is a good idea to be mindful of the behaviors you engage in that could possibly showcase you in a bad light. You can occupy multiple statuses at once and they can change throughout your lifetime.