Blackwell Reference Online

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Social role is a critical analytical tool for sociology and social psychology because it provides the nexus between social structure and individual behavior. The term role is a metaphor that comes from the theater and Shakespeare's famous statement about people playing roles with entrances and exits throughout their lives. Social structures consist of roles or performance parts that provide vehicles for the organization of selves and social relations. People have many different sides, and different roles can produce very different behaviors from the same person. In the past century, role theory has evolved from a framework wherein “causation” flows down from preexisting roles shaping individual behavior, to a theory wherein “causation” also flows upward from social interaction to establishing a constant recreation of structure. The macro-level notion of role was first presented by Park and further developed by the anthropologist Ralph Linton, and adopted by the mid-century functionalists. In structural formulations a person occupies a social position. A position is a person's placement on a larger organizational map. The position has a status and one plays a behavioral role attached to the position. A status is a ranking on a continuum of invidious distinctions in social regard, importance, and privilege. Linton used status as synonymous with position and role, blurring these three ... log in or subscribe to read full text