This process is called socialization, when through a game and explanations of adults, watching films and reading fairy tales, observing people around, the child absorbs and remembers the rules of behavior in society. Most often, this type characterizes professional categories, for the change of which it is necessary to make efforts - obtain additional certification, conduct a successful campaign, and show personal qualities of perseverance and competence. Improving social status is always associated with quick and adequate adaptation to changing conditions, and the faster this happens, the more chances are that you will gain a foothold on the achieved step, and not slide back.



Social System

Social status is a position occupied by an individual in a hierarchical social system in which he is included (group, recognized or alternative social subsystem). This is a person’s public position, connecting with others by defining the laws of interaction (rights and obligations, characteristics of interaction and the hierarchy of subordination). The status of a person is determined by specific and important signs for this social group: national, age, economic indicators. To a greater extent, social status is determined by external factors and achievements, such as the presence of power, material security, and available opportunities. Much less often, when determining status, a social group focuses on the skills and knowledge of the individual, his internal personal qualities, charisma in communication, and education. The concept of social status exists exclusively in the process of comparing the position of one person with the positions of others. It shows a specific place in the hierarchical ladder, reflecting the organization of social structure. High status makes it possible to influence the course of social and historical development, to enjoy privileges, special location.

The social status of a person implies not only the use of special benefits, but also imposes on the individual certain obligations that relate to a certain activity, expected behavior and fulfillment of norms prescribed by society. The displayed social position is supported by strict social mechanisms that not only impose obligations and give rights, but also support a certain distribution of people in designated social classes. The level of the general development of society depends on how carefully the social social distributions and the correspondence of behavioral manifestations to the prescribed status are observed. The more scrupulously everything complies with the requirements, the less confusion in manifestations, the more highly organized society is considered. 

Social Position

To determine an individual social position, one takes into account his income level, material things that are part of his property, lifestyle and lifestyle, interpersonal relationships, his position in the system of division of labor types, his place in the political hierarchy, educational level, innate indicators (nationality, origin, etc.) .d.). Based on these criteria, each individual simultaneously has several social statuses that reflect the level of each parameter (a young man is a social status relative to age, an engineer reflects status relative to a profession, a monopolist shows status based on material property).But an assessment of the totality of these categories without taking into account the person’s internal system of values ​​will not give an adequate understanding, since there is a main status based on a person’s self-perception and the lifestyle he adheres to. That is, a person of noble origin, several higher educations and an intelligent circle of friends can lead a marginal lifestyle, which will reflect his status. The concept is rather tightly connected with the concept of social prestige, which reflects those positions that are in demand and revered in society. This can be a prestigious profession or area of ​​residence, places visited and education received.

What is social status?

The concept of social status determines the position occupied, and also reflects the hierarchical structure of the entire group. The status characteristic does not depend on the efforts made by the individual, the surrounding society determines it, endowing or depriving some functions on the basis of not always objective factors. It is worth noting that the occupied social status is not a static concept and changes in accordance with external circumstances or by decision made by the person himself. Also, a status can cease to exist completely if a person leaves a given social group or ceases to build his activity on the basis of rules that govern the behavioral manifestations of people. An increase in social status is possible with individual efforts and aspirations of a person (receiving additional education, creating a social movement, increasing the number of fulfilled orders), as well as due to social processes (military conflicts , change and seizure of power, death of higher ones).The statuses of one person are divided into personal and social-social, which is caused by the entry of a person at the same time into social groups of various sizes. Personal status is assigned to a place occupied by a person in a small group (family, nearest peer group, team, etc.). The position here is governed by personal qualities and the ability to build strong and productive interpersonal relationships. The better the people around perceive the person, the more positive emotions they feel towards him, the higher his status. Correcting your place in a small group is quite simple, it is characterized by a frequent change in position, which is largely determined by the emotional perception and reflects the relationship and their processes. The social and social position of a person includes his place in a large group of people allocated on the basis of certain categories (gender, nation, religion, profession, place of residence, etc.). The perception of the qualities and characteristics of a person at this level is regulated not by the group of people and their impact, but by the global position of this social category in society. It is the lack of flexibility in this matter and the scale of perception that explains the derogatory attitude on the basis of their race, the oppression of rights and freedom on the basis of gender and religious preferences. Social status and social role The concepts of status and role are not identical, although inextricably linked. Social status is the place occupied, and the social role is the expectation of a person based on this status. 

Standard, Habitual and Prescribed

There are two main directions in the social role. These are standard, habitual and prescribed by social foundations expectations, and how a person realizes himself in accordance with this, i.e. how at the behavioral level the stereotypical socio-role model is fulfilled or violated by him. Status is characterized by achievements, and other indicators are used to indicate a social role. This includes the level of emotionality required to fulfill the role, the way it is received (given from birth, for example, gender or acquired, for example, mother status), the scale of manifestation (some social roles have a clear time or geographic scope of manifestation, others require fulfillment constantly) . In addition to this, the roles can be established or arbitrary, which is impossible if there is a status, as well as a change of roles occurs several times a day, to change the status it takes more time. The number of social roles corresponds to the number of social statuses. Being the mother of a child by status, requires the performance of certain duties at the role level. In many ways, this causes serious internal conflicts and contradictions when a person faces the choice of fulfilling the expectations of different roles. Professional and family roles often collide, forcing a person to choose to play only one thing, because it is impossible to attend an important meeting and a children's matinee at the same time. Including the expected sequence of actions performed, the social role in many ways makes a person hostage to his own achievements. So, doctors will be expected to be constantly ready to help, from a convicted deception or theft, and the boss will be expected to take responsibility and implement unmistakable decisions. In another society, this can be perceived completely differently, since there are different attitudes towards different social statuses and roles. In some countries, parents take and take their children from school right up to graduation classes, in others, seven-year-old children themselves overcome a two-hour journey with several transfers. Failure to fulfill expected social roles usually entails penalties. It can be social censure of society and non-acceptance of such a person in your circle, or it can be a punishment of a legal nature (deprivation of parental rights if the mother does not perform parental functions, dismissal or even imprisonment). Inconsistency of human behavior with its role causes a lot of indignation in society, because threatens to undermine the entire system of predictability, orderliness and security. This is regulated by generally accepted standards of morality, which in many respects may contradict the internal feelings of the individual. A priest listening to hard rock will be bewildering, and playing in a rock band can cause public harassment. At the same time, his behavior will not contradict the rules prescribed by the role of the clergyman, but the fact that the behavior does not fit into the view and the expectations of the majority is considered a departure from the assigned social role. In addition, many social statuses require the fulfillment of several social roles. The status of a wife includes the roles of a nurse, a doctor, a cleaning lady, a lover, and more. The social status of the director may include the fulfillment of all professional roles of the employees present. The presence of such a framework and the strict requirement to observe social roles makes peoples life and behavior more predictable, which directly affects the level of general social security and a decrease in the internal feeling of anxiety in each individual. This system of role expectations as a control of society begins and is inculcated from early childhood. This process is called socialization, when through a game and explanations of adults, watching films and reading fairy tales, observing people around, the child absorbs and remembers the rules of behavior in society. This is the difference between children's games - girls swaddle baby dolls, and boys build castles, thereby preparing for further adult roles. Parents also teach children - girls are connected to household chores, boys to household repairs. The education of princesses is significantly different from the education of rural children, and completely different behavioral skills are required that are required by status. Strict performance of roles and the presence of certain stereotypical expectations allows us to speed up the communication process and increase the degree of trust. Entering the doctor’s office, each person listens to his advice and enjoys help. If there weren’t social roles determined by social status, you would first have to check the availability of diplomas, their authenticity, triple the practical examination of the skills acquired by the doctor, and then deal with the internal motives of his work for a long time to come. 

Types of Social Status

Each person has several social statuses, it is impossible to be deprived of absolutely any status while in a social society. Even in a situation of deprivation of one status, another immediately appears, replacing it (the accountant after unemployment becomes unemployed, the wife after the death of her husband becomes a widow, the student after graduation becomes a student).The status image accompanies all types of social statuses and reflects the totality of ideas and expectations from a person in this category. These are social requirements that a person is obliged to fulfill, otherwise he may lose the status that requires compliance with these standards. For example, a priest should not sleep drunk under a fence, teachers should not earn extra money by prostitution, and a doctor cannot forget to come to a call. There are initial social statuses that form the subsequent development of a person, his point of view and worldview, largely determine behavior and are not corrected in any way. On the basis of these first congenital statuses, the first differences in the possibilities of the occupied hierarchical level will appear. Inborn or given statuses include biologically defined characteristics (nationality, gender). These statuses have long been considered unchanged and not influenced, but with the development of medicine, it became possible to change sex in accordance with internal sensations. Also, children born in another country, by their external behavioral and characterological manifestations, reflect the typical features of the nation where they are raised. The same is observed in children of refugees and immigrants, who, due to the high adaptability of childhood, absorb the culture of the country of residence. Also, born statuses express consanguinity and automatically give a person a social role (son, adopted child, orphanage).On the basis of innate statuses, a certain part of the legislative system is being built - the duty of military service, permission to take part in elections, the severity of criminal punishment, etc. There is an acquired status acquired as a result of significant events. So, princes become kings, brides become wives after the wedding. It is acquired statuses that reflect bloodless family ties (mother-in-law, father-in-law, husband, etc.).Achieved status is a type of acquired, but reflects a person’s conscious desire and gradual efforts to change (most often increase) their own social status. Most often, this type characterizes professional categories, for the change of which it is necessary to make efforts - obtain additional certification, conduct a successful campaign, and show personal qualities of perseverance and competence. Improving social status, as well as lowering it, requires a timely response and behavior change in accordance with situations. If this does not happen, then they talk about maladaptation and loss of adequate self-perception. The achieved social status largely depends on the inborn, because getting an education, having a wide circle of acquaintances, an opportunity for traveling and exploring the world opens up more opportunities for a person to acquire a high attainable status. However, there is one interesting pattern - the high achieved status is always more important than congenital. This is due to the primary recognition by society of achievements, not given, no matter what its position was originally. The prescribed status is acquired regardless of desire and effort. Thus, age is a prescribed congenital status, and family status (for example, a second wife) is a prescribed acquired status. There are mixed social statuses or status mismatches that occur as a result of adverse circumstances (political upheavals, wars, loss of work or health). In such cases, the owner of several factories can rent a one-room apartment in a terrible state, and the professor of cybernetics work as a janitor. There is such a thing as the main social status. Usually, the main person is taken to be his professional status, which affects the choice of environment, opportunities that are allowed financially. For patriarchal countries with a traditional cultural component in a woman, her main status is gender. In determining the most important social status, it is necessary to focus on the surrounding reality and the characteristics of the culture where the person is located. There are also secondary statuses, each of which a person can change several times a day or a season. Identification with them is insignificant and appears only in exceptional cases. This can be the status of a passenger of a minibus or a spectator at a concert, a pedestrian or a buyer. Examples of social status Any kind of social status is well illustrated by examples. For example, the most important, inherent to all people in social interaction status is a person. It is so generalizing and blurry, a priori present, that it is not even taken into account when considering. Further, examples of innate statuses can be nationality, as well as citizenship and the interaction of these two statuses, with their combination, can give rise to a third (for example, Jews in military Germany were considered second-class people). The congenital status that determines gender also gives certain social statuses and the roles associated with them (daughters or son, sisters, granddaughters, orphans).Acquired statuses are somewhat similar to congenital ones, only a person can influence their presence by independent conscious choice. That is how family roles expand - strangers become husband and wife, creating a new family, and their relatives acquire new social statuses relative to each other (mother-in-law, sister-in-law, sister-in-law, godmother, etc.).In contrast to congenital and practically uncontrollable episodic statuses fill our lives and can be illustrated by examples of participants in strikes, visitors to a movie theater or café, a passenger of a taxi or train, a buyer or a participant in an action. These statuses can be periodically repeated in the life of one and the same person, and also without special influence on the general picture of life, can be replaced by the opposite. The achieved statuses usually relate to professional and status provisions and often have their own individual insignia. This may be a profession (doctor, policeman, lawyer, biologist), position held (president, associate professor, manager), life position ( downshifter , tramp). Achieved social statuses include categories such as thieves, killers, people with no fixed abode. This is the flip side of the coin, reflecting incorrectly applied efforts or lack of desire for development. Achieved statuses are almost always external identification marks - doctors, military, employees of the Department of the Interior, firefighters wear uniforms, athletes have medals and cups, even prisoners have their own external hierarchical identification system in the form of tattoos. Any manifestation of social status cannot always fully meet the expectations of society, to maintain both a behavioral line and external conformity, and at the same time not to destroy any of the other statuses, is impossible. How to increase social status Social status is not constant and natural, the desire of each person is to increase it. 

There are more prestigious professions, places of residence, higher earnings, and in some countries there is even a preferred gender. A person cannot influence certain categories. So, even if a sex change operation is performed, it is impossible to change biological parents and nationality a priori. But most things in this world are subject to change, and you can increase your social status. Increasing social status contributes to the motivational part of the personality and the presence of ambition . Without the desire to improve your life and choose the best, progress is impossible. This applies to everything - from choosing a job, to building relationships. Those who believe that they have insufficient experience or knowledge are looking for work with low wages or poor working conditions, and so spend their whole lives. At this stage, it is worth stopping and starting to consider the vacancies of prestigious companies and positions with high salaries. You can send them your resume, but optimally study the requirements of the employer - this will be your strategy to improve your social status. Study the necessary programs, tighten the level of knowledge of foreign languages ​​and over time your resume will become the best among those who apply for a decent and interesting job. Look at how those whose standard of living you like live. Carefully evaluate how they spend their time, with whom they communicate, how much time they devote to self-development and in what areas. You may notice that this person spends Friday nights not in bars, but in studying accounting programs, and instead of watching the series, he chooses to spend the weekend in an entertainment center with business partners. Each time you need to raise your level: if you can’t afford lunch now, you need to find an opportunity to eat fast food, when it becomes the norm, it is time to start going to cafes or simple cafes, then you need to increase the level to restaurants and an individual menu and acquaintance with the chef the cook. Approximately on such a ladder all life should be built. Do not save, but look for development paths. 

There are always more profitable positions or opportunities to open your own business. In their choices where to invest energy, it is important to focus on the needs of the environment. If you want to open your own restaurant, then it’s optimal to finish cooking classes, and if you want a position in an international company, then you should study at least two foreign languages ​​perfectly. In addition to very specific practical skills and knowledge, special knowledge and habits corresponding to this social style will be needed. For senior positions will have to perfectly learn business etiquette and management psychology. Any change of position, field of activity or level of work performed requires a change in style. Moreover, both the style of behavior and the style of clothing. If you used to be a creative designer in an advertising agency, you could walk in a stretched sweater with bruises under your eyes and change this field of activity to the designer of a model magazine, then you will have to change the appearance to fit the general direction. And if you are hired to design a political program, you will have to change the style of communication and remove the habits of being late and living in a free schedule. Improving social status is always associated with quick and adequate adaptation to changing conditions, and the faster this happens, the more chances are that you will gain a foothold on the achieved step, and not slide back. To do this, you need to live a little in the future and now correspond to the increased stage. It is necessary to come to the evening reception at the embassy already in a tuxedo, and not look for it at the entrance of random passers-by. The more all your outward manifestations correspond to the desired status, the more chances are that you will receive it. Fluent in languages ​​and business etiquette, the employee receives constant invitations from the boss to meetings with sponsors and becomes his deputy. And another employee, more advanced as a specialist, but with all his appearance demonstrating involvement in the middle class of performers, will never be invited to such events. This, incidentally, applies to personal relationships. If you feel worthy, visit the appropriate places, then you will also find a companion courteous and sharing your tastes. If you get drunk in a bar and leave with the first person you meet, then do not be surprised that this is not a prince. Monitor your health and invest not only in treatment, but in examination, routine examination, preventive measures, visits to sanatoriums and sports. Taking care of your health is leading in achieving high results. It stimulates brain activity, endurance, stabilizes the nervous system. Regarding the nerves, you must try to slow down, because the more fuss and screams about one’s own exclusiveness and desire to be higher, the less the result. Slowness and calmness make it possible to make the right decisions.