Where Do You Fit?

Where Do You Fit?

Interactions between people are what drives the entire economy. They create new ideas and new inventions. They settle disputes and make new laws. They tell the world what is right and wrong. If no one interacted with each other, what would happen? You interact with many many people without even knowing it in every day life. Each person is given a status, whether they like it or not. They can be given to you without having a say or they can be earned. To go along with this topic, each individual is given a role as well. A role is sort of like a job title. It shows what you do in interactions with other people.

I am a male. I am a son. I am a brother. These are all statuses of mine. I did not get to chose that I would be a son, it comes natural since I have a dad and I am a male, therefore, I am a son. This would be an ascribed status. They are given to you by a higher power other than yourself.
I am a college student. I am a soccer player. These are achieved statuses of mine. It was not set in stone that I would find a love for the game of soccer, or that I would chose to go to college and further my education. I earned these by working hard in high school and doing what I love. You have more flexibility with achieved statuses because you chose it. Here is a website that illustrates this a little more in detail. http://sociology.about.com

Roles are a little different. Roles are an important social structure that affects your behavior depending on what status you have. I used to work at Burger King over the summer. I was a cook in the back and prepared all of the food. Wasn't the best job in the world but I made a few extra dollars. Anyway, my role there was to be a cook. I would cook the food, and put the food on the rack so that the person with the role of a server could serve the food to the person with the role of a customer. If that was a little confusing then check out this website on roles. http://www.everydaysociologyblog.com/2007/08/role-theory.html
Having a certain role also affects the way you act. As you grow up, you get more mature. Or, at least you are supposed to get more mature. But as you mature you know what behavior is expected of you in a certain situation. This is because you know your role without even thinking about it, and then you act accordingly.