Social Status-a position someone occupies within a society.

Status Set-the number of statuses a person may occupy at one time.

Ascribed Status-involuntary, you don’t choose it. Some are given at birth. (Sex, race, ethnicity, parents socio-economic status). Some are given over the life course (teenager, middle age, senior citizen).

Achieved Status-voluntary. These are statuses that can be accomplished.

Status Symbols-physical materials that show our status.

Master status-a status that cuts across all others, it’s the first thing people notice about you.

Status Inconsistency-a mismatch between statuses.

All the world’s a stageAll the world’s a stageAnd all the men and women merely And all the men and women merely

players.players.They have their exits and their They have their exits and their

entrances;entrances;And one man in his time plays many And one man in his time plays many

parts . . .parts . . .(William Shakespeare, (William Shakespeare, As You Like It, As You Like It,

Act II, Scene 7)Act II, Scene 7)

Roles are the behaviors, obligations, and prestige that comes with status.

Starts from birth. They outlay what is socially

acceptable behavior. The difference between status and

role is that you occupy a status, but you play a role.

RolesWe Become the Roles we Play-we

become more comfortable with our roles.

Sign-VehiclesSocial Setting-place where the action takes

occurs. Appearance-how we look.Manner-the attitudes we show.

Face Saving Behavior

Erving GoffmanDramaturgyImpression ManagementFront and Back StageRole PerformanceRole Strain Between and Within Roles

Goffman believed that life is like drama on a stage.

Impression management-the efforts we make to control the impressions others have of us.

Stages-playing our assigned roles. Front Stage-what we want others to see Back Stage-these are our private selves Role Strain vs. Role Conflict and Role

Performance.

Thomas theorem “If people define situations as real, they are real in their consequences.”

Objective-What is there. Subjective Interpretation-What

society teaches us is there.