Search results
Results from the WOW.Com Content Network
A person may have status of a daughter, wife, mother, student, worker, church member and a citizen. The term "status set" was coined by Robert K. Merton in 1957. He made a clear distinction between a "role set" and a "status set". [1] Merton stated that status set is the set of statuses in a society while role set is the set of roles in a society
It is the formal structure of role and status that can form in a small, stable group. [1] An individual may belong to multiple social systems at once; [2] examples of social systems include nuclear family units, communities, cities, nations, college campuses, religions, corporations, and industries.
Likewise, society is believed to be grouped into structurally related groups or sets of roles, with different functions, meanings, or purposes. Examples of social structure include family, religion, law, economy, and class. It contrasts with "social system", which refers to the parent structure in which these various structures are embedded.
In the second sense, social order is contrasted to social chaos or disorder and refers to a stable state of society in which the existing social structure is accepted and maintained by its members. The problem of order or Hobbesian problem , which is central to much of sociology , political science and political philosophy , is the question of ...
In a society, the relative honor and prestige accorded to individuals depends on how well an individual is perceived to match a society's values and ideals (e.g., being pious in a religious society or wealthy in a capitalist society). Status often comes with attendant rights, duties, and lifestyle practices. [6]
In capitalist society movement between classes is a possibility. Hence the use of the term "The American Dream" to show the ability of people to ascend to a higher class through hard work and ingenuity. "Class composition is forever changing, to the point where there may be a completely new set of families". [15]
Get AOL Mail for FREE! Manage your email like never before with travel, photo & document views. Personalize your inbox with themes & tabs. You've Got Mail!
A social class (or, simply, class), as in class society, is a set of subjectively defined concepts in the social sciences and political theory centered on models of social stratification in which people are grouped into a set of hierarchical social categories, [5] the most common being the upper, middle, and lower classes.