Roles, Social and Cultural

In his play As You Like It, William Shakespeare wrote that “All the world's a stage, and all the men and women merely players: They have their exits, and their entrances, and one man in his time plays many parts.” These words highlight the essence of social role theory, an approach to understanding human behavior that is based on the metaphor of a play. This theory proposes that people learn to act in accordance with social expectations, and that these social expectations are set by membership in different social categories, such as gender, age, ethnicity, and/or religious affiliations. Roles that shape behavioral expectations may be general, such as acting “like a man” or “like a woman,” but can also be more nuanced, such as acting “like a mother’ or acting “like a teacher.”

Importantly, people have many different roles throughout their lives, and even at the same time. Thus, a person may simultaneously understand herself as a woman, a daughter, a mother, an employee, a friend, an athlete, a political moderate, and so on. Each social role comes with its own set of expected behaviors that people learn to abide by. These expectations are termed social norms; they are the unwritten rules about how people are expected to act given their role(s) in society. Social norms are reinforced through a process of social sanctions and rewards, usually described as socialization. Failure to conform to the behaviors expected of one's role can lead to stigmatization and social exclusion, whereas adherence to one's role brings positive social rewards. For example, if a little boy hurts himself and cries, his parents might say “Stop that! Boys don't cry” (a sanction), whereas a little girl who hurts herself and cries might get cuddles and kisses (a reward).