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Social Roles

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  • First Online:
Encyclopedia of Evolutionary Psychological Science

Synonyms

Role; Roles

Definition

A socially defined pattern of behavior that is expected of a person who occupies a certain social position or belongs to a particular social category.

Introduction

Social roles are a socially defined pattern of behavior that is expected of persons who occupy a certain social position or belong to a particular social category. The construct of social roles is central to the social sciences, and it came into general use during the 1920s and 1930s by analogy to the theatre. Social life occurs as performances by social actors, who are constrained by the scripts of their roles; the same actor can perform very different roles in different plays, and different actors can perform the same role quite similarly (Biddle 1986).

Types of Roles and Role Theory

At an individual level, roles function as schemas, that is, mental concepts that inform a person about how to behave in a particular role or situation. In addition, these role schemas are important structures at...

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References

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Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Dublin City University, Dublin, Ireland

    Janine Bosak

Authors
  1. Janine Bosak
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Correspondence to Janine Bosak .

Editor information

Editors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Psychology, Oakland University, Rochester, Michigan, USA

    Todd K. Shackelford

  2. Rochester, Michigan, USA

    Viviana A. Weekes-Shackelford

Section Editor information

  1. University of South Carolina – Beaufort, Bluffton, SC, USA

    Carey Fitzgerald

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Bosak, J. (2018). Social Roles. In: Shackelford, T., Weekes-Shackelford, V. (eds) Encyclopedia of Evolutionary Psychological Science. Springer, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-16999-6_2469-1

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-16999-6_2469-1

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  • Print ISBN: 978-3-319-16999-6

  • Online ISBN: 978-3-319-16999-6

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