Roles
Role is the dynamic aspect of a status. Whereas we occupy a status. we plays role. A role is a set of expectations associated with a given status. For example, a carpenter (employee) hired to remodel a kitchen is not expected to sit down uninvited and join the family (employer) for dinner. Role expectation is a group's or society's definition of the way thaI a specific role ought to be played. By contrast. role performance is how a person actually plays the role. Role performance does not always match role expectation. Some statuses have role expectations that are highly specific, such as that of surgeon or college professor. Other statuses. such as friend or significant other. have less-structured expectations. The role expectations tied to the status of student are more specific than those of being a friend. Role expectations are typically based on a range of acceptable behavior rather than on strictly delinted standards. Our roles are relational (or complementary); that is, they are defined in the context of roles performed by others. We can play the role of student because someone else fulfills the role of professor. Conversely. to perform the role of professor. the teacher must have one or more students. Role ambiguity occurs when the expectations 3 SS 0 dated with a role are unclear. For example. it is not always clear when the provider-dependent aspect of the parent:'child relationship ends. Should it end at age eighteen or twenty-one? When a person is no longer in school? Different people will answer these questions differently depending on their experiences and socialization: as well as on the parents' financial capability and psychological willingness to continue contrasting to the welfare of their adult children.
