Week 4: My Role Can Change

Erving Goffman’s view of the self presents the concept of individuals having different ‘roles’ in society.  As a result of these roles, we as individual are likely to act a certain way depending on the situation.  We discussed in class some of the different roles a person may be expected to adhere to in their everyday life.  As a student I have a number of social roles in which I “act”.  First of all, as a post secondary student I am expected to obtain a certain level of professionalism with my professors, yet in the same environment, I can be more relaxed with other students in my class.  At my part time job I am required to be early, in uniform, and respect the employment guidelines of my workplace.  In a different context, at a party with my friends for example, I am still a student but, the role I am in changes. 

Our roles are depicted depending on the social context we are in, and the derived expectations that particular context encourages.  In the lecture, we discussed Goffman’s suggestion that these different roles provide us with our identity.  Gross and Stone’s article states the implication that, “identity establishes what and where the person is in social terms.  It is not a substitute word for “self”. Instead, when one has identity, he is situated – that is, cast in the shape of a social object by the acknowledgement of his participation or membership in social relations” (1964, p. 3).  Our identity is generated through our roles, which is why we can encounter a conflict of roles, as Goffman discusses.  There are a number of situations that could foster a role confliction.  For example, I mentioned the level of professionalism I am meant to uphold while at university in the presence of my professors.  If I were at a local pub with my friends, probably not sober, and I ran into my professor while getting drinks at the bar, I might feel conflicted in the way I am expected to act.  The way that I behave with my friends differs from the way I behave in front of my professors – therefore, my role changes.

Gross, E., Stone. G.P 1964, ‘Embarrassment and the Analysis of Role Requirements’, The American Journal of Sociology, vol LXX, no. 1, viewed 11 September 2012, http://www.jstor.org/discover/10.2307/2775007?uid=3737536&uid=2134&uid=374782503&uid=2&uid=70&uid=3&uid=374782493&uid=60&sid=21101319824357