67 Examples of Social Roles

John Spacey, September 27, 2022

A social role is a set of expectations, responsibilities and norms that placed on an individual in a society. These include roles that are based on systems and formal authority such as a judge and roles that are cultural without any formal definition or authority such as boyfriend. Social roles allow societies to organize into complex structures that are highly specialized and efficient. They also allow societies to achieve goals such as social stability, justice or economic production. The following are illustrative examples of a social role.

Administrator	Adult
Agent	Artist
Audience	Board Member (governance structures)
Boss	Boyfriend / Girlfriend / Significant Other
Celebrity	Citizen
Coach	Comedian
Company President / Chief Executive Officier	Creative Director
Director (of a company)	Doctor
Elder	Elected Official
Employee	Expert
Fan	Film Director
Follower	Friend
General (military)	Grandmother / Grandfather / Grandparent
Guardian	Investor
Journalist	Judge
Juror	King / Queen
Lawyer	Leader
Manager	Matriarch
Mayor	Mentor
Mother / Father / Parent	Musician
Neighbor	Nurse
Owner (e.g. business owner or home owner)	Patriarch
Performer / Actor	Philanthropist
Player	Police
Politician	President / Prime Minister
Professional	Professor
Rebel / Dissident / Protester	Religious Leader (e.g. Priest)
Research	Scientist
Service Staff / Customer Service Representative	Soldier
Son / Daughter / Child	Speaker
Student	Supporter
Teacher	Technologist
Volunteer	Wife / Husband / Spouse / Partner
Writer

In many cases, social roles resemble archetypes such that they are deeply ingrained in a culture. In this case, the meaning attached to the role may be extremely complex and intricate.

67 Examples of Social Roles

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