By Karen Sternheimer

We have written a lot about social roles on the Everyday Sociology Blog. Back in 2020, Jonathan Wynn wrote about the role a department chair plays within a university. Within this post, he described Robert Merton’s definition of social role sets:

A role might be a patterned set of expectations, but a role set is a complement of several roles, which can, in turn, create conflicting expectations and therefore, stresses. Such a development of the concept is connected to larger organizational structures.

We can experience role strain when our various social roles produce challenges, as Jennell Paris wrote about during the pandemic, when many people were working from home and had to be parents and employees at once. Role conflict can happen when the multiple roles we play might be incompatible, as I wrote about in 2024 when encountering my dentist at a small dinner party.

We all have social roles that connect us to the larger social structure and various social institutions. It can be unexpectedly challenging when the roles to which we have become accustomed shift.

Continue reading “Social Role Shifts and Starting College” →

By Karen Sternheimer

We all know that volunteering is good for the group or organization we are helping. They get our free labor, leaving more specialized tasks for paid employees.

But what if you could gain more from volunteering than you give? Would that make you more likely to share your limited amount of free time?

As a perpetually busy person, I have often shied away from volunteering my time. This year I have volunteered to be on two non-work-related committees and for a trail race organization. It helps to share your time for a cause or activity that you care about. I remember decades ago, my grandfather, an avid golfer, volunteered to be an usher at a PGA tournament in his area. He talked about meeting the pro-golfers at the tournament for years after. He saw a few hours of his time as a very small price to pay for an opportunity to be in the same place as famous golfers.

Continue reading “Be Selfish: Volunteer” →