Norm Commitment and Conformity to Role-Status Obligations

Formal definitions of role and status are typically ignored in actual research analyses, and the term "role" has begun to supplant that of "status." The contexts in which "status" is still used suggest that it refers to "more institutionalized roles." All roles contain elements which are more or less institutionalized, though in any specific roles relationship there may be disagreement, concerning appropriate norms, among ego, alter, and the social networks of "third parties" involved. Thus, pressure toward fulfilment of role obligations is analyzed in terms of (1) ego's socialized emotional commitment to his appropiate role behavior; (2) alter's requirement that ego performs appropriately; and (3) the rewards and punishments of "third parties." In secular societies, where ego's role commitments tend to be weak, these other sources of social control become increasingly important. Series of propositions are developed from a consideration of these structural elements.