Open Education Sociology Dictionary

ascribed status

Table of Contents

Definition of Ascribed Status

( noun ) A status assigned at birth or assumed involuntarily later in life, often based on biological factors, that cannot be changed through individual effort or achievement .

Examples of Ascribed Status

  • birth order
  • caste position
  • daughter or son
  • inherited wealth

Etymology of Ascribed Status

  • Coined along with achieved status by Ralph Linton (1893–1953) in The Study of Man: An Introduction (1936).

Ascribed Status Pronunciation

Pronunciation Usage Guide

Syllabification : as·cribed stat·us

Audio Pronunciation

Phonetic Spelling

  • American English – /uh-skrIEbd stAY-tuhs/
  • British English – /uh-skrIEbd stAY-tuhs/

International Phonetic Alphabet

  • American English – /əˈskraɪbd ˈstætəs/
  • British English – /əsˈkraɪbd ˈsteɪtəs/

Usage Notes

  • Plural: ascribed statuses
  • Ascribed statuses are often master statuses .
  • Ascribed status is the opposite of achieved status .
  • An individual can have multiple ascribed statuses that engage with each other intersectionally .
  • Ascribed statuses such as ethnicity and gender directly impact the likelihood of acquiring achieved statuses due to inequality and oppression.
  • A physical trait, biological in origin is an ascribed characteristic .
  • An ascribed identity refers to “identity-based” ascribed statuses, such as race , religion , or sex .
  • Also called ascription .

Related Quotations

  • “About 5000 years ago, people developed plow agriculture . By attaching oxen and other large animals to plows , farmers could increase the amount they produced. Again thanks to technological innovation , surpluses grew. With more wealth came still sharper social stratification . Agrarian societies developed religious beliefs justifying steeper inequality . People came to believe that kings and queens ruled by ‘ divine right .’ They viewed large landowners as ‘lords.’ Moreover, if you were born a peasant, you and your children were likely to remain peasants. If you were born a lord, you and your children were likely to remain lords. In the vocabulary of modern sociology , we say that stratification in agrarian societies was based more on ascription than achievement ” (Brym and Lie 2007:225).
  • “ Caste and class systems of stratification are opposite, extreme points on a continuum . The two systems differ in the ease of social mobility , the relative importance of achieved and ascribed statuses , and the extent to which each restricts interaction among people considered unequal” (Ferrante 2011:204).

Related Video

Additional Information

  • Word origin of “ascribe” and “status” – Online Etymology Dictionary: etymonline.com

Related Terms

  • achieved status
  • master status
  • status inconsistency
  • status symbol
  • stratification

Brym, Robert J., and John Lie. 2007. Sociology: Your Compass for a New World . 3rd ed. Belmont, CA: Wadsworth.

Ferrante, Joan. 2011.  Sociology: A Global Perspective . 7th ed. Belmont, CA: Wadsworth.

Works Consulted

Andersen, Margaret L., and Howard Francis Taylor. 2011. Sociology: The Essentials . 6th ed. Belmont, CA: Wadsworth.

Brinkerhoff, David, Lynn White, Suzanne Ortega, and Rose Weitz. 2011. Essentials of Sociology . 8th ed. Belmont, CA: Wadsworth.

Bruce, Steve, and Steven Yearley. 2006. The SAGE Dictionary of Sociology . Thousand Oaks, CA: SAGE.

Delaney, Tim, and Tim Madigan. 2015. The Sociology of Sports: An Introduction . 2nd ed. Jefferson, NC: McFarland.

Ferrante, Joan. 2011a. Seeing Sociology: An Introduction . Belmont, CA: Wadsworth.

Ferris, Kerry, and Jill Stein. 2010.  The Real World: An Introduction to Sociology . 2nd ed. New York: Norton.

Giddens, Anthony, and Philip W. Sutton. 2014. Essential Concepts in Sociology . Cambridge: Polity.

Griffiths, Heather, Nathan Keirns, Eric Strayer, Susan Cody-Rydzewski, Gail Scaramuzzo, Tommy Sadler, Sally Vyain, Jeff Bry, Faye Jones. 2016. Introduction to Sociology 2e . Houston, TX: OpenStax.

Henslin, James M. 2012. Sociology: A Down-to-Earth Approach . 10th ed. Boston: Allyn & Bacon.

Hughes, Michael, and Carolyn J. Kroehler. 2011.  Sociology: The Core . 10th ed. New York: McGraw-Hill.

Kendall, Diana. 2011.  Sociology in Our Times . 8th ed. Belmont, CA: Wadsworth.

Kimmel, Michael S., and Amy Aronson. 2012. Sociology Now . Boston: Allyn & Bacon.

Kornblum, William. 2008. Sociology in a Changing World . 8th ed. Belmont, CA: Wadsworth.

Macionis, John. 2012. Sociology . 14th ed. Boston: Pearson.

Macmillan. (N.d.) Macmillan Dictionary . ( https://www.macmillandictionary.com/ ).

Ravelli, Bruce, and Michelle Webber. 2016. Exploring Sociology: A Canadian Perspective . 3rd ed. Toronto: Pearson.

Schaefer, Richard. 2013. Sociology: A Brief Introduction . 10th ed. New York: McGraw-Hill.

Scott, John, and Gordon Marshall. 2005.  A Dictionary of Sociology . New York: Oxford University Press.

Shepard, Jon M., and Robert W. Greene. 2003. Sociology and You . New York: Glencoe.

Shepard, Jon M. 2010. Sociology . 11th ed. Belmont, CA: Wadsworth.

Stolley, Kathy S. 2005. The Basics of Sociology . Westport, CT: Greenwood Press.

Thompson, William E., and Joseph V. Hickey. 2012. Society in Focus: An Introduction to Sociology . Boston: Allyn & Bacon.

Tischler, Henry L. 2011.  Introduction to Sociology . 10th ed. Belmont, CA: Wadsworth.

Turner, Bryan S., ed. 2006. The Cambridge Dictionary of Sociology . Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.

Wikipedia contributors. (N.d.) Wikipedia, The Free Encyclopedia . Wikimedia Foundation. ( https://en.wikipedia.org/ ).

Cite the Definition of Ascribed Status

ASA – American Sociological Association (5th edition)

Bell, Kenton, ed. 2013. “ascribed status.” In Open Education Sociology Dictionary . Retrieved February 18, 2024 ( https://sociologydictionary.org/ascribed-status/ ).

APA – American Psychological Association (6th edition)

ascribed status. (2013). In K. Bell (Ed.), Open education sociology dictionary . Retrieved from https://sociologydictionary.org/ascribed-status/

Chicago/Turabian: Author-Date – Chicago Manual of Style (16th edition)

Bell, Kenton, ed. 2013. “ascribed status.” In Open Education Sociology Dictionary . Accessed February 18, 2024. https://sociologydictionary.org/ascribed-status/ .

MLA – Modern Language Association (7th edition)

“ascribed status.” Open Education Sociology Dictionary . Ed. Kenton Bell. 2013. Web. 18 Feb. 2024. < https://sociologydictionary.org/ascribed-status/ >.

Sociology: Achieved Status Versus Ascribed Status

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Status is a term that is used often in sociology . Broadly speaking, there are two kinds of status, achieved status and ascribed status.

Each can refer to one's position, or role, within a social system—child, parent, pupil, playmate, etc.—or to one's economic or social position within that status. 

Individuals usually hold multiple statuses at any given time—lawyers, say, who happen to devote most of their time to pro bono work instead of rising through the ranks at a prestigious law firm. Status is important sociologically because we attach to one's position a certain set of presumed rights, as well as presumed obligations and expectations for certain behaviors.

Achieved Status

An achieved status is one that is acquired on the basis of merit; it is a position that is earned or chosen and reflects a person's skills, abilities, and efforts. Being a professional athlete, for example, is an achieved status, as is being a lawyer, college professor, or even a criminal.

Ascribed Status

An ascribed status, on the other hand, is beyond an individual's control. It is not earned, but rather is something people are either born with or had no control over. Examples of ascribed status include sex, race, and age. Children usually have more ascribed statuses than adults, since they do not usually have a choice in most matters.

A family's social status or socioeconomic status , for instance, would be an achieved status for adults, but an ascribed status for children. Homelessness might also be another example. For adults, homelessness often comes by way of achieving, or rather not achieving, something. For children, however, homelessness is not something they have any control over. Their economic status, or lack thereof, is entirely dependent on their parents' actions.

Mixed-Status

The line between achieved status and ascribed status is not always black and white. There are many statuses that can be considered a mixture of achievement and ascription. Parenthood, for one. According to the latest numbers gathered by the Guttmacher Institute, about 45% of pregnancies in the U.S. are unplanned , which makes parenthood for those people an ascribed status.  

Then there are people who achieve a certain status because of an ascribed status. Take Kim Kardashian, for example, probably the most famous reality television celebrity in the world. Many people might argue that she would never have achieved that status if she had not come from a wealthy family, which is her ascribed status.  

Status Obligations

Probably the greatest set of obligations are conferred upon the status of parenthood. First, there are biological obligations: Mothers are expected to care for themselves and their unborn child (or children, in the case of twins, etc.) by abstaining for any activity that could cause either of them harm. Once a child is born, a host of legal, social, and economic obligations kick in, all with the purpose of ensuring that parents act in a responsible manner toward their children.

Then there are professional status obligations, like doctors and lawyers whose vocations bind them to certain oaths governing their client relationships. And socioeconomic status obligates those who have achieved a certain high level of economic status to contribute portions of their wealth to help the less fortunate in society. 

Finer, Lawrence B. and Mia R. Zolna. " Declines in Unintended Pregnancy in the United States, 2008-2011 ." New England Journal of Medicine , vol. 374, no. 9, 2016, p. 842-852. doi:10.1056/NEJMsa1506575

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Ascribed Status: Definition and Examples – Simple Explanation

The concept of status figured in Max Weber’s “The Protestant Ethic and Spirit of Capitalism” for the first time. He defined the social status of an individual as the social honor or social esteem bestowed upon him by society. This social honor/social esteem, is intertwined with an individual’s place in the social structure, which can either be decided by birth or by his or her own efforts. Weber’s work inspired Ralph Linton to give two types of statuses: ascribed status and achieved status, in his 1936 book “The Study of Man.” Later thinkers like Robert K. Merton (Social Structure and Anomie ) and Talcott Parsons (Pattern Variables) have also utilized these concepts in their theories.

Ralph Linton defined ascribed status as a status assigned to an individual based on their birth. This status has no correlation with special abilities or individual achievements. A person’s own actions, efforts, and performance have very little implications for this type of status. Ascribed status is more or less static in nature. An individual will experience little to no change in his or her status through life circumstances and their own choices and actions.

Thus, ascribed status in society refers to a status that is not achieved on the basis of merit or skills. It is something you are assigned by birth. In many cultures, the majority of such statuses are based on age, sex, caste, family, etc.

Ascribed Status: Examples

  • The age of a person is determined by the date on which he/she is born.
  • Sex, i.e., the biological anatomical makeup of an individual, is determined at birth.
  • An individual’s genetic (DNA) makeup.
  • The race of an individual is determined by his line of ancestors.
  • Family and Lineage.
  • Inheritance (titles and property) is determined by birth and social norms.
  • Sexual orientation of an individual.
  • Membership in a particular community (tribe) by birth.
  • Ethnicity (culture) in which an individual is born
  • Caste and Class in which one is born.
  • Religious orientation into which an individual is born. For example, a person born into a Hindu family will have an inclination towards Hindu religious traditions.
  • Physical appearance (face and body) that an individual is born with.

Ascribed status flow chart

Ascribed Status: An Evaluation

  • Suppose an actor’s child has ascribed a status of being an upcoming superstar. He or she does not need to work hard, just like their parents. This kind of status lessens the amount of hard work sometimes. But, as it is said, every aspect has its own pros and cons. From the above example, it can only be understood that an actor’s child always gets to hear that whatever you are today is because of your parents. Their hard work in acting, or even if they have tried living like a commoner in the film industry, will never get appreciated by other people. It could be one of the reasons for demotivation among star kids.
  • Some countries, like India, are driven by caste factors. Due to the assigned position of being a Brahmin boy or girl, you are forced to marry someone of that caste only. The struggle to marry someone of their own choice can be seen as a rebellious act in India, whereas in other countries it is a normal thing.
  • Sex is also a factor that influences most of the set standards anywhere. No matter whatever the situation, two dialogues can be heard every now and then, you are not allowed to roam outside after 8 o’clock because you are a girl. Listen, you cannot cry, after all, you are a boy. This kind of messages which is feed into a child’s brain, slowly become their thoughts until  acculturation  process is done for being able to see the world differently.
  • Many dreams and abilities have failed even before they could flourish due to the rigid ascribed status of society. Also, ascribed status does not change according to a situation, like achieved status. For example, a king’s first son will be the next heir no matter what. It is neither done on merit level nor is the choice made by the prince whether he truly wants to be king or not.
  • Ascribed status even though looks static on the surface. However, there have been instances where it is difficult to say whether an individual’s status is assigned or achieved. For example, A person who suffers from a disability in later stages of life. Even though at birth his ascribed status is normal but in adulthood he gets another status of “disabled/specially able” which completely alters his life chances and the perceptions of people towards him. Similarly, a person who is born and brought up in the Hindu religion has free choice once he reaches adulthood to keep or lose his ascribed religion.

To conclude, ascribed status is an important conceptual tool to understand the nature of society, social structure, cultural system, and core values of social institution s. The more a society is based on the recognition of ascribed status, the more we can draw conclusions that this society has a closed social system, low social mobility, and a value for customs, traditions, and community living.

Also Read: Achieved Status and Examples

Foladare, I. S. (1969). A Clarification of “Ascribed Status” and “Achieved Status.” The Sociological Quarterly , 10 (1), 53–61. http://www.jstor.org/stable/4105001

ascribed status examples

Aastha, an engineering graduate turned Sociology student, is a passionate practitioner of self-reflexivity and the Sociological Imagination. Delving deep into sociological theories, she finds joy in experiencing her own 'Eureka' moments when understanding them. Fascinated by Sociology's power to connect her to social reality and ignite her curiosity, Aastha embraces it as a source of inspiration for her writing. As she embarks on her journey as a writer, she eagerly looks forward to sharing her profound insights about Sociology and gaining valuable perspectives from other individuals.

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Opinion Front

Opinion Front

Ascribed Status Meaning and Examples

Be it unintentionally or otherwise, we often judge a person based on his social position. Social positions are of different types, depending upon different factors. OpinionFront gives you the meaning of an 'ascribed' status, along with a few examples.

Ascribed Status Meaning and Examples

Be it unintentionally or otherwise, we often judge a person based on his social position. Social positions are of different types, depending upon different factors. OpinionFront gives you the meaning of an ‘ascribed’ status, along with a few examples.

Did You Know?

An ascribed status is further divided into two types: Delayed Ascribed Status  which is assigned to a person later in life, and Fluid Ascribed Status which is an achieved status influenced heavily by the ascribed status.

Whether we like it or not, each one of us has our own position in society, a rank in the social hierarchy that has been in existence since times immemorial. This position, also called a ‘social status’, often decides how a person is to be treated by the rest of the world. If someone holds a high social position, or status, he receives respect, power, and control, whereas if someone holds a so-called low position, he is immediately looked down upon. The question here is, does one get ranked by choice or involuntarily? If it is by choice, then how does the ranking system work? If it isn’t a choice, what is the reason for that? Who decides these positions?

The Webster’s Dictionary defines status as “ the position or rank of someone or something when compared to others in a society, organization, group, etc.” This rank is dependent upon many factors―birth, prestige, honor, power, and achievements, to name a few. Status is typical of the vertical stratification as mentioned by sociology experts―the positioning of the members of society in a vertical manner according to the resources they own, the power they have, and their lineage. In any case, it is almost always that the concept of a social status causes inequality in society, and increases the divide that exists between the rich and the poor. Status may be acquired, or it may be ascribed. So, what is an ascribed status in society?

Meaning of Ascribed Status

An ascribed status is a social ranking that a person is assigned at birth, and which stays with him for the rest of his life. The person has no choice or say in the matter, and the status that is stamped onto his identity is based on his birth, his race, his ethnicity, his lineage, his gender, etc. An ascribed status is a key factor in the existence of the social hierarchy, and is one of the reasons why the social hierarchy remains rigid and unchanging. This ascribed status will remain with the individual forever, bringing with it all the good and bad stereotypes that are linked with social positions.

Ascribed statuses exist all over the world, and are not particular to any one culture. Despite the rapid progress and development of society, the custom of assigning a social position to a person at birth is still thriving. A person born into a rich, influential family will have a ‘high’ ascribed status, solely because of the wealth and power the family possesses. He or she will be treated with respect wherever (s)he goes, and will be privy to all the luxuries and opportunities that exist. On the other hand, a person born to a poor or middle-class family won’t be treated the same way. He or she will have to work hard for respect from society. In fact, those born with a poor family background are often looked down upon.

From a bigger point of view, some races or ethnicities are unfairly ranked higher than the others, leading to inequality in society. Aside from the family one belongs to, the caste, creed, gender, race, or nationality also give him/her an ascribed status. Thus, some castes/ethnicities are deemed higher than others, and those deemed lower are looked down upon, their opportunities are often stripped off, and they are assigned to remain beneath the so-called upper strata of society forever.

An ascribed status never takes a person’s achievements or good deeds, morals, and education into consideration. It simply assigns higher power and value to those attached to the so-called higher social groups, and lesser or no power and value to those underneath. In many cultures, marriage between a person with a higher ascribed status and a lower ascribed status is largely frowned upon even today.

Examples of an Ascribed Status

Like we saw before, an ascribed status depends upon a person’s kith and kin, his/her gender, race, caste, ethnicity, and economic status of his/her family. Some examples of an ascribed status would be:

  • Males : Even today, we can see the inequality that exists between a man and a woman in societies across the world. A man gets more respect, more opportunities, and more power simply because of his gender, and even though his female opponent may be more deserving, she is undermined and underestimated.
  • Royalty : Members of royal families have a high ascribed status because of their lineage, political and economic connections, and the power they possess. Every new addition to the family gets the high ascribed status, even though he/she hasn’t really done anything to get it.
  • Family occupations : In some cultures, people were expected to take up only the occupations which their forefathers had chosen. Though this scenario is changing now, it earlier kept the gap between the higher classes and lower classes intact―those born with a higher status held occupations of power and leadership, while those born with a lower status practiced occupations which were controlled by those with power. It did not matter if those with a higher status deserved that power or not, their status defined what they were to get.

Ascribed Status vs. Achieved Status

An achieved status is the complete opposite of an ascribed status. An achieved status is the social positioning of a person based on his achievements, merit, and the fulfillment of goals. An achieved status is earned by an individual, it is not assigned to him at birth, or is not dependent upon his family or race or ethnicity. Achieved statuses are not rigid, and can be assigned to absolutely anyone based on their merit regardless of their ascribed status. An achieved status is the means to ensure more equality in society.

An occupation would be a good example of an achieved status―a person becomes a lawyer, for instance, or a doctor, based on his merit and not his birth, and hence receives the respect and power that he or she has earned.

An ascribed status causes a divide in society, and yet, it provides every individual with a social identity. To do away with this divide, it is necessary to put more emphasis on treating people according to their achievements and merit, and not the power that was conferred upon them at birth.

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Ascribed Status

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Ascribed status refers to a person’s social position by birth or directly due to their family history, and personal accomplishments cannot easily change that.

Explanation

A place in society determined by a fixed attribute bestowed at birth, such as gender or class of origin, is known as an “ascribed status.”

In sociology, “ascribed status” refers to a person’s social standing, which is given to them at birth or unintentionally adopted later in life. 

The status is a position the individual neither chooses for themselves nor earns. Instead, the assigned status is determined by cultural and societal norms and standards. Efforts or desires have little effect since these jobs are filled.

Ralph Linton’s notions of “ascribed status” and “achieved status” identified characteristics of social systems that have provided sociologists with critical new understandings of the analysis of social structure . Linton described “achieved status” as “requiring particular attributes” and “open to individual attainment,” while “ascribed status” was “given to people without regard to their intrinsic distinctions or capacities.” Thus, an individual’s “ascribed statuses” are determined by the accident of birth, but his “achieved statuses” are determined by performance, effort, or willpower.

Age, kinship,  race, social group, sex, appearance, gender, ability status, ethnicity, socioeconomic position, culture, or caste are some variables assigned or ascribed to individuals in society.

A person cannot change their ascribed status. People have it naturally or without any choice in the matter; it is not something they can acquire.

A caste is a social stratification in South Asia and India to categorize individuals according to the religious and ritualistic social principles of purity and pollution. Following the caste system eventually gives those in the highest caste authority over the rest of society and prevents crossing social divides.

The Dalit community in India has been facing discrimination from upper caste Hindus for centuries in India.

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23 Achieved Status Examples

achieved status examples definition

Examples of achieved status include a reward or honor, a university degree, self-made wealth, and your profession.

Achieved status is defined as a status that you have earned or chosen rather than one that you were born with. This type of status give you a great deal of prestige, privilege, and honor because you’re seen as having worked hard to get it.

However, as we’ll see, most things in life are never achieved without a good dose of luck and help from our society.

 Achieved Status Examples

1. rewards and honors.

One of the most formal ways to achieve a higher status is to get a reward or certificate that actually states the status that you have achieved.

An example is to receive a medal for an athletic achievement. Similarly, excellent painters might receive an award for their artwork or excellent writers might become a “New York Times Bestseller”. All of these rewards show that you have earned a position as being elite in your craft.

2. University Degrees

A university degree isn’t just about learning something. It is also a social status example that can be your key to getting a good job, or at least an interview for the job.

There is even a hierarchy of degrees. Common types of degrees you can get include:

  • Bachelors Degree: 42% of the population
  • Masters Degree: 8% of the population
  • PhD: 1% of the population

3. Profession

 All jobs in our society have a certain degree of status attached to them. At the top of the hierarchy are usually career paths like lawyers, doctors, scientists, and engineers.

The most prestigious occupations can command high pay rates as well as the respect of your peers.

We often see blue-collar jobs as having low status and white-collar jobs as having high status. Examples of blue-collar jobs include plumbing and carpentry while examples of white-collar jobs include accounting and investment banking.

Some jobs, like teachers, firefighters, nurses, and police officers, have a degree of status in society but don’t obtain the high pay rates of others. This mismatch between pay and prestige is an example of what’s called status inconsistency .

4. Group and Organization Membership

We generally choose to be a member of an organization, so we think of it as achieved status.

Many exclusive clubs will have statuses associated with them, such as Mensa (for geniuses) or exclusive fraternities and sororities.

Being in one of those clubs can grant you greater access to job opportunities, influential people, or other perks. Thus, many people will work very hard to get access to an exclusive club that can help them to demonstrate their status to others.

5. Skills Learned through Practice

Most things in life require you to practice for many hours, days, months, or even years before you are truly proficient at them.

An example is a skateboarding trick. To be able to do the trick every time you try, you need to become very familiar with the movement until you have perfected it. That requires a lot of time on the board.

Similarly, you can’t expect to ride a bike the first time you pick one up. These are skills that require persistence and effort to acquire.

6. Life Choices

Anything you freely choose in life can come under the banner of ‘achieved status’. If you are congratulated for your decision to start a business, take a risk on an investment, or start an eco-friendly farm, you can accept those congratulations as recognition of your achieved status.

7. Friendships

While we can’t choose our parents and siblings, we can choose our friends. When you become friends with a famous person, your social status might go up. Similarly, if you are a widely popular person with many friends, people’s perceptions of you might rise.

8. Self-Made Wealth

People who have inherited wealth might be born with an assigned status of being wealthy. But if you are a self-made rich person like JK Rowling, then this success will give you an achieved status. In society, the fact you achieved or earned the wealth will be more highly regarded than if you inherited it.

9. Your Spouse

You will be judged for the person you choose to marry. If your friends and family don’t like your spouse, your status may decline. By contrast, if your friends like your spouse, your status might increase in their eyes.

In more traditional cultures, marrying ‘up’ on the social hierarchy is something very important to people looking to increase the wealth and power of their family.

10. Having a Child

In traditional cultures, having a child is seen as a sign of success (especially for women). Women without children were seen as having failed. While we’ve moved on from that mentality, still today, people might be more inclined to vote for a politician that without.

11. An Earned Title

 An earned title might include “Doctor”, “Professor”, “Sir” (for knighthoods in the UK), “Chancellor”, “Reverend”, or “Imam”. These titles are assigned to people who are believed to have earned them through study, hard work, services to community, or profession.

12. Religious Affiliation

Your affiliation with a religious group could earn you a degree of prestige or open doors for you. For example, if you were Catholic during the Spanish inquisition, you would be privileged while others would be outcast.

While some of us may be born into a religion, by adulthood, our religion is a choice. A status that starts off as given but becomes chosen is called a fluid ascription.

13. Military Rank

In a structured organization like the military, a person’s earned status can be very explicit. This is the case in the military.

Examples of military ranks include:

  • Private: A low rank
  • Sargeant: A higher rank
  • General: A very high rank

The ranking hierarchy in the military isn’t just about prestige. It also impacts who is in charge, who needs to be saluted, and who can tell who what to do!

14. Fitness

You can also attain status in terms of your physical abilities and looks. While we might be born with a certain look that’s hard to change, we can go to the gym to get six pack abs or practice running in order to be able to do a marathon.

15. Sporting Achievements

A sporting achievement might be winning a competition or even a gold medal. In some sports, like tennis, you can also judge your achievements through your rank in your country or even the world.

Similarly, in golf, you can judge your sporting abilities by working on your handicap.

16. Rising Social Class Status

Traditionally, society didn’t allow for much movement between social classes. People were born into a social class and died in the same social class. But today, increased social mobility allows people to move from poor working-class up to upper middle-class and higher.

17. Honor Student

Students who are at the top of their class are often honored with awards and titles to signify their success. An example of this is students who graduate summa cum laude from their college degree. This means to graduate “with highest distinction”.

18. Material Possessions

The things we own are signals to others about or tastes and fashion sense. Owning a sports car or mansion is a sign to others that you are successful in life. While we often see these as achieved status symbols, it all depends on how you got those possessions that matters.

19. Residency and Second Citizenship

While nearly everyone is born with a citizenship that cannot be taken from them, many millions of people obtain a second citizenship. Often, they have to jump through a lot of hoops (such as living in a place for a certain amount of time). By the time they get that second passport, they see it as a status symbol showing thet have earned their legitimacy in a country.

20. Access to Exclusive Consumer Products and Services

Many brands have embraced the idea that people love to be seen as having high earned status. To take advantage of this, they use scarcity and exclusivity to entice people to buy. For example, only some people are able to access elite types of credit cards or access to exclusive airport lounges. 

21. Clothing

The clothes you wear are status symbols. Those who wear fashionable clothing are showing that they have achieved something: an eye for fashion and a good grasp of the current social mileaux.

22. Volunteerism

People who are known in their communities as volunteers become highly respected. They earn this respect through their hard work for people in need.

23. Multilingualism

Being able to speak multiple languages is looked upon with awe by many monolingual people. Those who manage to learn multiple languages (especially in adulthood) are seen as having achieved a certain prestige due to their ability to achieve something that most of us cannot.

Ascribed Status Vs Achieved Status In Sociology

According to Linton, an achieved status is one we earned and chose.

By contrast, an ascribed status is something we are born with and don’t earn through merit or hard work.

The concepts of ascribed and achieved status help us to understand how prestige, privilege, and honor are either achieved or assigned by society.

They show how we live in a social hierarchy that is both incredibly unfair (we’re born into a position on the hierarchy) and fluid (we can change our status in some contexts through hard work).

Don’t forget to see our article on ascribed status examples for more!

The Sliding Scale of Earned Status

There are gray areas where it’s not clear if someone’s status is ascribed or achieved. In these instances, we can see that achieved status isn’t as clear or fixed as we might have first thought.

Thus, achieved status fits more on a sliding scale than a black-and-white contrast. While many statuses are given at birth and stay with us for life, when we become adults, we can choose to maintain or disregard a status we got at birth.

See Also: Master Status Examples

Criticisms of the Achieved Status Concept

The concept of achieved statuses can underplay the role of contextuality in people achieving any status at all.

For example, achieving a university degree may require a lot of hard work and effort for which any person should be proud.

However, to achieve the degree, you need to have access to the funds to pay for university, a supportive family, and a good high school education. These things are privileges that a person should humbly acknowledge.

In other words, achieved statuses are not acquired equally, so we should be careful to remember that we are in large part a product of circumstance.

Achieved statuses are any status that you earn through hard work, effort, or choice. A great example is your golf handicap, which you need to earn through effort.

However, the more we think about it, the more we realize that even an achieved status like your golf handicap wasn’t all your own work: you were probably born with great hand-eye coordination and had the wealth and privilege to have access to a golf course and clubs.

Thus, while achieved status is an interesting sociological concept , it has many weaknesses as a conceptual framework.

Dave

Dave Cornell (PhD)

Dr. Cornell has worked in education for more than 20 years. His work has involved designing teacher certification for Trinity College in London and in-service training for state governments in the United States. He has trained kindergarten teachers in 8 countries and helped businessmen and women open baby centers and kindergartens in 3 countries.

  • Dave Cornell (PhD) https://helpfulprofessor.com/author/dave-cornell-phd/ 25 Positive Punishment Examples
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  • Dave Cornell (PhD) https://helpfulprofessor.com/author/dave-cornell-phd/ Perception Checking: 15 Examples and Definition

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Chris Drew (PhD)

This article was peer-reviewed and edited by Chris Drew (PhD). The review process on Helpful Professor involves having a PhD level expert fact check, edit, and contribute to articles. Reviewers ensure all content reflects expert academic consensus and is backed up with reference to academic studies. Dr. Drew has published over 20 academic articles in scholarly journals. He is the former editor of the Journal of Learning Development in Higher Education and holds a PhD in Education from ACU.

  • Chris Drew (PhD) #molongui-disabled-link 25 Positive Punishment Examples
  • Chris Drew (PhD) #molongui-disabled-link 25 Dissociation Examples (Psychology)
  • Chris Drew (PhD) #molongui-disabled-link 15 Zone of Proximal Development Examples
  • Chris Drew (PhD) #molongui-disabled-link Perception Checking: 15 Examples and Definition

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  1. 23 Ascribed Status Examples

    Examples of ascribed status include age, gender, race, caste, disability, inherited title, and multigenerational wealth. An ascribed status is a social status that you didn't choose and is usually given to you from birth. When exploring a person's ascribed status, you need to think of identity features that a person neither earned nor chose.

  2. 20 Examples of Ascribed Status

    20 Examples of Ascribed Status John Spacey, updated on January 22, 2024 Ascribed status is social status that is neither earned nor chosen. This includes anything that influences how you are perceived that is beyond your control. In practice, some types of ascribed status can be changed and are partially under your control.

  3. Ascribed Status: Definition & Examples

    Kinship is also an example of ascribed status, as relations by blood to a certain group of people cannot be changed. The first person to discuss the concept of ascribed and achieved status was the anthropologist Ralph Linton. Linton posited that ascribed status is assigned to an individual without reference to their innate differences or abilities.

  4. Ascribed status

    Ascribed status Achieved status Social status Caste Age grade / Age set Leveling mechanism Leadership Big man Patriarchy Matriarchy Elder Pantribal sodalities Chief Paramount chief Polities Band society Segmentary lineage Tribe Chiefdom Petty kingdom House society Ethnic group Theatre state Law and custom Customary law Legal culture Case studies

  5. ascribed status definition

    Examples of Ascribed Status age birth order caste position daughter or son ethnicity inherited wealth Etymology of Ascribed Status Coined along with achieved status by Ralph Linton (1893-1953) in The Study of Man: An Introduction (1936). Ascribed Status Pronunciation Pronunciation Usage Guide Syllabification: as·cribed stat·us Audio Pronunciation

  6. Ascribed Status

    Ascribed status examples include height, birth order, blood type, race, and any other status that an individual has no control over. Achieved status examples include profession, club...

  7. Achieved Status Versus Ascribed Status in Sociology

    Examples of ascribed status include sex, race, and age. Children usually have more ascribed statuses than adults, since they do not usually have a choice in most matters. A family's social status or socioeconomic status, for instance, would be an achieved status for adults, but an ascribed status for children.

  8. Ascribed Status: Definition and Examples

    Caste and Class in which one is born. Religious orientation into which an individual is born. For example, a person born into a Hindu family will have an inclination towards Hindu religious traditions. Physical appearance (face and body) that an individual is born with. Ascribed Status: An Evaluation

  9. 5.3A: Social Status

    An ascribed status can also be defined as one that is fixed for an individual at birth, like sex, race, and socioeconomic background. Social status is most often understood as a melding of the two types of status, with ascribed status influencing achieved status. For example, a baby born into a high-income household has his family's high ...

  10. 12.4: Achieved Status vs. Ascribed Status

    An example would be the status one earns when they become a doctor after years of studying and preparation. Having the credibility of being a doctor is a higher achieved status than the credibility of being a medical school student. Ascribed status refers to the status that an individual acquires by virtue or by birth. The individual has no ...

  11. Ascribed Status Meaning and Examples

    Did You Know? An ascribed status is further divided into two types: Delayed Ascribed Status which is assigned to a person later in life, and Fluid Ascribed Status which is an achieved status influenced heavily by the ascribed status.

  12. Ascribed Status vs. Achieved Status: The Case of Homelessness

    An ascribed status is involuntary, something we cannot choose. Race, ethnicity, and the social class of our parents are examples of ascribed statuses. On the other hand, an achieved status is something we accomplish in the course of our lives. To some extent, achieved status reflects our work and effort. College student, college dropout, CEO ...

  13. Ascribed Status Definition & Explanation

    Ascribed status refers to a person's social position by birth or directly due to their family history, and personal accomplishments cannot easily change that. ... Example. A caste is a social stratification in South Asia and India to categorize individuals according to the religious and ritualistic social principles of purity and pollution.

  14. Social Interaction Theory: Ascribed, Achieved & Master Status

    Describe and give examples of the categories of statuses: achieved status, ascribed status and master status Explain the difference between status and role To unlock this lesson you must be a ...

  15. 44 Examples of Social Status

    Ascribed status are things that you are born with or that change involuntarily. Common examples include age, race, nationality, physical abilities, physical characteristics, appearance and gender. For example, an individual may be proud of their national identity, height, youth or good looks. Authority

  16. Ascribed Status and Achieved Status

    This Lecture includes the Differences between Ascribed Status and Achieved Status along with Examples. This differences has been explained from Various Persp...

  17. 11.4: Achieved Status vs. Ascribed Status

    The individual has no control over this status, it is simply the social position they are born into (James 2017). In many instances, this status is a social construct already pre-determined before one is born into the specific culture; it is nearly impossible to move up. One examples of ascribed status is eye color.

  18. Ascribed Status: Definition & Examples

    Examples of ascribed status include being born into a wealthy family, being a member of a particular ethnic or religious group, or being assigned a specific gender at birth. These factors have a significant impact on an individual's social standing and opportunities in life.

  19. Ascribed Status: Definition & Examples

    Examples of Ascribed Status General Categories Ascribed status includes any number of unchangeable and inborn factors. These are not necessarily intrinsically connected to political phenomena by every society. Some common examples of ascribed status may include: age ancestry

  20. Ascribed Status vs Achieved Status in Sociology

    Here, the ascribed status 'poor' is not irreversible; rather, that person can work hard and become rich in the future. By doing this, he will definitely change his prior status to a newly achieved status (we will discuss this later). Another example is the religious labels as Muslim, Christian, Hindu, etc. A person getting born into a ...

  21. 35 Examples of Status

    The following are common examples of status. Achieved Status Achieved status is admiration and respect that you have earned. For example, a high school student who has many friends who is widely perceived as popular. Ascribed Status Ascribed status is status that you have by default through no action of your own.

  22. 23 Achieved Status Examples (2024)

    Achieved Status Examples 1. Rewards and Honors One of the most formal ways to achieve a higher status is to get a reward or certificate that actually states the status that you have achieved. An example is to receive a medal for an athletic achievement.

  23. What Is Ascribed Status?

    An ascribed status is a position in society that a person has as a result of their birth or other circumstances over which they have no control. Ascribed status examples include sex, race, ethnicity, ability, ancestry, and caste. What Is An Ascribed Status Quizlet? ascribed status. Ascribed status is the social status a person is assigned at ...