Master status
In sociology, the master status is the social position that is the primary identifying characteristic of an individual. The term master status is defined as "a status that has exceptional importance for social identity, often shaping a person's entire life." In other words, a personal characteristic is a master status when that one characteristic overshadows or even redefines one's other personal characteristics and/or shapes a person's life course. For example a person who is a murderer may also be a kind, gentle, and honest person. But because 'murderer' is often a master status, many people assume all murderers are mean, violent, and dishonest. Being born a man as opposed to a woman shapes a person's entire life course - school, hobbies and sports, occupations, role within the family and at home, as well as roles taken in everyday social situations - all of these things are experienced very differently based upon sex. Master status can be ascribed or achieved.
Ascribed statuses are attributes one is born with—e.g., race, sex, etc. Achieved statuses are gained throughout life—e.g., mom, athlete, spouse, etc. When one of these statuses overpowers the others it can be determined as one's master status. An achieved status that becomes a master status is accompanied by a rite of passage, an important life event where a person is changed from one type of person into another. Marriage is one example, where a person transforms from single to spouse. Public criminal jury trials are another example, where a person transforms into the master status of "criminal."
Origin
Everett Hughes first introduced the notion of master status in the 1940s, and it was the key subject of his address as the 53rd president of the American Sociological Association. In this address, he discussed "the tendency of observers to believe that one label or demographic category is more significant than any other aspect of the observed person's background, behavior or performance", with special reference to race. Everett Hughes presented the concept of Master Status in an article, “Dilemmas and Contradictions of Status” in the American Journal of Sociology. While his concept was influential, the term master status wasn't cited regularly until the 1970s. While it often perceives master status as negative, like race or gender discrimination, this isn't always the case.Description
The master status is often the most important architecture of individual identity. Common characteristics are those of race or ethnicity, gender, sexuality, physical ability, age, economic standing, religion or spirituality, and education. Others include raising children, employment status; and disability or mental illness.In perception, an individual's master status supersedes other identifying traits; for example, if a woman feels that her role as a mother is more important than her role as a woman, a daughter, etc., she is more likely to identify herself as a mother and to identify with other women who label themselves as such. An individual's master status dominates how they are perceived by others and their behavior towards them. For example, if a woman feels that her role as a mother is relatively unimportant to her identity, it will still be a master status if she is living in a community or society that treats motherhood as a master status, because she will be treated by others primarily according to her characteristics as a mother. More than other aspects of the status set, the master status affects how the individual behaves and how others behave with respect to them. For example, conversation analysis shows that men tend to interrupt conversation much more than women. It also shows that men and women are on average treated differently when they interrupt: women are much more likely to be treated negatively for interrupting.