Role orientations in university and school student youth (based on a sociological study)

The present study examines social roles as a category of sociological science, as well as their role, content, and place in the inner world of a person. Civilizational and cultural changes and changes in social systems including the status and structural alterations lead to modifications in the paradigm of a “social role” and the content of role behavior. The emergence of new phenomena in individuals’ role preferences is to a certain extent determined by the development of the innovation and information space of modern society. This effect is most prominent among young people characterized by a positive attitude to various social changes. Sociological studies conducted among students and pupils in grades 10-11 show the degree of young people’s involvement in specific social roles and the nature of the priority of their choice. The conducted comparative analysis shows the peculiarities of role structure in each group of young people and allows determining the relationship between social statuses and role preferences. Young people’s assessment of the influence of market relations on their role preferences is examined and the peculiarities of this influence are emphasized. Young people’s understanding of the functions of the state in modern Russian society in shaping social roles, as well as their attitude to moral norms and social and legal laws are highlighted. The study proposes a typology of life roles of school students in grades 10-11 and university students.