A status is the position an individual occupies within a given social group, and largely define their social identity. There are different kinds of statuses, however. An ascribed status is one that is assigned to the individual by their social group on the basis of certain factors. The individual has no control over these factors, such as sex, race, ethnic background, and socioeconomic status. Achieved Status, on the other hand, comes from characteristics or behaviors which are controlled by the individual. Whether a person achieves the status of being a college graduate, the chief executive officer of a corporation, or a felon is largely dependent on their own efforts and behavior. Every individual has many different statuses at the same time; one can be a student, parent, female, and African American simultaneously and each of these groupings has its own status. Master status is the one status that is most significant to a person's social identity. This is often typically the person's occupationùif you are currently in college, for example, your master status is probably that of a student (Mooney, 5-9).
In my life, I have many different kinds of statuses operating simultaneously. My ascribed statuses include being Colombian (and, to a lesser extent, Latino generally) and an immigrant into the United States, having moved here when I was seventeen. When I arrived in the U.S., alone, to work as a babysitter my ascribed status was my master status: I was an immigrant, and though I had a decent job as a babysitter it was my status as an Hispanic immigrant that defined my role in this society.
My master status has evolved, however. After working for a few years, however, I met a wonderful American man and fell in love. We were married this past year. I love my husband very much, and living with his family has taught me much about America and how Americans relate to each other. This wonderful experience changed my ...