A status shift is the transition from one social status to another one. Some statuses are mutually exclusive, like military or civilian, laicos or religious, noble or commoner. Other statuses are not mutually exclusive, but contextual. One of the identities might be used in certain settings, while the other is used in different settings where the other status is unfavorable, undesirable, or unnecessary.
Stephen Colbert used the phrase in a taped interview with Harvard students in December 2006, briefly elaborating that all jokes contain status shifts . Stephen Colbert is a satirical television pundit who plays the character of a conservative, whose views contradict the actor's.
This is called situational negotiation of social identity; when ethnic identity is flexible and situational, it can become an achieved status. Shifting ethnic affiliations is when an ethnic group may move through levels of culture as they negotiate their identities. Ascribed status is associated with a position in the social–political hierarchy in many societies. Minority groups with inferior power and less secure access to resources are subordinate to majority groups. Ethnic groups help create races; in turn, discrimination against such a group is called racism.
Famous quotes containing the words status and/or shift:
“What is clear is that Christianity directed increased attention to childhood. For the first time in history it seemed important to decide what the moral status of children was. In the midst of this sometimes excessive concern, a new sympathy for children was promoted. Sometimes this meant criticizing adults. . . . So far as parents were put on the defensive in this way, the beginning of the Christian era marks a revolution in the child’s status.”
—C. John Sommerville (20th century)
“The shift from the perception of the child as innocent to the perception of the child as competent has greatly increased the demands on contemporary children for maturity, for participating in competitive sports, for early academic achievement, and for protecting themselves against adults who might do them harm. While children might be able to cope with any one of those demands taken singly, taken together they often exceed children’s adaptive capacity.”
—David Elkind (20th century)