In many situations, a person’s role is evident.

But what is it that makes a role evident?

Most often status symbols. As a species, we’ve developed these roles using signifiers of a person’s role and status. Think for example about the details that shape the appearance of a judge, policeman, nurse, etc. That is when status isn’t only a detail of hierarchy, wealth, or identity, it is a detail that helps others know how to address the person and what to expect from that person. That is what their relationship will consist of and how they can assist one another respectively.

When these signifiers don’t exist, it is one’s experience within a group and one’s ability to read the culture of the group that makes existing signifiers perceptible. Often, they can be read and seen by outsiders according to the way others relate to the person and the role they hold.

When neither of both are present, people have to announce their roles or have someone present them as holding their role. This is the moment the person asks for or receives the authority to act and integrates that action into their role. It’s as if the group would accept or ask the person to perform that activity.

When none of this happens, the person may not feel authorized to ask and anxious to do so. As a result, they often prefer to avoid acting. These are the people who remain silent during a meeting and avoid contributing as a reaction to their experience of the group.

Status can simply mean to be perceived as someone who is welcome to speak up. Others may experience a status that makes them feel uncomfortable to speak up.

The role one holds then becomes the person who speaks up, maybe even confronts. Or it becomes the role of the person who remains attentive or keeps their distance.

Considering other people’s roles and status helps us understand why they act like they do. However, the fewer rules a group installed in their culture, the less clarity people have on other people’s status and how this impacts their role.