Master status

In Sociology, 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."

Everett Hughes (sociologist), known for his informal tone of writing consisting of fragmentary data and student material, formulated the term master status in the 1940s and was the key subject of his address as the 53rd president of the American Sociological Association. In his address, he described the term as "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.  Like Everett Hughes, American psychologist Gordon Allport was also interested in the study of personality and social identity. Having a distinct idea on what the term master status means, Allport believes in the idea that individuals belong to a variety of social identity groups over different time periods and "possess many diverse social identities," most of which are linked to a host of stereotypes.

The master status is often the most important architecture of individual identity. Common characteristics are those of race or ethnicity, sex, sexual orientation, 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. More than other aspects of the status set, the master status affects how the individual behaves and how others behave with respect to them.

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