Anticipatory Socialisation

Anticipatory socialisation is the process of learning and adopting the values, behaviours, and norms of a group or role you expect to join in the future. In US English, it is spelled anticipatory socialization.

For example, a student doing an internship is preparing for the professional world.

The idea, first described by sociologist Robert Merton, helps explain how people reduce uncertainty and smoothly transition into new roles and identities.

Purpose and Function

The main purpose of anticipatory socialisation is to reduce uncertainty and ease the transition into new roles.

By learning expectations in advance, individuals gain the knowledge, skills, and confidence needed to navigate unfamiliar situations.

This preparation makes role changes less stressful, whether that means starting a new job, entering a relationship, or adjusting to parenthood. It also makes them more manageable.

Anticipatory socialisation also supports identity development, as people begin to see themselves in terms of future roles and adapt their behaviour accordingly.

In this way, it acts as a bridge between past experience and upcoming responsibility.

The process is often associated with adolescence, when young people spend significant time planning or being educated for the future roles they aspire to occupy.

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Examples

• Internships and Work Experience: Students take internships, part-time jobs, or volunteer positions to practice the norms and skills of their future careers.
• Education to Employment: High school or college students may dress more formally, network, or adopt professional behaviours as they prepare to enter the workforce.
• Dating and Marriage: Couples who date or live together before marriage are rehearsing the expectations and responsibilities of married life.
• Parenthood Preparation: Expectant parents may read parenting books, attend classes, or set up a nursery in advance of the child’s arrival.
• Retirement Planning: Adults prepare for later life by saving money, researching healthcare, and imagining new roles outside of work.
• Cultural Transitions: Immigrants may learn a new language, study cultural customs, or join community groups before moving to another country.
• Workplace Onboarding: Realistic job previews, onboarding materials, and pre-hire mentoring give new hires accurate expectations before their first day (Feldman, 1976).
• Healthcare Training: Clinical placements, simulation training, and shadowing let nursing and medical students rehearse the clinical role before they qualify.
• Military Training: Uniforms, drill, and simulated scenarios instil an institution’s norms and hierarchy in recruits well before deployment.
• Rites of Passage: Ceremonies such as a Bar or Bat Mitzvah, or a quinceañera, publicly validate changes in status and can act as forms of anticipatory socialisation by marking preparation for adult responsibilities.

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Theories and Origins

The concept of anticipatory socialisation was first introduced by sociologist Robert K. Merton in the 1940s (Merton, 1949).

Merton observed that people often begin to adopt the attitudes, values, and behaviours of groups they aspire to join, even before they gain formal membership.

This idea fits within the broader framework of socialisation theory, which explains how individuals learn and internalise the norms and expectations of society.

Merton showed that socialisation does not stop in childhood. By “rehearsing” future roles, people prepare for new statuses throughout life (Brim, 1966).

Symbolic interactionism, explained below, is not the only account of why people rehearse future roles. Three related theories locate the mechanism elsewhere.

• Social Learning Theory: Bandura (1977) explains rehearsal through observational learning. People attend to a model, retain what they see, and reproduce it, especially when the model is rewarded.
• Organisational Stage Models: Van Maanen and Schein (1979) and Feldman (1976) treat it as the first stage of workplace entry. Encounter and role management follow.
• Social Identity Theory: Tajfel and Turner (1979) point to self-categorisation instead. Seeing yourself as a future member of a category can be enough to trigger its norms.

This is a genuine disagreement about mechanism, not a relabelling. Reference-group theory assumes comparison with an actual group, whereas self-categorisation predicts that direct exposure is not necessary.

How does symbolic interactionism explain anticipatory socialisation?

Symbolic interactionism offers a micro-level perspective on socialisation, focusing on the day-to-day interactions between individuals and the shared meanings and symbols exchanged.

These interactions are fundamental for developing both a self-concept and an understanding of society.

From the perspective of symbolic interactionism, anticipatory socialisation highlights the active role individuals play in shaping their identities.

People use symbols, meanings, and interactions to “rehearse” future roles, such as imagining themselves in a new status or modelling their behaviour on others.

Socialisation is not only imposed from outside. It also involves self-directed learning and interpretation as people prepare for life transitions.

Development of Self-Concept and Role-Taking

A central idea in symbolic interactionism is that individuals develop a self-concept through social interaction. Cooley (1902) called this the looking-glass self.

Our sense of who we are is built from how we imagine others see us.

People imagine how they appear to others, consider how others might judge them, and then shape their behaviour accordingly.

In anticipatory socialisation, this involves mentally assuming the perspective of others or imagining oneself in a future role. Mead (1934) called this role-taking.

Individuals engage in “internal conversations” about how others might respond to their anticipated behaviours and adjust their actions in preparation.

Mead (1934) traced how role-taking develops. A child first takes the perspective of specific people, such as a parent or teacher. Later it widens into the generalised other: an internalised sense of what people in general, or an organised group, expect.

Adopting the outlook of a whole profession, family or institution is this mechanism at work. It is more than copying one role model. That is why anticipatory socialisation usually targets a group’s shared norms.

Active Construction of Identity

Symbolic interactionists emphasise that people are active and creative agents in their own socialisation.

When preparing for a new role, individuals observe and interpret the symbols, language, gestures, and behaviours associated with that role.

This process allows them to actively construct their identity and shape their own social reality in advance of entering a new environment.

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Reference Groups

A reference group is a group people compare themselves to. Its norms and values become a standard for guiding their own behaviour and attitudes.

People may use a reference group to evaluate their appearance, ideas, or goals. This holds even for groups they have not yet joined but aspire to be part of.

Reference groups are a direct source of anticipatory socialisation. They allow individuals to practice and internalise the expectations of new roles before formally assuming them, enabling smoother transitions across different stages of life.

The Role of Reference Groups in Anticipatory Socialisation

• Guiding Behaviour and Attitudes: Individuals observe a group representing a desired future role and adopt its norms and attitudes. Teenagers, for instance, use peers to evaluate themselves, sometimes abandoning older behaviours.
• Role Modelling: Reference groups provide role models for imitation. A small child who dreams of becoming an astronaut may dress and play like one, and students may emulate a “cool clique.”
• Professional and Life Transitions: Before major life changes, people turn to reference groups. College seniors, for example, may wear suits and discuss business with graduated friends or recruiters.
• Media as a Reference Group: The mass media can also function as a reference group, influencing individuals by presenting lifestyles, norms, and expectations that shape aspirations. Television, social media, and advertising provide powerful images of what is considered desirable or appropriate in future roles.

The American Soldier Study

Merton and Kitt (1950) built the reference-group idea from The American Soldier, a vast wartime survey of US soldiers (Stouffer et al., 1949).

Relative deprivation is feeling worse off than your comparison group. In the Military Police, promotion was rare for almost everyone, so few comparable peers had been promoted.

This reanalysis supplied the vocabulary that Merton (1949) extended into anticipatory socialisation. If people orient themselves towards groups they have not yet joined, they can adopt those groups’ norms in advance.

The account is influential but post hoc. Merton and Kitt reanalysed survey data collected to manage wartime morale, and no experiment manipulated reference groups, so the causal story remains an interpretation.

The sample was also entirely male and drawn from a single mid-century conscript army.

A Contemporary Extension

Recent research extends the mechanism well beyond that army. Personal relative deprivation is resentment at believing oneself worse off than similar others. Across eight studies with 6,729 participants, it predicted a more external locus of control (Callan et al., 2025).

An external locus of control is the belief that luck or circumstances, not effort, govern outcomes. The finding does not test anticipatory socialisation itself. It does show the comparison process at work in diverse, contemporary samples.

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Critical Evaluation

Contemporary Research

Recent research on anticipatory socialisation has moved from general sociology into applied fields: organisational psychology, nursing education, and family communication. In these fields the pattern Merton described, people starting to become what they are not yet formally part of, can be measured in real outcomes.

Three themes stand out: workplace adjustment, reality gaps in professional transition, and structural constraints on access.

Newcomer Adjustment at Work

Organisational research treats anticipatory learning before a job starts as the opening stage of a longer newcomer-adjustment process.

This is a meta-analysis of 183 samples, so it sits near the top of the evidence hierarchy for this theme. Weight it more heavily than the single studies below.

Reality Shock in Nursing Transitions

A second line of research tests the caveat that rehearsal does not guarantee accuracy.

In a survey of 712 newly graduated Finnish nurses, the quality of the final clinical placement was associated with psychological distress and role conflict. It was also associated with intention to leave the profession (Kaihlanen et al., 2020).

Strain during the transition statistically mediated the association. The design is cross-sectional, so causal direction is uncertain. Even so, the finding suggests that the adequacy of rehearsal matters, not merely whether it happened.

Structural Barriers to Preparation

Interviews with 40 undocumented college students in the US explored parental career messages (Kim et al., 2026). Legal, cultural and family factors shaped which messages were sent.

The authors proposed an ecological model of vocational anticipatory socialisation, covering how students received those messages too. Because it is a qualitative study, its value lies in showing how structural exclusion narrows the channel, not in establishing prevalence.

Overall Weight of Evidence

The evidence is uneven. It is strongest for workplace entry, where a large meta-analysis anchors the pattern. It is weaker for professional transition and unequal access, which rest on single studies or small qualitative samples. Both themes need replication and prospective designs.

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Expectations vs Reality

One criticism of anticipatory socialisation is that expectations do not always match reality.

Individuals may prepare for a role based on idealised or second-hand information.

For example, students who imagine a career in medicine from television dramas may develop inaccurate assumptions about what the role involves.

This means their preparation may not actually equip them for the demands of the real role.

This mismatch has a name. Reality shock is the disorientation newcomers feel when pre-entry expectations do not survive contact with an unfamiliar setting (Louis, 1980). Nurses show the cost. Placement quality has been linked to newly graduated nurses’ distress and turnover intentions (Kaihlanen et al., 2020).

When reality clashes with expectations, the result can be stress, disappointment, or even disillusionment with the role.

This limits the usefulness of anticipatory socialisation, since preparation does not always translate into smoother transitions.

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Unequal Access

Anticipatory socialisation is not equally available to everyone.

People from more privileged backgrounds often have greater access to internships, role models, or financial resources that allow them to prepare for future roles.

For example, wealthier students may afford unpaid internships that build experience, whereas others cannot.

Money is not the only barrier. Legal status, culture and family ties shaped which career messages parents passed on, according to interviews with 40 undocumented US students (Kim et al., 2026).

This inequality means anticipatory socialisation can reinforce existing social class differences rather than reduce them.

It highlights a limitation in applying the concept universally, as not all groups benefit equally from the process.

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Stress and Anxiety

Preparing for new roles can sometimes create stress rather than reduce it.

Over-preparation may heighten worries about the challenges of the role, leading to unnecessary anxiety.

For instance, expectant parents who over-consume information on infant care may feel overwhelmed rather than reassured.

Physiology adds a complication. A Finnish study tracked hair cortisol, a marker of long-term stress-hormone exposure, across the retirement transition (Kuusento et al., 2025).

Most retirees’ levels stayed stable. A minority showed a rise or a fluctuating pattern, and these differences were not explained by how stressful their pre-retirement jobs had been. The study did not measure preparation. So it complicates rather than refutes the idea that rehearsal buffers stress.

This suggests anticipatory socialisation does not always function as a positive adaptation process. In some cases, it can hinder adjustment and well-being, showing that its effects are context-dependent.

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Over-Reliance on Reference Groups

Using reference groups in anticipatory socialisation can lead to distorted learning.

Teenagers often model themselves on slightly older peers or aspirational groups. These reference groups can mislead. They may not reflect the actual values and norms of future roles.

For example, adolescents imitating “college culture” portrayed in media may adopt unrealistic or even maladaptive behaviours.

This reliance may cause individuals to internalise inappropriate expectations, making future transitions more difficult rather than easier.

Reference groups are not always accurate guides.

Reference-group theory also struggles when no clear reference group exists. Social identity theory offers a rival route. Classifying yourself as a future member of a category can trigger its norms without comparison (Tajfel & Turner, 1979).

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References and Further Reading

• Bandura, A. (1977). Social learning theory. Prentice-Hall.
• Bauer, T. N., Erdogan, B., Ellis, A. M., Truxillo, D. M., Brady, G. M., & Bodner, T. (2025). New horizons for newcomer organizational socialization: A review, meta-analysis, and future research directions. Journal of Management, 51(1), 344–382. https://doi.org/10.1177/01492063241277168
• Brim, O. G. (1966). Socialization through the life cycle. In O. G. Brim & S. Wheeler (Eds.), Socialization after childhood. Wiley.
• Callan, M. J., Sutton, R. M., Chobthamkit, P., Yeung, V. W. L., Leung, F. Y. N., Asano, R., Beattie, P., Bernardo, A. B. I., Boonroungrut, C., Chang, J.-H., Chaudhuri, A., Chien, C.-L., Choi, H.-S., Cui, L., Du, H., English, A. S., Fuji, K., Hitokoto, H., Iida, J., . . . Skylark, W. J. (2025). Personal relative deprivation and locus of control. Journal of Personality, 93(4), 845–865. https://doi.org/10.1111/jopy.12980
• Cooley, C. H. (1902). Human nature and the social order. Scribner’s.
• Feldman, D. C. (1976). A contingency theory of socialization. Administrative Science Quarterly, 21(3), 433–452. https://doi.org/10.2307/2391853
• Giddens, A. (2021). Sociology (10th ed.). Polity Press.
• Kaihlanen, A.-M., Elovainio, M., Haavisto, E., Salminen, L., & Sinervo, T. (2020). Final clinical practicum, transition experience and turnover intentions among newly graduated nurses: A cross sectional study. Nurse Education Today, 84, Article 104245. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.nedt.2019.104245
• Kim, K., Kam, J. A., & Munguia, D. (2026). Undocumented college students’ career-related communication with their parents and the ecological vocational anticipatory socialization model. Journal of Communication, 76(2), 147–159. https://doi.org/10.1093/joc/jqaf052
• Kuusento, K., Kortesluoma, S., Myllyntausta, S., Vahtera, J., Karlsson, L., & Stenholm, S. (2025). Changes in hair cortisol during retirement transition: The Finnish retirement and aging study. Comprehensive Psychoneuroendocrinology, 24, Article 100325. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.cpnec.2025.100325
• Levinson, D. J. (1978). The seasons of a man’s life. Knopf.
• Louis, M. R. (1980). Surprise and sense making: What newcomers experience in entering unfamiliar organizational settings. Administrative Science Quarterly, 25(2), 226–251. https://doi.org/10.2307/2392453
• Mead, G. H. (1934). Mind, self, and society: From the standpoint of a social behaviorist. University of Chicago Press.
• Merton, R. K. (1949). Social theory and social structure. Free Press.
• Merton, R. K., & Kitt, A. S. (1950). Contributions to the theory of reference group behavior. In R. K. Merton & P. F. Lazarsfeld (Eds.), Continuities in social research: Studies in the scope and method of “The American Soldier” (pp. 40–105). Free Press.
• Ritzer, G. (2020). Introduction to sociology. Sage Publications.
• Stouffer, S. A., Suchman, E. A., DeVinney, L. C., Star, S. A., & Williams, R. M., Jr. (1949). The American soldier: Adjustment during army life (Vol. 1). Princeton University Press.
• Tajfel, H., & Turner, J. C. (1979). An integrative theory of intergroup conflict. In W. G. Austin & S. Worchel (Eds.), The social psychology of intergroup relations (pp. 33–47). Brooks/Cole.
• Van Maanen, J., & Schein, E. H. (1979). Toward a theory of organizational socialization. Research in Organizational Behavior, 1, 209–264.