A college in Pune plans to ban mobile phones in classrooms. The student council asks students to rate the plan on a 5-point scale: 1 (Very bad), 2 (Bad), 3 (Neutral), 4 (Good) and 5 (Very good). Riya, who feels her phone helps her study, gives the plan a 1. Kabir, who is often distracted by his phone, gives it a 5. Tanvi gives it a 2 and Imran gives it a 4. The council now wants to compare these four views before taking a decision.
Which of the following conclusions about the four students' attitudes towards the ban is correct?
Answer & explanation
Correct answer: option 4
The correct answer is Option (4) → Riya and Kabir hold equally strong attitudes, differing only in their valence.
Option (1) Kabir holds a stronger attitude than Riya, as his rating is the higher of the two. — Incorrect. A higher number shows the positive direction. A rating of 5 is as far from neutral as a rating of 1, so Kabir's attitude is <strong>not more extreme</strong> than Riya's.
Option (2) Tanvi and Imran hold attitudes of the same valence, as both are equally far from neutral. — Incorrect. Tanvi (2) and Imran (4) are equally extreme, but 2 is negative and 4 is positive. So their <strong>valence is opposite</strong>.
Option (3) Riya and Tanvi hold equally strong attitudes, as both of them are against the ban. — Incorrect. Both views are negative, so they share the same valence. But a rating of 1 is <strong>more extreme</strong> than a rating of 2, so their strength is not equal.
Option (4) Riya and Kabir hold equally strong attitudes, differing only in their valence. — Correct. <strong>Extremeness</strong> tells how positive or negative an attitude is. Ratings of 1 and 5 lie at the two ends of the scale, so they are <strong>equally extreme</strong>. They differ only in direction, which is valence.
NCERT (2026-27): “NATURE AND COMPONENTS OF ATTITUDES … |