When Apurva's views on climate change were favoured by others, she fe…

When Apurva's views on climate change were favoured by others, she felt that her stance was validated by the public. This phenomenon is known as:

Answer & explanation

Correct answer: option 1

The correct answer is Option (1) → Bandwagon effect

Option (1) Bandwagon effect — Correct. When you find others also favouring your view, you feel that this view is validated by the public; this is a sort of bandwagon effect. It is one of the three reasons for group polarisation, the tendency of groups to take more extreme decisions than individuals alone.

Option (2) Social facilitation — Incorrect. Social facilitation is the better performance of an individual in the presence of others, whose presence arouses her or him. It has nothing to do with feeling one’s view validated.

Option (3) Social loafing — Incorrect. Social loafing is a reduction in individual effort when working on a collective task whose outputs are pooled. It concerns effort, not how a view gets stronger.

Option (4) Obedience — Incorrect. Obedience is behaving as an order or command of a person in authority requires, as when a student follows the principal’s instruction. Apurva received no order; others only agreed with her view.

Note 1: The concept in Option (4), ‘obedience’, is not in the NCERT book (2023-24), which NTA followed in 2025, and not in the NCERT book (2025-26) either; it was in the pre-rationalised NCERT and is explained here for the benefit of the students.

Note 2: A similar question was also asked in CUET (UG) 2025 on 16-05-2025 (Slot 1) and 20-05-2025 (Slot 1).

Note 3: A similar question was also asked in CUET (UG) 2023 on 15-06-2023 (Slot 3) and 22-06-2023 (Slot 3), and in CUET (UG) 2026 on 15-05-2026 (Slot 1) and 31-05-2026 (Slot 1).

NCERT (2025-26): “Group Polarisation … After this interaction, your views may become stronger. This firm conviction is because of the following three reasons:

In the company of like-minded people, you are likely to hear newer arguments favouring your viewpoints. This will make you more favourable towards capital punishment.
When you find others also favouring capital punishment, you feel that this view is validated by the public. This is a sort of bandwagon effect.
When you find people having similar views, you are likely to perceive them as ingroup. You start identifying with the group, begin showing conformity, and as a consequence your views become strengthened.…”