Sanskritisation as a social process is based on which of the followin…

The correct answer is Option (3) → Reference group model

Option (1) Urbanisation model — Incorrect. Urbanisation is the growth of towns and cities and the shift of people into them. Sanskritisation is not about moving to towns; it goes on in villages as much as anywhere.

Option (2) Modernity model — Incorrect. Modernisation means improvement in technology and production and, later, a change towards rational and scientific values. Sanskritisation copies an old, ritual style of life, the opposite direction.

Option (3) Reference group model — Correct. A reference group is the group which an individual or group wants to be like, and whose ways of dress and behaviour it therefore adopts; it usually holds a dominant position. In Sanskritisation a ‘low’ caste or tribe takes over the customs, ritual, beliefs and style of life of a high, twice-born caste. The high caste is its reference group.

Option (4) Caste model — Incorrect. Caste is the setting in which Sanskritisation takes place, but caste is a system of ranked groups, not the idea that explains why a group copies another; that idea is the reference group.