Read the passage below and answer the questions that follow:-
Just as individuals compare themselves with others in terms of similarities and differences with respect to what they have and what others have, individuals also compare the group they belong to with groups of which they are not a member. It has been found that groups are more likely to take extreme decisions than individuals alone. Suppose there is an employee who has been caught taking a bribe or engaging in some other unethical act. His/her colleagues are asked to decide what punishment he/she should be given. They may let him/her go scot-free or decide to terminate his/her services instead of imposing a punishment which may commensurate with the unethical act he/she had engaged in. Whatever the initial position in the group, this position becomes much stronger as a result of discussions and interaction in the group.
The strengthening of the group's initial position as a result of group discussion and interaction is referred to as:
Answer & explanation
Correct answer: option 1
The correct answer is Option (1) → Group polarisation
Option (1) Group polarisation — Correct. Groups are more likely to take extreme decisions than individuals alone. Colleagues deciding the punishment of an employee caught taking a bribe may either let her/him go scot-free or terminate her/his services; whatever the initial position, discussion makes it much stronger. This strengthening of the group’s initial position is group polarisation.
Option (2) Groupthink — Incorrect. Groupthink is a tendency of a highly cohesive group to show the appearance of consensus: no one voices dissent for fear of breaking the group’s unity, and decisions become irrational and uncritical. Its mark is false agreement, not a move to a stronger position.
Option (3) Obedience — Incorrect. Obedience is behaviour shown in response to a person in authority: one carries out an instruction or an order, as when a student signs a letter because a senior teacher asks her/him to. Nobody gives an order in the group discussion of the question.
Option (4) Social loafing — Incorrect. Social loafing is a reduction in individual effort when working on a collective task whose outputs are pooled, as in a tug-of-war. It is about effort, not about how strong a group’s position becomes.
Note 1: The concept in Option (3), ‘obedience’, is not in the NCERT book (2023-24), which NTA followed in 2025, and not in NCERT (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) 2026 on 06-06-2026 (Slot 1).
NCERT (2025-26): “Social Loafing … Social loafing is a reduction in individual effort when working on a collective task, i.e. one in which outputs are pooled with those of other group members.…” “Group Polarisation … Groups show another tendency referred to as ‘group polarisation’. It has been found that groups are more likely to take extreme decisions than individuals alone. Suppose there is an employee who has been caught taking bribe or engaging in some other unethical act. Her/his colleagues are asked to decide on what punishment s/ he should be given. They may let her/ him go scot-free or decide to terminate her/his services instead of imposing a punishment which may be commensurate with the unethical act s/ he had engaged in. Whatever the initial position in the group, this position becomes much stronger as a result of discussions in the group. This strengthening of the group’s initial position as a result of group interaction and discussion is referred to as group polarisation. This may sometimes have dangerous repercussions as groups may take extreme positions, i.e. from very weak to very strong decisions.…” |