Which of the following is the odd one out with respect to ascriptive…

Which of the following is the odd one out with respect to ascriptive identity?

Answer & explanation

Correct answer: option 4

The correct answer is Option (4) → Belonging to a professional body

Option (1) Belonging to a religious faith — Incorrect. Religion is an ascriptive identity. We are usually born into a faith, so this membership comes by birth and not by any test.

Option (2) Belonging to a home region — Incorrect. A home region is also ascriptive. No one chooses the region they are born into, yet it becomes part of who they are.

Option (3) Belonging to a mother tongue community — Incorrect. Our community gives us our mother tongue in childhood. This belonging comes by birth and needs no skill, so it is ascriptive.

Option (4) Belonging to a professional body — Correct. Membership of a professional body is earned. A person must pass exams and show competence first, so it is an acquired identity and not one based on birth.

NCERT (2026-27): “6.1 The Importance of Community Identity …
Community identity is based on birth and ‘belonging’ rather than on some form of acquired qualifications or ‘accomplishment’. It is what we ‘are’ rather than what we have ‘become’. We don’t have to do anything to be born into a community – in fact, no one has any choice about which family or community or country they are born into. These kinds of identities are called ‘ascriptive’ – that is, they are determined by the birth and do not involve any choice on the part of the individuals concerned. It is an odd fact of social life that people feel a deep sense of security and satisfaction in belonging to communities in which their membership is entirely accidental. We often identify so strongly with communities we have done noting to ‘deserve’ - passed no exam, demonstrated no skill or competence... This is very unlike belonging to, say, a profession or team. Doctors or architects have to pass exams and demonstrate their competence. Even in sports, a certain level of skill and performance are a necessary pre-condition for membership in a team. But our membership in our families or religious or regional communities is without preconditions, and yet it is total. …”