Arrange the process of attitude change in the correct sequence according to the two-step concept:
(A) Sukriti gives up soft drinks and starts consuming a healthy drink.
(B) Since the sports person has positive feelings for his fans, he changes his own habit of consuming the soft drink and starts advertising a health drink.
(C) Sukriti reads in the newspaper that a particular soft drink that she enjoys is extremely harmful.
(D) Sukriti sees that her favourite sportsperson has been advertising the same soft drink.
(E) Sukriti has identified herself with the sportsperson and imitates him.
Choose the correct answer from the options given below:
Answer & explanation
Correct answer: option 4
The correct answer is Option (4) → (C), (D), (E), (B), (A)
The two-step concept of S.M. Mohsin says that attitude change takes place in two steps. In the first step the target identifies with the source, that is, likes and regards her or him. In the second step the source herself or himself changes her or his behaviour towards the attitude object, and the target, observing this, changes too.
(C) Sukriti reads that the soft drink she enjoys is extremely harmful — first. This is the starting point: Sukriti has a positive attitude towards the drink, and some information against it.
(D) Sukriti sees that her favourite sportsperson has been advertising the same soft drink — second. The source, the sportsperson, enters the picture.
(E) Sukriti has identified herself with the sportsperson and imitates him — third. The target identifies with the source, the base of step one.
(B) The sportsperson, who has positive feelings for his fans, changes his own habit and advertises a health drink — fourth. The source shows positive feelings for the target and changes his own behaviour (Step I).
(A) Sukriti gives up soft drinks and starts consuming a healthy drink — last. Observing the source’s changed behaviour, the target changes her attitude and behaviour (Step II), a kind of imitation or observational learning.
Note: This question is built on NCERT’s own example of two-step attitude change; only the girl’s name has been changed from Preeti to Sukriti.
NCERT (2025-26): “Process of Attitude Change … The two-step concept was proposed by S.M. Mohsin, an Indian psychologist. According to him, attitude change takes place in the form of two steps. In the first step, the target of change identifies with the source. The ‘target’ is the person whose attitude is to be changed. The ‘source’ is the person through whose influence the change is to take place. Identification means that the target has liking and regard for the source. S/he puts herself/ himself in the place of the target, and tries to feel like her/him. The source must also have a positive attitude towards the target, and the regard and attraction becomes mutual. In the second step, the source herself/himself shows an attitude change, by actually changing her/him behaviour towards the attitude object. Observing the source’s changed attitude and behaviour, the target also shows an attitude change through behaviour. This is a kind of imitation or observational learning. Consider the following example of two-step attitude change. Preeti reads in the newspapers that a particular soft drink that she enjoys is extremely harmful. But Preeti sees that her favourite sportsperson has been advertising the same soft drink. She has identified herself with the sportsperson, and would like to imitate her/him. Now, suppose the sportsperson wishes to change people’s attitude towards this soft drink from positive to negative. The sportsperson must first show positive feelings for her/his fans, and then actually change her/his own habit of consuming that soft drink (Step I) — perhaps by substituting it with a health drink. If the sportsperson actually changes her/his behaviour, it is very likely that now Preeti will also change her attitude and behaviour, and stop consuming the harmful soft drink (Step II).…” |