Which of the following is NOT a criterion of 4Ds of abnormality?
Answer & explanation
Correct answer: option 4
The correct answer is Option (4) → Dissociation
Most definitions of abnormality share the ‘four Ds’: deviance, distress, dysfunction and danger.
Option (1) Deviance — One of the four Ds (Incorrect). Disordered behaviour is deviant: different, extreme, unusual, even bizarre.
Option (2) Danger — One of the four Ds (Incorrect). Disordered behaviour is possibly dangerous to the person or to others.
Option (3) Distress — One of the four Ds (Incorrect). Disordered behaviour is distressing: unpleasant and upsetting to the person and to others.
Option (4) Dissociation — Not one of the four Ds (Correct). Dissociation is the severance of the connections between ideas and emotions, with feelings of unreality, estrangement and sometimes a loss or shift of identity. It is the mark of one group of disorders, the dissociative disorders, not a criterion used to define abnormality in general. The fourth D is dysfunction, behaviour that interferes with the ability to carry out daily activities.
NCERT (2025-26): “Concepts of Abnormality and Psychological Disorders … Although many definitions of abnormality have been used over the years, none has won universal acceptance. Still, most definitions have certain common features, often called the ‘four Ds’: deviance, distress, dysfunction and danger. That is, psychological disorders are deviant (different, extreme, unusual, even bizarre), distressing (unpleasant and upsetting to the person and to others), dysfunctional (interfering with the person’s ability to carry out daily activities in a constructive way), and possibly dangerous (to the person or to others).…” |