Read the passage below and answer the questions that follow:
Ravi was a sales assistant in an electronics shop who got a commission for every sale over and above his monthly salary. For the past few months, he had been behaving differently, and his performance was declining. When his boss checked with him, Ravi reported that he heard voices in his head telling him that the customers were spying on him. In fact, he was confident that someone had embedded a chip in his brain. Therefore, he was feeling threatened and deliberately victimized. Ravi's colleagues complained that he often used new and strange words and reacted inappropriately in any situation. One of Ravi's neighbours also shared that Ravi loved kicking and hurting street dogs and would laugh loudly when they were wounded and bled. It seemed that Ravi needed to visit a mental health professional to seek help.
When Ravi kicked and hurt street dogs and laughed when they were wounded and bled, which 'D' of the '4 Ds' of abnormal behavior was he largely exhibiting?
Answer & explanation
Correct answer: option 3
The correct answer is Option (3) → Danger
Option (1) Deviance — Incorrect. Deviant behaviour is different, extreme, unusual, even bizarre. Laughing at a bleeding animal is certainly unusual, but what stands out in Ravi’s act is not its strangeness: it is the harm he does to living beings.
Option (2) Dysfunctional — Incorrect. Dysfunctional behaviour interferes with the person’s ability to carry out daily activities in a constructive way. Ravi’s falling performance at the shop shows dysfunction, but kicking and wounding street dogs is not about failing at daily tasks.
Option (3) Danger — Correct. A disorder is possibly dangerous to the person or to others. Ravi kicks and hurts street dogs until they are wounded and bleed, and enjoys it. Such violent behaviour causes real harm to others, so the ‘D’ he largely shows is danger.
Option (4) Distress — Incorrect. Distressing behaviour is unpleasant and upsetting to the person and to others. Ravi is not upset by what he does; he laughs loudly, so this act does not show distress in him.
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).…” |