Sociology as a discipline teaches how to look at one's self "from the outside". This can be termed :
Answer & explanation
Correct answer: option 1
The correct answer is Option (1) → Reflexivity
Option (1) Reflexivity — Correct. Sociology can teach you how to look at yourself ‘from the outside’. This is called ‘self-reflexivity’, or sometimes just reflexivity: the ability to reflect upon yourself, to turn your gaze back towards yourself. This self-inspection must be critical, quick to criticise and slow to praise oneself.
Option (2) Subjectivity — Incorrect. Subjectivity means seeing things from one’s own personal feelings and viewpoint, as when a fan thinks his own team is always right. It is the view from the inside, the opposite of looking at oneself from the outside.
Option (3) Cultural perspective — Incorrect. A cultural perspective is a way of seeing things through the values and customs of a culture. It is about how a group sees the world, not about a person turning a critical gaze on himself or herself.
Option (4) Objectivity — Incorrect. Objectivity means judging things as they are, without personal bias, as a fair umpire does. It is about how we look at things in general; the name for looking critically at one’s own self from the outside is reflexivity.
Note: The concepts in Options (2) and (4), ‘subjectivity’ and ‘objectivity’, are not in NCERT (2025-26); explained here for the benefit of the students.
NCERT (2025-26): “What may be of even more interest to you is that sociology can show you what you look like to others; it can teach you how to look at yourself ‘from the outside’, so to speak. This is called ‘self-reflexivity’, or sometimes just reflexivity. This is the ability to reflect upon yourself, to turn back your gaze (which is usually directed outward) back towards yourself. But this self-inspection must be critical – i.e., it should be quick to criticise and slow to praise oneself.” |