Which one of the following strategies is not effective in dealing wit…

The correct answer is Option (2) → Encouraging the tendency towards self-fulfilling prophecy among the victims of prejudice

Option (1) Minimising opportunities for learning prejudices — Effective (Incorrect). Prejudice is learnt, so cutting down the chances to learn it attacks one of its sources.

Option (2) Encouraging the tendency towards self-fulfilling prophecy among the victims of prejudice — Not effective (Correct). In a self-fulfilling prophecy the target group behaves in ways that confirm the negative expectations; a group described as ‘dependent’ may act so as to prove the label true, and so strengthens the prejudice. The effective strategy is to discourage this tendency; encouraging it keeps the prejudice going.

Option (3) Changing discriminatory attitudes — Effective (Incorrect). Prejudice is itself an attitude, so changing such attitudes, for example through education and intergroup contact, reduces it.

Option (4) De-emphasising a narrow social identity based on the ingroup — Effective (Incorrect). A strong ingroup identity makes people hold negative attitudes towards outgroups; stressing a broader identity weakens this source of prejudice. It is one of the four aims that make the strategies for handling prejudice effective.

Note: NTA has accepted two answers for this question, Option (2) and Option (4). It seems that NTA is not right in accepting Option (4) “De-emphasising a narrow social identity based on the ingroup”. NCERT says that the strategies for handling prejudice are effective if they aim at four things, and the third of them is “de-emphasising a narrow social identity based on the ingroup”, in the same words as Option (4). So Option (4) is an effective strategy, and it cannot answer a question that asks for the strategy that is not effective. Only Option (2) is supported by the NCERT textbook: NCERT asks for discouraging the tendency towards self-fulfilling prophecy, and the option turns this into encouraging it.