Please read the passage and answer the questions that follow.
A popular Bollywood movie 'Lagan' portrays India before Independence. Indians were ruled by the Britishers for many years. They were denied basic rights. The common and the lower strata of the society were not provided the privilege of education as the Britishers felt that 'Indians are not good enough'. They deliberately gave Indians less qualified jobs and kept highly qualified jobs for themselves.
Britishers deliberately gave Indians unqualified jobs. This shows _____, a behavioural component.
Answer & explanation
Correct answer: option 2
The correct answer is Option (2) → Discrimination
Option (1) Hatred — Incorrect. The cognitive component of prejudice is often accompanied by dislike or hatred, the affective component. Hatred is a feeling; the question asks for the behavioural component.
Option (2) Discrimination — Correct. Prejudice may get translated into discrimination, the behavioural component, whereby people behave in a less positive way towards a particular target group compared to another group which they favour. Giving Indians less qualified jobs and keeping the highly qualified jobs for themselves is such unequal treatment in action.
Option (3) Dislike — Incorrect. Like hatred, dislike is part of the affective component, the feeling side of prejudice, not a way of behaving.
Option (4) Negative — Incorrect. ‘Negative’ only describes the direction of an attitude; prejudices are usually negative. It is not a component of prejudice at all.
NCERT (2025-26): “Prejudice and Discrimination … Prejudices are examples of attitudes towards a particular group. They are usually negative, and in many cases, may be based on stereotypes (the cognitive component) about the specific group. As will be discussed below in the section on social cognition, a stereotype is a cluster of ideas regarding the characteristics of a specific group. All members belonging to this group are assumed to possess these characteristics. Often, stereotypes consist of undesirable characteristics about the target group, and they lead to negative attitudes or prejudices towards members of specific groups. The cognitive component of prejudice is frequently accompanied by dislike or hatred, the affective component. Prejudice may also get translated into discrimination, the behavioural component, whereby people behave in a less positive way towards a particular target group compared to another group which they favour.…” |