Practicing Success

Target Exam

CUET

Subject

Sociology

Chapter

Indian Society: Challenges of Cultural Diversity

Question:

In sociology minority also implies:

Options:

Numerical distinction

Relative advantage

Collectivity having group solidarity

Dominance

Correct Answer:

Collectivity having group solidarity

Explanation:

The correct answer is Option (3) - Collectivity having group solidarity.

The notion of minority groups is widely used in sociology and is more than a merely numerical distinction – it usually involves some sense of relative disadvantage. Thus, privileged minorities such as extremely wealthy people are not usually referred to as minorities; if they are, the term is qualified in some way, as in the phrase ‘privileged minority’. When minority is used without qualification, it generally implies a relatively small but also disadvantaged group.

The sociological sense of minority also implies that the members of the minority form a collectivity – that is, they have a strong sense of group solidarity, a feeling of togetherness and belonging. This is linked to disadvantage because the experience of being subjected to prejudice and discrimination usually heightens feelings of intra-group loyalty and interests (Giddens 2001:248). Thus, groups that may be minorities in a statistical sense, such as people who are left-handed or people born on 29th February, are not minorities in the sociological sense because they do not form a collectivity.