Which of the following are the ‘preventive checks’ as described by the Malthusian theory of population growth?
(A) Famines.
(B) Practicing sexual abstinence.
(C) Celibacy.
(D) Postponing marriage.
Choose the correct answer from the options given below:
Answer & explanation
Correct answer: option 4
The correct answer is Option (4) → (B), (C) and (D) only
(A) Famines. Incorrect. Famines and diseases are Malthus’s ‘positive checks’: nature’s way of dealing with the imbalance between food supply and a growing population. They are not chosen by people, so they are not preventive checks.
(B) Practicing sexual abstinence. Correct. Preventive checks are the ways in which humanity can voluntarily reduce the growth of its population, and sexual abstinence is one of them.
(C) Celibacy. Correct. Celibacy is also a voluntary preventive check.
(D) Postponing marriage. Correct. Postponing marriage reduces the years of child-bearing, a third preventive check. Malthus believed humanity’s ability to use these checks was limited, so positive checks were inevitable.
NCERT (2025-26): “The Malthusian Theory of Population Growth … Because population growth always outstrips growth in production of subsistence resources, the only way to increase prosperity is by controlling the growth of population. Unfortunately, humanity has only a limited ability to voluntarily reduce the growth of its population (through ‘preventive checks’ such as postponing marriage or practicing sexual abstinence or celibacy). Malthus believed therefore that ‘positive checks’ to population growth – in the form of famines and diseases – were inevitable because they were nature’s way of dealing with the imbalance between food supply and increasing population.…” |