What does the sociological sense of minority imply?

Answer & explanation

Correct answer: option 2

The correct answer is Option (2) → Feeling of being disadvantaged as a group

Option (1) Weak sense of group solidarity — Incorrect. It is the reverse. The sociological sense of minority implies that its members have a strong sense of group solidarity, a feeling of togetherness and belonging. The experience of prejudice and discrimination usually heightens this loyalty to the group.

Option (2) Feeling of being disadvantaged as a group — Correct. In sociology, minority is more than a merely numerical distinction: it usually involves some sense of relative disadvantage. That is why very wealthy people are not called a minority without a qualifying word (a ‘privileged minority’). Used plainly, the word means a group that is relatively small and also disadvantaged.

Option (3) Less in population (number) — Incorrect. Being fewer in number makes a group a minority only in a statistical sense. Left-handed people, or people born on 29th February, are few, but they are not a minority in the sociological sense.

Option (4) Do not form collectivity — Incorrect. Members of a minority in the sociological sense do form a collectivity: they share a strong feeling of togetherness and belonging, and their shared disadvantage binds them closer.

NCERT (2025-26): “6.3 Religion-related Issues and Identities … 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 lefthanded or people born on 29th February, are not minorities in the sociological sense because they do not form a collectivity.”