These days many people have adopted fad diets as they find them to be favored by many people. This may be because of a psychological phenomenon in which people do something because everybody else is also doing it regardless of their own beliefs. This is the phenomenon of.
Answer & explanation
Correct answer: option 2
The correct answer is Option (2) → Bandwagon Effect
Option (1) Group Think — Incorrect. Groupthink, described by Irving Janis, is a consequence of extreme cohesiveness: a group’s concern for unanimity overrides the motivation to realistically appraise courses of action, leading to irrational and uncritical decisions. It is about decisions taken inside a close group, not about following a popular trend.
Option (2) Bandwagon Effect — Correct. When people find others also favouring a view, they feel that the view is validated by the public; this is a sort of bandwagon effect. People adopt fad diets because so many others are on them, whatever their own beliefs.
Option (3) Social Inhibition — Incorrect. Social inhibition is the decline in performance of unfamiliar or new tasks in the presence of others, because of arousal and evaluation apprehension. It concerns how well one performs before others, not copying what others do.
Option (4) Social Facilitation — Incorrect. Social facilitation is the improvement in performance in the presence of others, who cause arousal and motivate an individual who is already good at a task. It too is about performance, not about adopting a popular practice.
Note 1: The term in Option (3), ‘social inhibition’, was there in the pre-rationalised NCERT, which NTA followed in 2023, and is not there in the NCERT book (2025-26).
Note 2: A similar question was also asked in CUET (UG) 2023 on 15-06-2023 (Slot 3).
Note 3: A similar question was also asked in CUET (UG) 2025 on 16-05-2025 (Slot 1), 20-05-2025 (Slot 1) and 28-05-2025 (Slot 1), and in CUET (UG) 2026 on 15-05-2026 (Slot 1) and 31-05-2026 (Slot 1).
NCERT (2025-26): “Group Polarisation … When you find others also favouring capital punishment, you feel that this view is validated by the public. This is a sort of bandwagon effect.…” “Social Loafing … Social facilitation research suggests that presence of others leads to arousal and can motivate individuals to enhance their performance if they are already good at solving something. This enhancement occurs when a person’s efforts are individually evaluated.…” |