Which of the following characterises the concept of 'Social Stratific…

Which of the following characterises the concept of 'Social Stratification'?

(A) It is supported by belief or ideology.
(B) It is only found in caste-based societies.
(C) It persists over generations.
(D) People with more privileges support the system of stratification.

Choose the correct answer from the options given below:

Answer & explanation

Correct answer: option 2

The correct answer is Option (2) → (A), (C) and (D) only

(A) It is supported by belief or ideology. Correct. Social stratification is a system by which categories of people are ranked in a hierarchy. It is supported by patterns of belief, or ideology: no such system lasts unless it is widely seen as fair or inevitable, as caste is justified by the opposition of purity and pollution.

(B) It is only found in caste-based societies. Incorrect. Stratification is a characteristic of society in general, a society-wide system found from hunting and gathering societies to technologically advanced ones; caste is only one form of it, race is another.

(C) It persists over generations. Correct. Stratification persists over generations because it is linked to the family and the inheritance of social resources; children take on the social positions of their parents.

(D) People with more privileges support the system of stratification. Correct. Typically, people with the greatest social privileges express the strongest support for systems such as caste and race, while those at the bottom are most likely to challenge them.

NCERT (2025-26): “5.1 What Is Social About Social Inequality and Exclusion? … Sociologists use the term social stratification to refer to a system by which categories of people in a society are ranked in a hierarchy. This hierarchy then shapes people’s identity and experiences, their relations with others, as well as their access to resources and opportunities. Three key principles help explain social stratification:

1. Social stratification is a characteristic of society, not simply a function of individual differences. Social stratification is a society-wide system that unequally distributes social resources among categories of people. In the most technologically primitive societies – hunting and gathering societies, for instance – little was produced so only rudimentary social stratification could exist. In more technologically advanced societies where people produce a surplus over and above their basic needs, however, social resources are unequally distributed to various social categories regardless of people’s innate individual abilities.
2. Social stratification persists over generations. It is closely linked to the family and to the inheritance of social resources from one generation to the next. A person’s social position is ascribed. That is, children assume the social positions of their parents. Within the caste system, birth dictates occupational opportunities. The ascribed aspect of social inequality is reinforced by the practice of endogamy. That is, marriage is usually restricted to members of the same caste, ruling out the potential for blurring caste lines through inter-caste marriage. 72
3. Social stratification is supported by patterns of belief, or ideology. No system of social stratification is likely to persist over generations unless it is widely viewed as being either fair or inevitable. The caste system, for example, is justified in terms of the opposition of purity and pollution, with the Brahmins designated as the most superior and Dalits as the most inferior by virtue of their birth and occupation. Not everyone, though, thinks of a system of inequality as legitimate. Typically, people with the greatest social privileges express the strongest support for systems of stratification such as caste and race. Those who have experienced the exploitation and humiliation of being at the bottom of the hierarchy are most likely to challenge it.…”