Please read the passage and answer the questions that follow.
A popular Bollywood movie 'Lagan' portrays India before Independence. Indians were ruled by the Britishers for many years. They were denied basic rights. The common and the lower strata of the society were not provided the privilege of education as the Britishers felt that 'Indians are not good enough'. They deliberately gave Indians less qualified jobs and kept highly qualified jobs for themselves.
The British strongly felt that Indians are not good enough. This cognitive component of attitude is referred to as:-
Answer & explanation
Correct answer: option 4
The correct answer is Option (4) → Stereotype
Option (1) Prototype — Incorrect. A prototype is a schema in the form of a category: the entire set of features or qualities that help us to define an object completely. It is a general tool of thinking, not a fixed belief about a group of people.
Option (2) Schema — Incorrect. A schema is a mental structure that gives a framework or set of rules for processing information about any object; it saves time and mental effort. A stereotype is one kind of schema, so ‘schema’ is too wide to name the British belief about Indians.
Option (3) Discrimination — Incorrect. Discrimination is the behavioural component of prejudice: behaving less positively towards a target group. The question is about what the British felt and believed, not about what they did.
Option (4) Stereotype — Correct. A stereotype is a cluster of ideas regarding the characteristics of a specific group, and all members of the group are assumed to possess them. Prejudices are often based on stereotypes, which are their cognitive component. ‘Indians are not good enough’ is one such idea, applied to every Indian.
NCERT (2025-26): “Prejudice and Discrimination … Prejudices are examples of attitudes towards a particular group. They are usually negative, and in many cases, may be based on stereotypes (the cognitive component) about the specific group. As will be discussed below in the section on social cognition, a stereotype is a cluster of ideas regarding the characteristics of a specific group. All members belonging to this group are assumed to possess these characteristics. Often, stereotypes consist of undesirable characteristics about the target group, and they lead to negative attitudes or prejudices towards members of specific groups. The cognitive component of prejudice is frequently accompanied by dislike or hatred, the affective component. Prejudice may also get translated into discrimination, the behavioural component, whereby people behave in a less positive way towards a particular target group compared to another group which they favour.…” |