Read the passage and answer the following questions:
Polio was an epidemic in India in the 1970s. The government tried various ways to curb it, but the results were not impressive. Then Amitabh Bachchan was roped in to be the face of the Pulse Polio Campaign in India. The slogan of polio eradication campaign was "DO BOOND ZINDAGI KE" (Two drops of Life). He educated people on the various advantages of polio vaccination and appealed to them to actively participate in the drive. This brought positive change in people's attitude towards the polio vaccine. After that, Indians took the campaign seriously and actively participated in the polio vaccination drive. Due to the effectiveness of the drive, India has become a polio-free country. Till date, the people in India relate the voice of Amitabh Bachchan to the polio eradication campaign.
After roping in Amitabh Bachchan, the negative attitude of Indians turned into less negative or positive towards the campaign. Here, the direction of attitude change is likely to be:
Answer & explanation
Correct answer: option 2
The correct answer is Option (2) → Incongruent
Option (1) Congruent — Incorrect. A congruent change is in the same direction as the existing attitude: a positive attitude becomes more positive, or a negative one more negative. The people’s negative attitude did not grow more negative.
Option (2) Incongruent — Correct. An incongruent change goes in the direction opposite to the existing attitude: a positive attitude becomes less positive or negative, or a negative attitude becomes less negative, or positive. The negative attitude of the people towards the campaign turned less negative or positive, which is this kind of change.
Option (3) Imbalanced — Incorrect. Imbalance is a state in Heider’s balance theory, where the attitudes in the P-O-X triangle do not fit together, so one of them has to change. It describes the cause of a change, not its direction.
Option (4) Balanced — Incorrect. In balance theory a balanced state is one in which the attitudes of the P-O-X triangle fit together, and no change is needed. It is not a direction of attitude change.
NCERT (2025-26): “Factors that Influence Attitude Change … In addition, one must also consider the direction and extent of attitude change. An attitude change may be congruent — it may change in the same direction as the existing attitude (for example, a positive attitude may become more positive, or a negative attitude may become more negative). For instance, suppose a person has a somewhat positive attitude towards empowerment of women. Reading about a successful woman may make this attitude more positive. This would be a congruent change. On the other hand, an attitude change may be incongruent — it may change in a direction opposite to the existing attitude (for example, a positive attitude becomes less positive, or negative, or a negative attitude becomes less negative, or positive).…” |