NCERT Solutions for Class 12 Psychology - (Part - 1) - Attitude and Social Cognition

Q1: Define attitude. Discuss the components of an attitude.
Ans: Attitude refers to the tendency to react either positively or negatively towards a person or a situation. It can be defined as a state of mind or a set of views regarding a specific topic, characterised by an evaluative quality that can be positive, negative, or neutral. Attitudes consist of three main components:

• Cognitive Component: This refers to the thought aspect and includes beliefs, ideas, values, and information that a person holds. The accuracy of this information, whether correct or incorrect, is not significant.
• Affective Component: This emotional aspect relates to a person’s feelings towards another individual, which may be positive, negative, or neutral.
• Behavioural Component: Also known as the conative aspect, this describes how various situations or objects influence an individual's behaviour based on their cognitive and affective components. It is the only visible component of attitude.

These three components are often referred to collectively as the A-B-C components of attitude (Affective, Behavioural, Cognitive). For example, consider a group in our neighbourhood initiating a tree plantation campaign as part of a ‘green environment’ movement. With sufficient information about environmental issues, we may develop a positive view towards a ‘green environment’ (the cognitive or ‘C’ component). We may feel happiness when we see greenery and sadness or anger when witnessing trees being cut down (the affective or ‘A’ component). If we actively participate in the tree plantation campaign, this action reflects the behavioural or ‘B’ component of our attitude towards promoting a ‘green environment’.

Q2: Are attitudes learnt? Explain how?
Ans: Yes, attitudes are learnt through personal experiences and interactions with others. While there may be some inborn aspects of attitudes, genetic factors typically influence attitudes only indirectly alongside the learning process. The methods and conditions under which we learn can vary significantly, leading to different attitudes among individuals.

• Learning attitudes by association: Some students develop a liking for a particular subject because of their teacher. They may observe many positive qualities in the teacher, which become linked to the subject taught. Consequently, a positive attitude towards the subject is formed through this association.
• Learning attitudes through rewards and punishments: If an individual is praised for displaying a specific attitude, they are likely to cultivate that attitude further. For instance, a teenager who regularly practices yoga and receives the title of ‘Miss Good Health’ may develop a positive attitude towards both yoga and health. Conversely, a child who frequently falls ill due to eating junk food might develop a negative attitude towards it, fostering a positive attitude towards healthy eating.
• Learning attitudes through modelling: Often, attitudes are learnt not just from direct experiences but by observing others being rewarded or punished for their behaviours. For example, children may adopt a respectful attitude towards elders by seeing their parents show respect and receive appreciation for it.
• Learning attitudes through group or cultural norms: We often learn attitudes from the norms of our group or culture. These norms are unwritten rules governing behaviour in specific situations. Over time, these norms can become integrated into our social cognition as attitudes. Learning through group norms may actually exemplify all three forms of learning: association, reward or punishment, and modelling.
• Learning through exposure to information: Many attitudes are formed in a social context without the physical presence of others. In today's world, the vast amount of information available through various media can lead to the formation of both positive and negative attitudes. For instance, reading the biographies of self-actualised individuals may inspire a positive attitude towards hard work and its role in achieving success.

Q3: What are the factors that influence the formation of an attitude?
Ans: The following factors provide the context for the learning of attitudes through various processes:

• Family and School Environment: Parents and other family members play a significant role in attitude formation. Learning of attitudes within the family and school usually occurs through association, rewards and punishment, and modelling.
• Reference Groups: Attitudes towards political, religious, social groups, occupations, and national issues are often developed through reference groups. These groups indicate the norms regarding acceptable behaviour and ways of thinking. Various institutions, religion, culture, and communities serve as forms of reference groups.
• Personal Experiences: Many attitudes are formed not only in the family environment or through reference groups but also through direct personal experiences. These experiences can bring about a drastic change in our attitudes towards people and our own lives.
• Media-Related Influences: Technological advances have made audio-visual media and the internet very powerful sources for attitude formation. School textbooks also influence attitude development. The media can be used to create a consumerist attitude and can exert both positive and negative influences on attitudes.

Q4: Is behaviour always a reflection of one’s attitude? Explain with a relevant example.
Ans: Behaviour is often expected to logically follow from one’s attitudes. However, an individual’s attitudes may not always be reflected in their behaviour. Conversely, a person’s actual behaviour can sometimes contradict their attitudes regarding a specific topic. Research indicates that consistency between attitudes and behaviour is likely when:

• The attitude is strong and central to the individual's belief system.
• The person is aware of their attitude.
• There is minimal or no external pressure to behave in a specific way, such as group pressure to conform to societal norms.
• The individual's behaviour is not subject to observation or evaluation by others.
• The individual believes that their behaviour will lead to positive outcomes and, therefore, intends to act accordingly.

For instance, during a time when Americans were perceived to be prejudiced against the Chinese, Richard LaPiere, an American social psychologist, conducted a notable study. He asked a Chinese couple to travel across the United States and stay in various hotels. Remarkably, they were refused service by only one hotel during their journey. Later, LaPiere sent questionnaires to the managers of hotels and tourist homes in the areas where the couple had travelled, inquiring whether they would accommodate Chinese guests. A significant percentage of the managers indicated that they would not accept Chinese guests. This response illustrated a negative attitude towards Chinese individuals, which was inconsistent with the positive behaviour exhibited towards the travelling couple. Thus, this example demonstrates that attitudes may not always predict the actual pattern of one’s behaviour.

Q5: Differentiate between prejudice and stereotype.
Ans: Prejudice refers to negative attitudes towards a particular group, which are often based on stereotypes—the cognitive component that comprises a cluster of ideas regarding the characteristics of that group. Prejudice typically arises from factors such as ethnicity, race, gender, or caste, leading individuals to exhibit negative feelings toward members of other groups. On the other hand, a stereotype involves classifying people based on their membership in a specific group, guided by preconceived beliefs that can be negative, positive, or neutral. These beliefs can stem from various factors, including gender, ethnicity, or occupation. Stereotypes often include undesirable characteristics about the target group and can result in negative attitudes or prejudices against its members. The cognitive component of prejudice is frequently accompanied by dislike or hatred, constituting the affective component. Furthermore, prejudice can lead to discrimination, the behavioural aspect, where individuals act less positively towards a particular group compared to another group they favour. Importantly, prejudice is not grounded in truth and usually stems from a lack of knowledge about a certain group. In contrast, stereotypes may sometimes be based on truths, although they can also originate from prejudicial beliefs.

Q6: Prejudice can exist without discrimination and vice versa. Comment.
Ans: Prejudices can exist without being manifested through discrimination. Conversely, discrimination can occur without the presence of prejudice. However, these two concepts often coexist. When both prejudice and discrimination are present, conflicts are likely to emerge between different groups within the same society. Our society has experienced numerous regrettable instances of discrimination, both with and without prejudice, based on factors such as gender, religion, community, caste, physical disabilities, and illnesses like AIDS. Furthermore, in many cases, discriminatory behaviour can be addressed and curtailed by law. Nevertheless, the cognitive and emotional aspects of prejudice are generally more challenging to alter.

Q7: Your friend eats too much junk food, how would you be able to bring about a change in her/his attitude towards food?
Ans: I would like to use the concept of cognitive dissonance, proposed by Leon Festinger, to bring about a change in my friend's attitude towards food. The basic idea is that the cognitive components of an attitude must be ‘consonant’ (the opposite of ‘dissonant’); they should logically align with each other. If an individual finds that two cognitions in an attitude are dissonant, then one of them will be changed to achieve consonance. In this case, the cognitions are:

• Junk food is bad for health.
• He/she eats too much junk food.

Holding these two ideas creates a sense of being ‘out of tune’, or dissonant, regarding junk food. Therefore, one of these ideas must be changed to attain consonance. To remove or reduce the dissonance, my friend must stop eating too much junk food (change Cognition II). This would be a healthy, logical, and sensible way to reduce dissonance.

Old NCERT Solutions

Q1: Highlight the importance of schemas in social cognition.
Ans: A schema is defined as a mental structure that provides a framework, set of rules, or guidelines for processing information about any object. Schemas (or ‘schemata’) are the basic units stored in our memory and function as shorthand ways of processing information, thus reducing the time and mental effort required in cognition. In the context of social cognition, the basic units are known as social schemas. Some attitudes may also function like social schemas. We employ various schemas, which we come to understand through analysis and examples. Most schemas take the form of categories or classes. Schemas that function as categories are referred to as prototypes, which encompass the entire set of features or qualities that help us to define an object completely. In social cognition, category-based schemas related to groups of people are called stereotypes. These are overgeneralised category-based schemas that are not directly verified and do not allow for exceptions. For instance, if you need to define a group G, and you have never directly known or interacted with a member of this group, you will likely use your ‘general knowledge’ about the typical member of group G. You will then add your likes and dislikes to that information. If you have heard more positive things about group G, your social schema about the entire group will be more positive than negative. Conversely, if you have encountered more negative information, your social schema will reflect a negative stereotype.

Q2: Describe the important factors that influence impression formation.
Ans: Impression formation and attribution are influenced by several key factors:

• (i) The nature of information available to the perceiver.
• (ii) Social schemas in the perceiver (including stereotypes).
• (iii) Personality characteristics of the perceiver.
• (iv) Situational factors.

The following aspects are significant in impression formation:

• (a) Selection: We consider only certain pieces of information about the target person.
• (b) Organisation: The selected information is combined systematically.
• (c) Inference: We draw conclusions about the kind of person the target is.

Several specific qualities influence impression formation more than others:

• The order or sequence in which information is presented affects the impression formed. Generally, information presented first has a stronger impact than later information; this is known as the primacy effect (first impressions are often the most lasting). However, if the perceiver is encouraged to consider all information, the last pieces may have a greater influence, referred to as the recency effect.
• We tend to assume that a target person with one set of positive qualities also possesses other associated positive traits. This phenomenon is called the halo effect.

Q3: Explain how the attribution made by an ‘actor’ would be different from that of an ‘observer’.
Ans: A distinction exists between the attributions made by a person for their own positive and negative experiences (actor-role) and those made for another person’s experiences (observer-role). This phenomenon is known as the actor-observer effect. For instance, if you achieve good marks in a test, you are likely to attribute this success to your own ability or hard work (actor-role, internal attribution for a positive experience). Conversely, if you receive poor marks, you might claim that it was due to being unlucky or that the test was too difficult (actor-role, external attribution for a negative experience). In contrast, when a classmate earns good marks, you might attribute their success to luck or an easy test (observer-role, external attribution for a positive experience). However, if the same classmate performs poorly, you are likely to conclude that this failure results from low ability or a lack of effort (observer-role, internal attribution for a negative experience). The fundamental reason for the difference between the actor and observer roles is that individuals tend to maintain a positive image of themselves compared to others.

Q4: How does social facilitation take place?
Ans: One of the first observations made about social behaviour was that performance on specific tasks is influenced by the mere presence of others. This phenomenon is known as social facilitation. For example, Reena is about to participate in a music contest. She is very talented, yet she feels nervous about the event. If you were in Reena’s position, would you perform better in front of an audience or when you are alone? As early as 1897, Norman Triplett observed that individuals tend to show better performance in the presence of others than when performing the same task alone. For instance, cyclists racing against each other perform better than when cycling alone. Over time, more details have emerged about this phenomenon.

• (i) Better performance in the presence of others occurs because the person experiences arousal, leading them to react more intensely. This explanation was put forth by Zajonc (this name rhymes with ‘science’).
• (ii) The arousal is a result of the individual feeling that they are being evaluated. Cottrell referred to this idea as evaluation apprehension. A person may be praised for good performance (reward) or criticised for poor performance (punishment). The desire to receive praise and avoid criticism motivates us to perform well and minimise mistakes.
• (iii) The nature of the task to be performed also affects performance in the presence of others. For example, in the case of a simple or familiar task, the individual is more confident in their performance, and the eagerness to receive praise is stronger. Thus, they perform better with others present than when alone. Conversely, for a complex or new task, the fear of making mistakes is heightened. The fear of criticism or punishment can lead to worse performance in the presence of others compared to when alone.
• (iv) If others present are performing the same task, this is termed a situation of co-action. In this scenario, social comparison and competition arise. Again, when the task is simple or familiar, performance is typically better under co-action than when alone.

Q5: Explain the concept of pro-social behaviour.
Ans: Throughout the world, doing good to others and being helpful is considered a virtue. All religions teach that we should assist those in need. This behaviour is known as helping or pro-social behaviour. Pro-social behaviour is very similar to altruism, which means acting for the welfare of others without any self-interest. In Latin, ‘alter’ means ‘other’, contrasting with ‘ego’, which means ‘self’. Common examples of pro-social behaviour include:

• Sharing resources
• Cooperating with others
• Helping during natural disasters
• Showing sympathy
• Doing favours for others
• Making charitable donations

Pro-social behaviour possesses the following characteristics:

• (i) It aims to benefit or do good for another person or group.
• (ii) It is performed without expecting anything in return.
• (iii) It is done willingly, not due to pressure.
• (iv) It may involve some difficulty or ‘cost’ to the helper.

For instance, if a wealthy individual donates money obtained illegally for the sake of publicity, this cannot be classified as pro-social behaviour, even if the donation benefits many. Despite the significant value placed on pro-social behaviour, it is not frequently exhibited. For example, after the Mumbai blasts on 11 July 2006, the community rallied to help the victims. In contrast, during a previous incident on a moving suburban train, when a girl's purse was snatched, no passengers intervened, and she was pushed out of the train. Even when she lay injured on the tracks, nearby residents did not come to her aid.