NCERT Solutions for Class 12 Psychology Chapter 6: Attitude and Social Cognition

Chapter at a glance

Exercises

Answer

Attitude is a state of the mind, a set of views or thoughts, regarding some topic (called the attitude object), which have an evaluative feature (positive, negative or neutral quality). It is accompanied by an emotional component and a tendency to act in a particular way with regard to the attitude object. Attitudes are relatively stable and serve as a background against which an individual interacts with others.

Components (A-B-C model)

1. Affective (A) component – the emotional component: feelings of liking or disliking, happiness or unhappiness towards the attitude object.
2. Behavioural (B) component – the tendency to act in a particular way with regard to the attitude object.
3. Cognitive (C) component – the thoughts, beliefs and ideas about the attitude object.

Example – attitude towards tree plantation (green environment): - Cognitive: “Trees reduce pollution and are good for the environment.” - Affective: “I feel happy when I see more greenery around me.” - Behavioural: “I will plant trees and take part in plantation drives.”

(Attitudes differ from beliefs — the cognitive component alone — and values, which are attitudes or beliefs containing a “should” or “ought” aspect, e.g. hard work, honesty.)

Attitude is a state of mind — a set of views about an attitude object with an evaluative (positive/negative) feature. Its components are affective (feelings), behavioural (tendency to act) and cognitive (thoughts and beliefs) — the A-B-C model.

Answer

Yes, attitudes are generally learnt through one’s own experiences and through interaction with others. (A few research studies show some genetic basis, but most attitudes are learned.) Processes of attitude learning:

1. Learning attitudes by association – students often develop a liking for a particular subject because of the teacher. The positive qualities of the teacher get linked to the subject (classical conditioning).
2. Learning attitudes by being rewarded or punished – if an individual is praised for showing a particular attitude, chances are high that s/he will develop that attitude further (e.g. a teenager praised for doing yoga develops a positive attitude towards yoga and health). Being punished leads to a negative attitude.
3. Learning attitudes through modelling (observing others) – we learn attitudes by observing others being rewarded or punished for expressing thoughts or showing behaviour of a particular kind towards the attitude object (e.g. children who see their parents respecting elders, and being appreciated, develop respect for elders).
4. Learning attitudes through group or cultural norms – norms are unwritten rules about behaviour that everyone is supposed to show in given circumstances. Over time these become part of one’s attitudes (e.g. offering money, sweets, fruit and flowers at a place of worship is a norm in some religions).
5. Learning through exposure to information – many attitudes are learned in a social context, but not necessarily in the physical presence of others. Through books, mass media and the internet, information leads to attitude formation (e.g. reading biographies of self-actualised people who achieved success through hard work can lead to a positive attitude towards hard work).

Yes. Attitudes are learnt through association (classical conditioning), reward and punishment, modelling (observing others), group or cultural norms, and exposure to information (books, media, internet).

Answer

The following factors provide the context for the learning of attitudes:

1. Family and school environment – particularly in early years, parents and other family members play a significant role in shaping attitudes. Later, the school environment (teachers, peers) becomes important. Learning by association, reward/punishment and modelling takes place here.
2. Reference groups – groups that indicate to an individual the norms regarding acceptable behaviour and ways of thinking. Attitudes towards political, religious and social groups, occupations, national issues, etc. are often developed through reference groups (e.g. a teenager’s friends’ attitudes towards a career), mainly through reward and punishment.
3. Personal experiences – many attitudes are formed through direct personal experience, which can bring a drastic change in our attitude towards people and life. (E.g. a driver in the army who narrowly escaped death in a mission where his companions were killed, decided to devote his life to the service of the community; he later worked for village development.)
4. Media-related influences – technological advances have made audio-visual media and the internet very powerful sources of information. School textbooks, newspapers, TV, social media influence attitude formation. They can have both good and bad effects: they make people better informed, but they can also create consumerist attitudes or spread negative attitudes.

Attitude formation is influenced by the family and school environment, reference groups, personal experiences, and media-related influences (textbooks, newspapers, TV, internet).

Answer

No. Behaviour is not always a reflection of one’s attitude. Psychologists have found that there is consistency between attitudes and behaviour only when the following conditions are present: 1. The attitude is strong and occupies a central place in the attitude system. 2. The person is aware of her/his attitude. 3. There is very little or no external pressure to behave in a particular way (e.g. no group pressure to follow a norm). 4. The person’s behaviour is not being watched or evaluated by others. 5. The person thinks that the behaviour would have a positive consequence, and therefore intends to engage in it.

Example – LaPiere’s study (1930s, USA): At that time, Americans were said to have prejudice against the Chinese. LaPiere travelled across the USA with a Chinese couple, stopping at 250 hotels and restaurants; only once were they refused service. Later, LaPiere sent letters to the same hotels asking whether they would accept Chinese guests; more than 90% said they would not. Thus the negative attitude (expressed in letters) was not reflected in actual behaviour (they served the couple face to face). Situational factors (face-to-face presence, politeness, business interest) influenced behaviour.

Everyday example: A student may hold a positive attitude towards honesty, yet copy in an exam under peer pressure; or a person may believe smoking is harmful yet continue smoking. Conversely, behaviour can sometimes change attitude (cognitive dissonance).

No. Attitude and behaviour are consistent only when the attitude is strong and central, the person is aware of it, there is little external pressure, the behaviour is not being watched, and the person expects positive consequences. E.g. LaPiere found hotels that refused Chinese guests by letter actually served a Chinese couple in person.

Answer

Prejudice usually involves both a stereotype (cognitive) and negative feelings (affective); when it shows in behaviour it becomes discrimination.

Prejudice is a negative attitude (mainly affective — dislike) towards a group, while a stereotype is a cluster of generalised, unverified beliefs about the characteristics of a group (the cognitive component of prejudice), which may be positive or negative and is applied to all members.

Answer

Prejudice is a negative attitude (affective and cognitive components). Discrimination is the behavioural component — behaviour that shows a distinction made between people, often unfairly, on the basis of their group membership (e.g. denying jobs, housing or entry to members of a group).

Prejudice without discrimination: - A person may hold a negative attitude towards a group but not act on it, because of laws prohibiting discrimination, fear of social disapproval, norms of politeness, or because her/his behaviour is being watched. - E.g. a teacher who dislikes students from a particular community may still treat them equally in class because of professional ethics and rules.

Discrimination without prejudice: - People may discriminate without holding a prejudice — because of conformity to group norms, orders from authority, institutional rules or self-interest. - E.g. a shopkeeper who has no personal dislike may refuse to serve a group because of pressure from the community or fear of losing other customers; or a manager may follow a biased company policy.

Conclusion: Prejudice and discrimination often go together, but not always — consistent with the finding that attitudes and behaviour are not always consistent. Wherever prejudice and discrimination exist, they can lead to conflicts between groups (e.g. caste and religious prejudice, racial discrimination). History shows that prejudice and discrimination have resulted in genocide (e.g. the Holocaust).

Prejudice is an attitude; discrimination is behaviour. Prejudice can exist without discrimination when laws, social norms or observation stop a person from acting on it; discrimination can exist without prejudice when a person acts unfairly out of conformity, authority or self-interest. Both often occur together, but attitude and behaviour need not match.

Answer

Using the principles of attitude change:

1. Cognitive dissonance (Festinger): Make the friend aware of the inconsistency between two cognitions — “I eat a lot of junk food” and “Junk food causes obesity, diabetes and heart disease.” This creates dissonance (discomfort), which the friend can reduce by changing behaviour/attitude: “I will eat less junk food.”

2. Balance theory (Heider, P-O-X): If the friend (P) likes me (O), and I have a negative attitude towards junk food (X), the triangle is unbalanced; to restore balance, the friend may change her/his attitude to junk food.

3. Two-step concept (S.M. Mohan): First, the friend identifies with a target/role model (e.g. a favourite sportsperson or film star who emphasises healthy eating); second, the model shows an attitude change (gives up junk food), and the friend changes in the same direction.

4. Characteristics of the source, message and target: - Source: get the message from a credible, attractive source — a doctor, sportsperson or a friend s/he admires. - Message: give information with both rational appeal (facts about nutrition, effects of excess fat, salt and sugar) and emotional appeal (fear of illness, looking fit and energetic). A moderate fear appeal works best. Use repeated messages. - Target: consider the friend’s personality, self-esteem, and how strong and central the attitude is — make gradual changes.

5. Practical steps: - Introduce tasty healthy alternatives (fruits, sprouts, homemade snacks). - Positive reinforcement — praise when s/he chooses healthy food. - Modelling — eat healthy myself and with her/him. - Encourage active participation (e.g. joining a fitness challenge, cooking healthy food together); gradual reduction rather than sudden stopping.

Create cognitive dissonance by highlighting the conflict between eating junk food and knowing its harms; use balance theory and the two-step concept (a liked role model who gives up junk food); deliver credible messages with rational and moderate emotional appeals; and support change through healthy alternatives, reinforcement and modelling.

Question Project 1

Attitudes Towards and Awareness of Waste Management: A Survey. Along with some of your classmates, conduct a survey in your colony to find out what people do about household garbage. Each student may visit two houses and ask the heads of the household the given eight questions (disposal of newspapers/tins/bottles, plastic, kitchen waste, chemical/e-waste, segregation, where garbage goes, meaning of recycling, what they can do personally), then compare the responses.

Answer

Guidance

1. Procedure: each student interviews heads of two households with the eight questions, writing down answers verbatim; collect all responses.
2. Tabulation: for each question, tally the responses, e.g.
   • Paper/tins/bottles: sold to kabadiwala / thrown in garbage;
   • Plastic: reused / thrown / burnt;
   • Kitchen waste: composted / fed to animals / thrown;
   • Batteries, CDs, pesticide containers: separate disposal / mixed with garbage;
   • Segregation: separate bins (wet/dry) or single bin;
   • Knowledge of where garbage goes (landfill, municipal truck) and meaning of recycling.
3. Analysis using A-B-C components: awareness (cognitive) — do they know about recycling and segregation? Feelings (affective) — concern for clean environment; Behaviour — what they actually do. Note gaps between awareness and behaviour (attitude–behaviour inconsistency) and reasons (lack of facilities, habit, time).
4. Conclusion and suggestions: summarise the level of awareness and attitudes; suggest awareness campaigns, segregation at source, composting, and community action.

Conduct the survey, tabulate responses on disposal, segregation and recycling, analyse awareness (cognitive), concern (affective) and actual practice (behaviour) and the gaps between them, and suggest ways to improve household waste management.

Question Project 2

Interpersonal Judgment Exercise. Rate yourself (Column 1) and your best friend (Column 2) on qualities such as friendly, tense, sincere, pleasant and open to new ideas on a 1–5 scale; ask your friend to do the same. Copy your friend’s ratings of you into Column 3 and compute Column 3 minus Column 1 in Column 4. Examine the differences.

Answer

Guidance and sample analysis

Interpretation (for the sample): - Zeros in Column 4 (Friendly) show perfect agreement. - The greatest difference is on “Open to new ideas” (−2): I see myself as more open than my friend sees me. - The smallest non-zero difference is ±1 (Tense, Sincere, Pleasant). - Sum of Column 4 = −1, so overall I rated myself slightly higher than my friend rated me. - The closer Columns 1 and 3, the better we know each other. Comparing my Column 1 with my friend’s Column 1 shows how similar we are.

Link to social cognition: impression formation and attribution — people judge themselves and others differently (e.g. self-serving bias, actor–observer effect), and close friends usually form accurate impressions.

Complete the four columns, look for zeros (agreement) and the largest and smallest differences, check whether you rate yourself higher or lower than your friend does, and conclude that smaller differences mean you know each other better (linking to impression formation and attribution biases).

Topic checklist

• ☒ Concept and components of attitude (Q 1)
• ☒ Attitude formation and change (Q 2, 3, 7)
• ☒ Attitude–behaviour relationship (Q 4)
• ☒ Prejudice, stereotype and discrimination (Q 5, 6)
• ☒ Projects (P 1, 2)

Total questions answered: 9 of 9