Which of the following factors plays a role in the development of self-concept?
E. All of the given factors in the question play equally important roles in developing one’s self-concept. Parents react differently to their children according to their birth order. The eldest born is given more responsibility. This leads to a higher self-esteem in most first-born children. In a social environment, individuals make constant comparisons with other persons surrounding them in different domains. One’s self-concept depends very much on the outcome of such comparisons. As one grows older, one takes up a variety of social roles. The role we play in society is crucial in the development of self-concept. Individuals often identify themselves as a part of a group for example ‘I am a football fan’. This social identity plays an important role in self-development.
Reference:
In a prosperous country with good tolerance, a famine strikes all of a sudden. This is followed by a surge of intolerance between two racial tribes wherein the minorities are discriminated against.
Which of the following theories can explain this prejudice?
A. Various theories have been put forward to explain prejudice and discrimination. According to relative deprivation theory, when sudden discrepancies develop between the needs of a society and resources possessed by the society, acute relative deprivation results. This in turn leads to aggressive and discriminatory behaviour against a specific target, even though the targeted group was in no way responsible for the deprivation. Group membership theory states that mere perception of the existence of another group is sufficient to trigger discriminatory behaviour. Prejudice is common in individuals who suffer excessive disciplinary upbringing and later develop authoritarian personality. However, this authoritarian personality theory fails to explain sudden surges in social prejudice. According to social identity theory an individual strives to achieve a positive self-esteem by improving his social identity. Positive preference to one’s own group (in group) can improve this image. Prejudice and discrimination can develop from this biased attitude. Cognitive dissonance theory is not a theory of prejudice.
The term ‘nomothetic’ in personality theories refers to which of the following concepts?
B. Personality theories can be broadly divided into nomothetic theories and idiographic theories. Nomothetic theories take the view that there are common underlying traits in people’s personality; we only differ in the degree (and intensity) to which we have these various traits. Cattell and Eysenck are important proponents of this approach. Idiographic theories take the view that every individual is unique and we cannot place people into boxes of similar shape and size. Psychoanalytic theories of personality and humanistic theories are examples of idiographic approach. According to idiographic theories, personality is better described than measured. Personality is thought to be pathoplastic, as it modifies psychiatric disease expression and itself becomes modified by the infl uence of a disease process. Ambiguous stimuli elicit responses that are coloured by one’s personality and style of thinking. Projective tests, such as Rorschach’s ink blot test, utilize this property.
Which of the following distinctions between prejudice and discrimination holds true?
C. Prejudice is best viewed as an attitude whose components include a cognitive part (stereotypes), affective part (hostility and hatred), and behavioural part. The behaviour related to prejudice can vary from mild to a severe extreme. Allport described:
As the behaviours associated with prejudice. One can have positive, neutral, or negative prejudice too. Of note is the term racism, which refers to an economical and political ideology while racial prejudice refers to individual attitudes.
Which of the following is the average age by which the concept of theory of mind becomes established in children?
C. Theory of mind develops around the age of 3 1/2 to 4 years old in most humans. Initially this is confined to the rudimentary concept of private thinking—understanding that one’s thoughts are not visible to others. This is followed by understanding the existence of similar mental processes in other individuals—termed theory of mind. False belief task or Sally Anne task is used to test the theory of mind.
Click to expand