NCERT Solutions for Class 12 Psychology Chapter 6: Attitude and Social Cognition
These Class 12 Psychology Chapter 6 solutions cover Attitude and Social Cognition from the NCERT textbook for the 2026–27 session. This chapter introduces social psychology — how the behaviour of individuals is affected by others and the social environment. You will learn what attitudes are, their A-B-C (affective, behavioural, cognitive) components, the four features of an attitude (valence, extremeness, simplicity/complexity and centrality), how attitudes are formed and changed (the balance concept, cognitive dissonance and the two-step concept), the attitude–behaviour relationship, and how prejudice and discrimination arise and can be handled. Below you get step-by-step, exam-ready answers to all NCERT Review Questions, plus key terms, extra practice, MCQs, Assertion–Reason and FAQs.
Class: 12Subject: PsychologyChapter: 6Chapter Name: Attitude and Social CognitionSession: 2026–27
Social psychology investigates how an individual’s behaviour is affected by others and the social environment — that is, behaviour in the actual, imagined or implied presence of others. A central concept is the attitude: a state of mind, a set of views about an ‘attitude object’, that has an evaluative quality (positive, negative or neutral), an emotional element and a tendency to act. These are the A-B-C components — Affective (emotion), Behavioural/conative (tendency to act) and Cognitive (thought). Attitudes also vary in valence, extremeness, simplicity/complexity and centrality, and must be distinguished from beliefs and values. The chapter explains how attitudes are learned (by association, reward/punishment, modelling, group norms and exposure to information) and which factors shape them (family and school, reference groups, personal experience, media). It then describes attitude change through Heider’s balance (P-O-X) concept, Festinger’s cognitive dissonance and Mohsin’s two-step concept, and the source, message and target factors involved. Finally it examines the attitude–behaviour relationship (which is not always consistent, as LaPiere showed) and the sources of prejudice and discrimination, along with strategies for handling prejudice.
Key Concepts & Terms
Attitude: a state of mind, a set of views or thoughts about an ‘attitude object’, having an evaluative quality (positive, negative or neutral), an emotional component and a tendency to act in a particular way. Attitudes are not behaviour but a tendency to behave.
A-B-C components: the three building blocks of an attitude — Affective (the emotional/feeling component), Behavioural or conative (the tendency to act), and Cognitive (the thought/belief component).
Four features of attitudes:Valence (whether positive or negative), Extremeness (how positive or negative), Simplicity or complexity / multiplexity (how many member-attitudes exist within a broader attitude), and Centrality (the role of an attitude in influencing other attitudes in the system).
Beliefs and values:beliefs form the cognitive ground on which attitudes stand (e.g. belief in democracy); values are attitudes/beliefs with a ‘should’ or ‘ought’ aspect (e.g. honesty is the best policy) and are very difficult to change.
Processes of attitude formation: learning by association, by reward/punishment, through modelling (observing others), through group or cultural norms, and through exposure to information.
Factors influencing attitude formation: family and school environment, reference groups, personal experiences, and media-related influences.
Balance (P-O-X) concept (Fritz Heider): an attitude changes towards balance when the P-O, O-X and P-X relationships are imbalanced. Imbalance exists when all three sides are negative, or two are positive and one negative; balance exists when all three are positive, or two negative and one positive.
Cognitive dissonance (Leon Festinger): when two cognitions in an attitude are dissonant (logically out of tune), the person feels discomfort and changes one of them towards consonance — an example of cognitive consistency.
Two-step concept (S.M. Mohsin): attitude change occurs as the target first identifies with the source, and then the source shows an actual attitude change, which the target imitates.
Source, message and target factors:source credibility and attractiveness; message appeal (rational vs emotional), amount of information and mode of transmission; and target qualities such as persuasibility, prejudice, self-esteem and intelligence.
Stereotype, prejudice, discrimination: a stereotype is a cluster of ideas about a group (cognitive); prejudice is a (usually negative) attitude towards a group, often based on stereotypes, with an affective component; discrimination is the behavioural component — behaving less positively towards a target group.
Sources of prejudice: learning, a strong social identity and ingroup bias, scapegoating, the ‘kernel of truth’ concept and self-fulfilling prophecy.
NCERT “Review Questions” — Full Solutions
All questions below are reproduced verbatim from the NCERT textbook’s end-of-chapter Review Questions section. Answers are original, written in exam-ready style.
1. Define attitude. Discuss the components of an attitude.
ANSWERDefinition: An attitude is a state of the mind, a set of views or thoughts regarding some topic (called the ‘attitude object’), which has an evaluative feature — a positive, negative or neutral quality. It is accompanied by an emotional component and a tendency to act in a particular way towards the attitude object. Attitudes are themselves not behaviour, but a tendency to behave or act in certain ways.Components — the A-B-C of attitudes:(i) Affective (A) component: the emotional or feeling part of the attitude — how we feel about the attitude object. For example, feeling happy on seeing greenery and sad or angry on seeing trees being cut down.(ii) Behavioural / conative (B) component: the tendency to act towards the attitude object — for example, actively participating in a tree-plantation campaign.(iii) Cognitive (C) component: the thought or belief part, together with the evaluative aspect — for example, holding a positive view of a ‘green environment’ based on information.In general, all three components are expected to be consistent and in the same direction, though this consistency is not always found. Each attitude also has features such as valence, extremeness, simplicity or complexity, and centrality.
2. Are attitudes learnt? Explain how?
ANSWERYes, attitudes are largely learnt. Although a few studies suggest some inborn aspect, genetic factors influence attitudes only indirectly along with learning; most attitudes are acquired through one’s own experiences and interaction with others. The main processes of learning attitudes are:(i) Learning by association: an attitude object becomes linked with something already liked or disliked — e.g. a student develops a liking for a subject because of the positive qualities of the teacher who teaches it.(ii) Learning by being rewarded or punished: if a person is praised or rewarded for an attitude, it develops further — e.g. a girl honoured as ‘Miss Good Health’ for doing yogasanas develops a positive attitude towards yoga and health.(iii) Learning through modelling (observing others): we learn by observing others being rewarded or punished — e.g. children form a respectful attitude towards elders by seeing their parents respected for it.(iv) Learning through group or cultural norms: we learn attitudes through the unwritten rules of our group or culture — e.g. offering flowers and sweets in a place of worship is normative behaviour; this may combine association, reward/punishment and modelling.(v) Learning through exposure to information: attitudes are formed from media and reading even without the physical presence of others — e.g. reading biographies of self-actualised persons builds a positive attitude towards hard work.
3. What are the factors that influence the formation of an attitude?
ANSWERThe following factors provide the context within which attitudes are learned (through association, reward/punishment, modelling, etc.):(i) Family and school environment: especially in the early years, parents and family members shape attitude formation; later the school becomes an important background. Learning here takes place by association, reward and punishment, and modelling.(ii) Reference groups: these indicate the norms of acceptable behaviour and thinking. Attitudes towards political, religious, social, occupational and national issues are often developed through reference groups, whose influence is strong in early adolescence when belonging to a group matters.(iii) Personal experiences: many attitudes form through direct, sometimes dramatic personal experiences — e.g. the army driver who, after narrowly escaping death, gave up his job and became a community leader, developing a strong positive attitude towards community upliftment.(iv) Media-related influences: audio-visual media, the Internet and even textbooks are powerful sources that first strengthen the cognitive and affective components and later affect behaviour. Media can exert both good influences (better informed people, social harmony) and bad ones (consumerism, unchecked information).
4. Is behaviour always a reflection of one’s attitude? Explain with a relevant example.
ANSWERNo, behaviour is not always a reflection of one’s attitude. Although we usually expect behaviour to follow logically from attitudes, an individual’s attitude may not always be exhibited through behaviour, and actual behaviour may even be contrary to the attitude.Example (LaPiere’s study): When Americans were said to be prejudiced against the Chinese, Richard LaPiere asked a Chinese couple to travel across the United States and stay in various hotels. They were refused service only once. Later, LaPiere mailed questionnaires to the same hotels asking whether they would accommodate Chinese guests, and a very large percentage said they would not. Thus the stated (negative) attitude was inconsistent with the actual (positive) behaviour shown towards the travelling couple.When attitude and behaviour are consistent: consistency is found when (a) the attitude is strong and central in the attitude system, (b) the person is aware of the attitude, (c) there is little or no external/group pressure, (d) the behaviour is not being watched or evaluated, and (e) the person expects a positive consequence and intends to act. Sometimes the reverse happens — behaviour decides the attitude, as in the Festinger–Carlsmith experiment where students paid only one dollar concluded that they actually liked the boring task.
5. Differentiate between prejudice and stereotype.
ANSWERA stereotype is the cognitive part, while a prejudice is a full attitude (largely affective and evaluative) that is often built on a stereotype.
Basis
Stereotype
Prejudice
Meaning
A cluster of ideas regarding the characteristics of a specific group, where all members are assumed to possess those characteristics.
A (usually negative) attitude towards a particular group, often based on stereotypes.
Component of attitude
Mainly the cognitive component (thoughts/beliefs).
An attitude with a strong affective component (dislike or hatred), based on the cognitive stereotype.
Nature
A set of beliefs — may be positive or negative, often consisting of undesirable traits.
An evaluation/feeling — generally negative towards the target group.
Link to behaviour
Does not in itself involve action.
May translate into discrimination (the behavioural component).
In short, the stereotype provides the cognitive base, and prejudice adds the emotional dislike that can lead to discriminatory behaviour.
6. Prejudice can exist without discrimination and vice versa. Comment.
ANSWERPrejudice is a negative attitude towards a group (with cognitive and affective components), whereas discrimination is the behavioural component — behaving in a less positive way towards a target group than towards a favoured group. The two are related but separable.Prejudice without discrimination: a person may hold prejudiced attitudes and feelings of dislike but not act on them — for example, because of legal restrictions, social disapproval or personal restraint. Discriminatory behaviour can be curbed by law even while the prejudice remains hidden in the mind.Discrimination without prejudice: a person may discriminate without truly holding a prejudiced attitude — for example, simply following existing social customs, group pressure or institutional rules.Yet the two very often go together. The cognitive and emotional components of prejudice are harder to change than the behaviour, and wherever prejudice and discrimination exist, conflicts between groups in the same society become very likely. History gives extreme examples, such as the Nazi genocide against Jewish people.
7. Your friend eats too much junk food, how would you be able to bring about a change in her/his attitude towards food?
ANSWERI would try to change my friend’s attitude by applying the psychological principles of attitude change:(i) Creating cognitive dissonance: I would give correct information so that my friend holds two clashing cognitions — “Junk food harms my health” and “I eat a lot of junk food.” The discomfort of this dissonance should push her/him to change behaviour (eat less junk food) to restore consonance.(ii) Using the two-step concept (identification + modelling): since my friend has regard for me, I can first identify with her/him and then actually change my own habit — choosing healthy food myself. Observing my changed behaviour, my friend is likely to imitate it.(iii) Source, message and target factors: I would use a credible source (a doctor or nutritionist), present a balanced message that combines a rational appeal (junk food causes obesity and illness) with a moderate emotional appeal (caring for one’s family and future) — avoiding too much fear, which can backfire. Face-to-face persuasion works better than indirect messages.(iv) Reward and gradual change: I would appreciate and reward every healthy choice, suggest tasty healthy substitutes, and aim for small, congruent changes (less junk food first) since these are easier to bring about than sudden, extreme ones.
Extra Practice Questions
Short Answer Type Questions
Q1. What is meant by social psychology?
ANSWERSocial psychology is the branch of psychology that investigates how the behaviour of individuals is affected by others and the social environment. It deals with all behaviour that takes place in the actual, imagined or implied presence of others.
Q2. Distinguish between beliefs and values.
ANSWERBeliefs refer to the cognitive component of attitudes and form the ground on which attitudes stand (e.g. belief in God or democracy). Values are attitudes or beliefs that contain a ‘should’ or ‘ought’ aspect, such as moral or ethical ideals (e.g. one should be honest). Values become an inseparable part of one’s outlook and are very difficult to change.
Q3. What is valence of an attitude?
ANSWERValence is the feature that tells us whether an attitude towards an attitude object is positive or negative. On a 5-point scale, a rating of 4 or 5 shows a positive attitude, 1 or 2 a negative attitude, and 3 a neutral attitude with neither positive nor negative valence.
Q4. Explain the ‘kernel of truth’ concept as a source of prejudice.
ANSWERThe ‘kernel of truth’ concept means people continue to hold a stereotype because they believe there must be at least some truth in what everyone says about another group. Even a few supporting examples are taken as enough to justify and maintain the stereotype and the resulting prejudice.
Q5. What is scapegoating?
ANSWERScapegoating is a phenomenon in which a majority group blames a minority outgroup for its own social, economic or political problems. The minority is too weak or small to defend itself. It is a group-based way of expressing frustration and often produces prejudice against the weaker group.
Long Answer Type Questions
Q1. Describe the three processes of attitude change.
ANSWERThree major concepts explain attitude change. (a) The balance concept (Fritz Heider) is shown as the P-O-X triangle, where P is the person whose attitude is studied, O is another person, and X is the attitude object. An attitude changes if there is imbalance among the P-O, O-X and P-X relationships, because imbalance is logically uncomfortable; the change moves towards balance. Imbalance exists when all three sides are negative, or two are positive and one negative; balance exists when all three are positive, or two negative and one positive. (b) Cognitive dissonance (Leon Festinger) emphasises the cognitive component: when two cognitions in an attitude are dissonant (e.g. “pan masala causes cancer” and “I eat pan masala”), the discomfort pushes the person to change one cognition towards consonance. (c) The two-step concept (S.M. Mohsin) holds that change occurs in two steps: first the target identifies with the source (liking and regard, made mutual), then the source actually changes her/his own behaviour, which the target imitates — as when a sportsperson stops consuming a harmful soft drink and the fan follows.
Q2. Discuss the factors that influence attitude change.
ANSWERSeveral factors decide whether and how far an attitude will change. (i) Characteristics of the existing attitude: positive attitudes change more easily than negative ones; extreme and central attitudes are harder to change than less extreme and peripheral ones; simple attitudes change more easily than multiple ones. Change may be congruent (same direction as the existing attitude) or incongruent (opposite direction), with congruent change being easier. (ii) Source characteristics: credibility and attractiveness of the source matter — a highly credible source (e.g. a computer engineer recommending a laptop) is more persuasive, though for some products popular public figures work better. (iii) Message characteristics: attitudes change when the amount of information is just right; the appeal may be rational or emotional; too much fear turns off the receiver; and face-to-face transmission is usually more effective than indirect modes. (iv) Target characteristics: qualities such as persuasibility, strong prejudices, self-esteem and intelligence affect change — open, low-self-esteem persons change more easily, while those with strong prejudices change less.
Q3. Explain the sources of prejudice and the strategies for handling it.
ANSWERSources of prejudice: (i) Learning — like other attitudes, prejudices are learned through association, reward/punishment, modelling, group norms and exposure to information, via family, reference groups, personal experiences and media. (ii) Strong social identity and ingroup bias — people with a very positive attitude towards their own group boost it by holding negative attitudes towards other groups. (iii) Scapegoating — blaming a weak minority for the majority’s problems. (iv) Kernel of truth concept — believing there must be some truth in a stereotype. (v) Self-fulfilling prophecy — the target group behaves in ways that confirm the prejudice. Strategies for handling prejudice: aim to minimise opportunities for learning prejudice, change such attitudes, de-emphasise narrow ingroup social identity, and discourage self-fulfilling prophecy among victims. These can be achieved through education and information dissemination to correct stereotypes; increasing intergroup contact (effective only when the groups meet cooperatively rather than competitively, interact closely, and are not unequal in power or status); and highlighting individual identity rather than group identity.
7. LaPiere’s study of a Chinese couple travelling across the USA showed that:
(a) attitudes always predict behaviour (b) attitudes may not always predict actual behaviour (c) behaviour never depends on attitude (d) prejudice cannot be measured
For each Assertion–Reason question, choose: (A) Both true and the Reason correctly explains the Assertion; (B) Both true but the Reason is not the correct explanation; (C) Assertion true, Reason false; (D) Assertion false, Reason true.
A-R 1. Assertion: Attitudes are not behaviour but a tendency to behave.
Reason: Attitudes are part of cognition along with an emotional component and cannot be directly observed from outside.
A-R 2. Assertion: Extreme and central attitudes are easy to change.
Reason: Simple attitudes are easier to change than multiple attitudes.
A-R 3. Assertion: In cognitive dissonance, a person changes one of two clashing cognitions.
Reason: Holding two dissonant cognitions creates mental discomfort that pushes the person towards consonance.
A-R 4. Assertion: Behaviour is always a true reflection of one’s attitude.
Reason: LaPiere’s study found that hotels which actually served a Chinese couple later said in writing that they would refuse Chinese guests.
A-R 5. Assertion: Discrimination can be curbed by law even when prejudice remains.
Reason: The cognitive and emotional components of prejudice are more difficult to change than discriminatory behaviour.
Answer key: 1-(A), 2-(D), 3-(A), 4-(D), 5-(A).
Exam Tips & Common Mistakes
How to score full marks in this chapter
Memorise the definition of attitude and the A-B-C components with one example each, and the four features (valence, extremeness, simplicity/complexity, centrality). For attitude-change questions, always attach the correct psychologist to each concept — Heider (balance/P-O-X), Festinger (cognitive dissonance) and S.M. Mohsin (two-step). Learn the source–message–target factors as a list, and use LaPiere’s study as the standard example for the attitude–behaviour gap. Clearly separate stereotype (cognitive), prejudice (affective attitude) and discrimination (behaviour), and remember the five sources of prejudice plus the strategies for handling it.
Common mistakes to avoid
Treating an attitude as behaviour — it is only a tendency to behave.
Confusing the A-B-C components (within one attitude) with member-attitudes (within an attitude system / multiplexity).
Mixing up the psychologists — Heider for balance, Festinger for dissonance, Mohsin for the two-step concept.
Confusing stereotype (cognitive belief), prejudice (affective attitude) and discrimination (behaviour).
Saying behaviour always matches attitude — forget the conditions for consistency and LaPiere’s finding.
Claiming intergroup contact always reduces prejudice — it works only when groups are cooperative and equal in status.
Frequently Asked Questions
What is Chapter 6 of Class 12 Psychology about?
Chapter 6, Attitude and Social Cognition, introduces social psychology and explains what attitudes are, their affective, behavioural and cognitive (A-B-C) components and four features, how attitudes are formed and changed (balance, cognitive dissonance and the two-step concept), the attitude–behaviour relationship, and the sources of prejudice and discrimination along with strategies for handling prejudice.
What are the three components of an attitude?
An attitude has three components, called the A-B-C: the Affective (emotional/feeling) component, the Behavioural or conative (tendency to act) component, and the Cognitive (thought/belief with an evaluative aspect) component. These are generally expected to be consistent with one another.
Who proposed the cognitive dissonance theory of attitude change?
The concept of cognitive dissonance was proposed by Leon Festinger. It states that when two cognitions in an attitude are dissonant (logically out of tune), the discomfort makes the person change one of them towards consonance — an example of cognitive consistency.
