Let’s Decode UPSC

ETHICS DEFINITIONS

1. Attitudes might occasionally contain many positive and many negative elements, leading to
attitudinal ambivalence.
2. When people possess ambivalence, making them mindful (salience) causes their behaviour to reflect
the salient elements. This is called response polarization.
3. Attitude function refers to the role or purpose that an individual's attitude plays in a particular
situation.

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4. Object Appraisal Function: It is the ability of attitudes to summarize the positive and negative
attributes of objects in our social world.
5. Social Adjustment Function: It helps us to identify with people whom we like and to dissociate from
people whom we dislike.
6. Externalization: It is fulfilled by attitudes that defend the self against internal conflict. This helps one
maintain their self-esteem despite public or internal criticism.
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7. Self-efficacy is perception of our own ability to deal with a situation. If a person is not self-efficacious
about their ability to impact the global environment, they are not likely to change their attitude or
behaviour about global warming.
8. Attitude accessibility refers to how readily available is an attitude about an object, issue, or
situation in memory.
9. Cognitive Dissonance Theory: It explains how people experience mental discomfort or
"dissonance" when they encounter information or situations that contradict their beliefs, attitudes,
or values. This discomfort motivates people to change their beliefs, attitudes, or behaviors to reduce
the dissonance.
10. "Political attitudes" refer to individuals' views, opinions, and feelings about political issues,
policies, events, parties, and leaders.
11. Nationalism is an ideology that holds that a nation is the fundamental unit for human social life, and
takes precedence over any other social and political principles.
12. Political Conservatism favours tradition and gradual change, where tradition refers to religious,
cultural, or nationally defined beliefs and customs.
13. Liberalism considers individual liberty to be the most important political goal and aims at freedom
of thought and speech, limitations on the power of governments, rule of law, free exchange of ideas,
a market or mixed economy and a transparent system of government.
14. Political Radicalism is adherence to radical views and principles in politics.
15. Moral attitudes are the feelings, beliefs, and perspectives that guide our understanding of what is
right and wrong. They shape how we judge actions, make decisions, and interact with others based
on our sense of ethics and values.
16. Reverence: It is a feeling or attitude of deep respect. It involves a humbling of the self in respectful
recognition of something perceived to be greater than the self.
17. Faithfulness: It means unfailingly remaining loyal to someone or something, and putting that loyalty
into practice regardless of circumstances.
18. Awareness of Responsibility: It is the ability of a person to live his life while fully aware of his
responsibilities.
19. Goodness: It is inclination to do what is right, beneficial, and morally positive. It involves a
commitment to act in ways that promote the well-being of others, demonstrate integrity, and uphold
ethical principles.
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20. Social influence refers to the ways in which individuals and groups affect the attitudes, beliefs, and
behaviors of others consciously or unconsciously.
21. Persuasion is a form of social influence. It is the process of consciously guiding people towards the
adoption of an idea, attitude, or action by rational means.
22. Attitude inoculation is the technique whereby people are exposed to small doses of arguments
against their position, making it easier for them to refute these arguments later. This approach
inoculates people against attacks that play on their emotions and values.
23. Attitude forewarning is to warn them in advance that someone will be trying to change their
attitudes. When people were forewarned, they analyze what they see and hear more carefully and as
a result are likely to avoid attitude change.
24. Prejudice refers to irrational attitudes and opinions held by members of one group about another.
25. Discrimination refers to discriminatory behaviors directed against another group.
26. A stereotype is belief or generalization about something or about particular category of people.
27. An aptitude is an innate inborn ability or capacity to learn or to do a certain kind of work. Aptitude is
what you're naturally good at.
28. Intelligence is a broad term that refers to the ability to learn, understand, and reason. It
encompasses cognitive abilities such as problem-solving, critical thinking, and creativity; aptitude is
limited to certain areas.
29. Skills are a backward-looking description i.e. what a person has learned to do in the past typically
through practice and experience.
30. Abilities are a present description i.e. what a person can do now.
31. Integrity is adherence to values and principles even in the face of temptation or pressure.
32. Honesty is being truthful, sincere, and straightforward in all actions, words, and intentions.
33. Objectivity is the quality of being impartial and free from bias. It is to approach situations and
decisions with an objective or neutral mindset, based on facts-evidence.
34. Impartiality is acting on merits and serving everyone without bias.
35. Non-partisanship is to serve the Government to best of your ability no matter what your own
political beliefs are.
36. Dedication to Public Service: It refers to a strong commitment to serving the public and making a
positive impact on society. It involves putting public interest above one's own personal gain or
interests.
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37. Compassion is the quality of being empathetic, understanding, and caring towards others. It
involves a genuine concern for the welfare of others and a willingness to act to alleviate their
suffering or improve their circumstances.
38. Empathy is understanding/feeling what others feel, sympathy is acknowledging their
emotions/feelings, and compassion is acting to alleviate their suffering.
39. Tolerance is defined as a fair and objective outlook towards those whose lifestyle differ from us and
is a skill we need to live together peacefully.
40. Perseverance refers to the ability to persist and continue working towards a goal despite facing
obstacles, challenges, or setbacks. It involves maintaining effort, commitment, and determination
over a prolonged period of time, even in the face of adversity or difficulties.
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