All 8 questions from UPSC Civil Services Mains Psychology 2026 Paper II (400 marks total). Every stem reproduced in full, with directive-word analysis, marks, word limits, and answer-approach pointers.
8Questions
400Total marks
2026Year
Paper IIPaper
A
Q1
50MCompulsoryexplain
(a) How do psychologists explain the causes of anxiety disorder ? (10 marks)
(b) What is the role of citizenship behaviour towards successful organizational environments ? (10 marks)
(c) Who are the gifted children ? Discussing the needs of gifted children, suggest the modifications required in their educational environment. (10 marks)
(d) What role can social agencies play in supporting the re-integration of ex-offenders ? (10 marks)
(e) Discuss the role of prevention and rehabilitation in mental health care. (10 marks)
हिंदी में पढ़ें
(a) मनोवैज्ञानिक किस प्रकार चिंता विकार के कारणों की व्याख्या करते हैं ? (10 अंक)
(b) सफल संगठनात्मक वातावरण के प्रति नागरिकता व्यवहार की भूमिका क्या है ? (10 अंक)
(c) प्रतिभाशाली बच्चे कौन होते हैं ? प्रतिभाशाली बच्चों की आवश्यकताओं की व्याख्या करते हुए उनके शिक्षा वातावरण में आवश्यक संशोधनों का सुझाव दीजिए । (10 अंक)
(d) सामाजिक संस्थाएं पूर्व अपराधियों के पुन: एकीकरण में क्या भूमिका निभाती हैं ? (10 अंक)
(e) मानसिक स्वास्थ्य सेवा में रोकथाम तथा पुनर्वास की भूमिका की व्याख्या कीजिए । (10 अंक)
Answer approach & key points
(a) 'How do psychologists explain' asks for the competing aetiological models of anxiety disorders, not a description of symptoms; the answer must set out biological, psychodynamic, behavioural/learning, cognitive and socio-cultural explanations and close with an integrative diathesis-stress position. (b) Requires the concept of organizational citizenship behaviour (OCB) to be defined and its dimensions named, and then its causal role in producing a 'successful organizational environment' to be established - antecedents, unit-level outcomes and a brief critical note on its dark side. (c) Three explicit tasks: (i) define/identify gifted children, (ii) discuss their distinctive needs, and (iii) suggest concrete modifications to the educational environment. All three must appear; a purely definitional answer cannot pass. (d) Asks specifically what social agencies - probation and after-care services, NGOs, community and employer bodies - can do to re-integrate released offenders; the answer must state the psychological barriers to re-entry, the theory that justifies agency intervention, and concrete functional roles with Indian examples. (e) 'Discuss the role of' requires both halves to be developed - prevention (at all three levels) and rehabilitation (psychosocial) - showing how each contributes to mental health care, with Indian programmes and a brief evaluative judgement.
DSM-5-TR anxiety disorders class (GAD, panic disorder, agoraphobia, specific phobia, social anxiety disorder, separation anxiety disorder, selective mutism)
ICD-11 'anxiety or fear-related disorders'
GABA-benzodiazepine system; amygdala; locus coeruleus
Kagan - behavioural inhibition
Freud - signal anxiety (1926)
Watson and Rayner - Little Albert (1920)
Mowrer - two-factor theory (1947)
Seligman - preparedness (1971)
Beck - danger schemas; Clark (1986) - catastrophic misinterpretation in panic
Barlow - triple vulnerability / diathesis-stress
Dennis Organ (1988) - definition of OCB; 'good soldier syndrome'
Five dimensions: altruism, conscientiousness, sportsmanship, courtesy, civic virtue
Smith, Organ and Near (1983) - altruism and generalized compliance
Williams and Anderson (1991) - OCB-I and OCB-O
Contextual performance (Borman and Motowidlo, 1993)
Organizational justice / perceived organizational support as antecedents
Podsakoff et al. - OCB and unit-level performance
Citizenship pressure / compulsory citizenship behaviour as the dark side
Terman - IQ 140+, Genetic Studies of Genius (1921)
Marland Report (1972) - six domains of giftedness
Renzulli - three-ring conception; Enrichment Triad / Schoolwide Enrichment Model
Gagne - DMGT (gifts vs talents)
Asynchronous development (Columbus Group, 1991)
Twice-exceptional (2e) learners
Acceleration (grade skipping, early entry, subject acceleration) and curriculum compacting
Differentiated instruction (Tomlinson)
NEP 2020 recognition of gifted children; Jawahar Navodaya Vidyalayas
Goffman - stigma/spoiled identity; Lemert and Becker - labelling and secondary deviance
Maruna (2001) - Making Good, redemption scripts (desistance)
Sampson and Laub - age-graded informal social control (employment, marriage as turning points)
Good Lives Model (Ward and Maruna); Risk-Need-Responsivity (Andrews and Bonta)
Probation of Offenders Act, 1958; probation and parole supervision
After-care homes / halfway houses; vocational training and placement
Prayas (TISS, Mumbai); Tihar Jail reforms including Vipassana
Model Prison Manual 2016 / Model Prisons and Correctional Services Act, 2023
Gordon (1983)/IOM (1994) - universal, selective, indicated prevention
Life-skills education (WHO ten core skills)
Psychosocial rehabilitation: social skills training, cognitive remediation, family psychoeducation, vocational rehabilitation/supported employment, halfway homes
Assertive Community Treatment (Stein and Test, 1980)
National Mental Health Programme 1982; District Mental Health Programme 1996 (Bellary model)
Mental Healthcare Act, 2017; Rights of Persons with Disabilities Act, 2016
(a) Compare and contrast Norm referenced vs criterion referenced measurement. (15 marks)
(b) “Therapeutic approaches must be culturally sensitive” – Discuss with examples from indigenous therapies. (15 marks)
(c) Distinguish between Transactional and Transformational Leaders. Suggest how can they contribute towards creating an effective organizational environment. Give examples. (20 marks)
हिंदी में पढ़ें
(a) मानक संदर्भित बनाम मानदंड संदर्भित मापन की तुलना तथा भेद कीजिए । (15 अंक)
(b) “चिकित्सीय दृष्टिकोण को सांस्कृतिक रूप से संवेदनशील होना चाहिए” । स्वदेशी चिकित्सा के उदाहरणों द्वारा समझाइए । (15 अंक)
(c) संपादनकारी (Transactional) तथा रूपान्तरकारी (Transformational) नेता में अंतर स्पष्ट कीजिए । सुझाव दें कि वे एक प्रभावी संगठनात्मक वातावरण बनाने में कैसे योगदान दे सकते हैं । उदाहरण दीजिए । (20 अंक)
Answer approach & key points
(a) 'Compare and contrast' demands a two-way treatment: the shared features of norm-referenced and criterion-referenced measurement and then their systematic differences on purpose, score interpretation, item selection, reliability/validity evidence and use, ending with a judgement on complementarity. (b) A quotation-based question: establish why therapy must be culturally sensitive (culture shapes idioms of distress, explanatory models and the therapeutic relationship), then substantiate it with concrete indigenous therapies - Indian yoga/Ayurveda, religious and temple healing, and the guru-chela relational model - and end with a critical caution against uncritical endorsement. (c) Three explicit tasks: (i) distinguish transactional from transformational leaders, (ii) suggest how each contributes to an effective organizational environment, and (iii) give examples. The distinction must be drawn on named components of the Full Range Leadership Model, not on adjectives.
Robert Glaser (1963) - criterion-referenced measurement
Percentile rank, z/T/stanine scores, deviation IQ (NRT reporting)
(a) Compare and contrast psychodynamic, behavioural and cognitive therapies. Which is more effective in modern clinical practice ? (15 marks)
(b) Discuss the interpersonal and intrapersonal processes in educational environment that effect the motivational level and aspirations of students. (15 marks)
(c) Examine the essential qualities of a rehabilitation psychologist and discuss the best practices in primary prevention of substance abuse. (20 marks)
हिंदी में पढ़ें
(a) मनोगतिक, व्यावहारिक तथा संज्ञानात्मक चिकित्साओं की तुलना और भेद कीजिए । आधुनिक नैदानिक अभ्यास में कौन सी अधिक प्रभावी है ? (15 अंक)
(b) शैक्षिक वातावरण में पारस्परिक और आंतर्व्यक्तिक प्रक्रियाओं पर चर्चा कीजिए जो छात्रों के प्रेरक स्तर तथा आकांक्षाओं को प्रभावित करती हैं । (15 अंक)
(c) पुनर्वास मनोवैज्ञानिक के मूलभूत गुणों का परीक्षण कीजिए तथा पदार्थ दुरुपयोग की प्राथमिक रोकथाम में सर्वोत्तम प्रथाओं पर चर्चा कीजिए । (20 अंक)
Answer approach & key points
(a) Two demands: a genuine three-way comparison and contrast of psychodynamic, behavioural and cognitive therapies on their model of pathology, goals, techniques and evidence; and an explicit, defended verdict on which is more effective in modern clinical practice. (b) Requires the classroom to be analysed at two levels - intrapersonal processes inside the learner and interpersonal processes between learner, teacher and peers - and both to be tied explicitly to two outcomes: motivational level and level of aspiration. (c) Two distinct halves of roughly equal weight: 'examine' the essential professional and personal qualities of a rehabilitation psychologist, and 'discuss' evidence-based best practices in the primary prevention - i.e. prevention of onset - of substance abuse. Both must be answered.
Free association, transference, resistance, interpretation, working through (psychodynamic)
Wolpe - systematic desensitisation and reciprocal inhibition (1958); exposure and response prevention; token economy (Ayllon and Azrin, 1968)
Shedler (2010) - efficacy of psychodynamic psychotherapy
Dodo bird verdict / common factors (Rosenzweig, 1936; Luborsky; Wampold)
CBT as first-line for depression and anxiety; ERP for OCD
Integrative/eclectic and stepped-care practice
Level of aspiration (Lewin, Dembo, Festinger and Sears, 1944)
Bandura - self-efficacy and its four sources; reciprocal determinism
Weiner - attribution theory (locus, stability, controllability)
Learned helplessness (Seligman; Abramson, Seligman and Teasdale, 1978); Dweck - mindset and mastery vs helpless orientation
Achievement goal theory (mastery/performance-approach/performance-avoidance)
Deci and Ryan - self-determination theory (autonomy, competence, relatedness)
Expectancy-value theory; McClelland's n-Ach
Rosenthal and Jacobson (1968) - Pygmalion effect / self-fulfilling prophecy
Cooperative learning: Jigsaw (Aronson, 1971), STAD (Slavin)
Stereotype threat (Steele and Aronson, 1995); Hoff and Pandey (2006) caste salience study in India
Vygotsky - zone of proximal development and scaffolding
ICF (WHO, 2001) biopsychosocial model of disability; Rehabilitation Council of India Act, 1992; RPwD Act, 2016
Beatrice Wright (1983) - fundamental negative bias, insider-outsider distinction; Dembo, Leviton and Wright value-change (asset values, subordination of physique, containment of disability effects, enlargement of scope of values)
(a) What do you understand by Individual Differences ? Comment on the major methodological issues in construction of tests for assessment. (15 marks)
(b) Analyse the factors that foster collective consciousness and propose a well structured community based intervention program. (15 marks)
(c) How do biological, psychological and social factors influence mental disorders ? Critically examine the concept of mental health and well-being. (20 marks)
हिंदी में पढ़ें
(a) व्यक्तिगत अंतर से आप क्या समझते हैं ? मूल्यांकन के लिए परीक्षण के निर्माण में मूलभूत पद्धतिगत मसलों पर टिप्पणी कीजिए । (15 अंक)
(b) सामूहिक चेतना को बढ़ावा देने वाले कारकों का विश्लेषण कीजिए तथा एक सुव्यवस्थित समुदाय-आधारित हस्तक्षेप कार्यक्रम का प्रस्ताव दीजिए । (15 अंक)
(c) जैविक, मनोवैज्ञानिक और सामाजिक कारक किस प्रकार मानसिक विकार को प्रभावित करते हैं ? मानसिक स्वास्थ्य तथा कल्याण की अवधारणा का आलोचनात्मक परीक्षण कीजिए । (20 अंक)
Answer approach & key points
(a) Two parts: explain the concept and scope of individual differences, then 'comment on' - i.e. identify and evaluate - the major methodological problems that arise when tests are constructed to assess those differences. The second part carries the greater weight. (b) Two linked tasks: 'analyse' the factors that foster collective consciousness, and then 'propose' a concrete, well-structured community-based intervention programme with identifiable stages. A proposal that is merely a list of good intentions will not satisfy the second demand. (c) Two demands: explain how biological, psychological and social factors each influence mental disorders and how they interact; and 'critically examine' - i.e. state and then interrogate - the concepts of mental health and well-being, exposing the limits of standard definitions.
Galton (1884 anthropometric laboratory); J. McK. Cattell (1890, 'mental tests'); Binet-Simon (1905); Stern's IQ (1912); Terman's Stanford-Binet (1916); Army Alpha and Beta (1917)
Answer the following questions in about 150 words each :
(a) Suggest measures to overcome social conflicts and communal tensions using psychological principles. (10 marks)
(b) Examine the psychological consequences of excessive use of technology. (10 marks)
(c) What drives radicalization of individuals towards extremist and terrorist behaviour ? (10 marks)
(d) How can psychological education promote sensitivity to gender diversity ? (10 marks)
(e) What are the key aspects of women entrepreneurship ? What are the initiatives taken by the Government for promoting women entrepreneurship ? (10 marks)
हिंदी में पढ़ें
निम्नलिखित प्रत्येक प्रश्न का उत्तर लगभग 150 शब्दों में दीजिए :
(a) सामाजिक संघर्षों तथा सामुदायिक तनावों को दूर करने के लिए मनोवैज्ञानिक सिद्धांतों का उपयोग करते हुए उपाय सुझाइए । (10 अंक)
(b) प्रौद्योगिकी के अत्यधिक उपयोग के मनोवैज्ञानिक परिणामों की जाँच कीजिए । (10 अंक)
(c) व्यक्तियों के कट्टरपंथीकरण को उग्रवादी और आतंकवादी व्यवहार की ओर क्या कारक ले जाते हैं ? (10 अंक)
(d) मनोवैज्ञानिक शिक्षा किस प्रकार लिंग विविधता के प्रति संवेदनशीलता को प्रोत्साहित करती है ? (10 अंक)
(e) महिला उद्यमशीलता के प्रमुख तत्व क्या हैं ? सरकार द्वारा महिला उद्यमशीलता को बढ़ावा देने के लिए क्या क्या कदम उठाए गए ? (10 अंक)
Answer approach & key points
(a) 'Suggest measures... using psychological principles' requires solutions, not a description of communal conflict; every measure offered must be tied to a named psychological principle, theory or study of intergroup relations. (b) 'Examine' the psychological - cognitive, affective, social and behavioural - consequences of excessive technology use, with diagnostic precision about what is and is not a recognised disorder, and with a balanced note on contested evidence. (c) Asks for the drivers of radicalisation - the process by which ordinary people come to support and commit extremist violence - requiring named process models and mechanisms at individual, group and ideological levels, not a description of terrorism or its history. (d) Asks by what psychological mechanisms education in psychology can build sensitivity to gender diversity - requiring the conceptual content that must be taught, the depathologisation history, the prejudice-reduction processes involved, and concrete curricular and institutional delivery. (e) Two explicit parts of roughly equal weight: the key aspects of women entrepreneurship - its definition, profile, psychological drivers and constraints - and a named list of Government of India initiatives to promote it.
India-linked anchors: NALSA (2014), Navtej Johar (2018), Transgender Persons Act 2019, and inclusive curricula and teacher training
Meaning: enterprise owned and controlled by women (at least 51% capital) and psychological aspects (achievement motivation, self-efficacy, locus of control)
Barriers: finance and collateral, mobility, work-family conflict, stereotypes
Government schemes: Mudra, Stand-Up India, PMEGP, TREAD or Mahila e-Haat
Support ecosystem: WEP (NITI Aayog), DAY-NRLM SHGs or Lakhpati Didi, CGTMSE
(a) What are the consequences of facing deprivation in early childhood ? (15 marks)
(b) Define social integration and discuss the major psychological barriers to achieving it in a multicultural society. (15 marks)
(c) Evaluate the psychological impact of chronic exposure to noise and crowding on cognition, emotional regulation and behaviour of people. (20 marks)
हिंदी में पढ़ें
(a) प्रारंभिक बाल्यकाल में वंचना का सामना करने के परिणाम क्या-क्या हैं ? (15 अंक)
(b) सामाजिक एकीकरण की परिभाषा दीजिए तथा एक बहुसांस्कृतिक समाज में इसे प्राप्त करने में प्रमुख मनोवैज्ञानिक बाधाओं पर चर्चा कीजिए । (15 अंक)
(c) ध्वनि तथा भीड़ के दीर्घकालिक संपर्क का लोगों की संज्ञानात्मक क्षमता, भावनात्मक नियंत्रण और व्यवहार पर मनोवैज्ञानिक प्रभाव का मूल्यांकन कीजिए । (20 अंक)
Answer approach & key points
(a) Asks for the consequences - across attachment and emotion, cognition and language, brain and body, and the life course - of deprivation experienced in early childhood, supported by the classic deprivation studies, and with the question of reversibility addressed. (b) Two tasks: define social integration precisely and distinguish it from assimilation and other acculturation outcomes; then discuss the major psychological - not merely economic or legal - barriers to achieving it in a multicultural society. (c) 'Evaluate' the impact of chronic - not acute - exposure to two environmental stressors, noise and crowding, on three named outcomes: cognition, emotional regulation and behaviour. All three outcomes and both stressors must be covered, with evidence, and 'evaluate' requires moderators and limits to be weighed.
Sensitive period; attachment and emotional consequences (Bowlby, Spitz, Harlow)
Cognitive and language consequences with evidence (Romanian orphan studies; Genie)
Social and behavioural effects (peer problems, conduct, emotional regulation)
Moderators and recovery: age at intervention, foster care, enrichment (Skeels and Dye)
Definition of social integration (equal participation with identity retained)
Distinction from assimilation, separation and marginalisation (Berry)
Barriers: stereotypes and prejudice, perceived threat, ethnocentrism, social identity threat
(a) Clarifying the conceptual model of team cohesion, enumerate the antecedent factors that shape and build team cohesion among athletes. (15 marks)
(b) Critically explain the relationship between achievement motivation and economic development. (15 marks)
(c) What are disadvantaged groups ? Why is it important to provide support to them ? Suggest some important interventions for vulnerable children. (20 marks)
हिंदी में पढ़ें
(a) टीम सामंजस्य के वैचारिक मॉडल को स्पष्ट करते हुए खिलाड़ियों में टीम सामंजस्य को आकार देने और बनाने वाले पूर्वर्ती कारकों की गणना करें । (15 अंक)
(b) उपलब्धि अभिप्रेरणा तथा आर्थिक विकास के बीच संबंध की आलोचनात्मक व्याख्या कीजिए । (15 अंक)
(c) सुविधा वंचित समूह क्या हैं ? उनको समर्थन प्रदान करना क्यों महत्वपूर्ण है ? संवेदनशील बच्चों के लिए कुछ महत्वपूर्ण हस्तक्षेप सुझाइए । (20 अंक)
Answer approach & key points
(a) Two linked tasks: clarify the conceptual model of team cohesion - which in sport psychology means Carron's framework and its four-dimensional measurement - and then enumerate the antecedent factors, which in that model fall into four named categories. (b) 'Critically explain' requires both the exposition of McClelland's claim that achievement motivation drives economic development - with its evidence and mechanism - and a sustained critique on methodological, conceptual and structural grounds, ending in a balanced verdict. (c) Three explicit demands: define and identify disadvantaged groups, justify why they must be supported, and suggest specific interventions for vulnerable children. All three must be answered, with the interventions concrete and named.
Definition and dimensions: task and social cohesion; ATG and GI (Carron; GEQ)
Environmental factors
Personal and leadership factors
Team factors, and the link to consequences for performance and the group
McClelland's thesis (n-Ach of society predicts growth) and its evidence (content analysis, 1925 readers, Weber)
Kakinada training experiment or n-Ach training
Critique: causal direction, TAT measurement, Western individualism
Structural factors ignored; balanced conclusion
Definition with Indian examples (SC/ST, poor, disabled, girls, child labourers)
Reasons for support: cycle of poverty, early deprivation, equal opportunity, constitutional provisions (Articles 15(4), 46, 21A; RTE)
Early stimulation, nutrition and compensatory education (ICDS, PM POSHAN, bridge courses)
(a) Analyse the impact of gender based psychological construct, ‘Glass ceiling’, on women’s participation in Indian work force. (15 marks)
(b) How can consumer rights and consumer awareness impact consumer behaviour ? (15 marks)
(c) Critically analyze the impact of television and digital media on behaviour, values and cognition. (20 marks)
हिंदी में पढ़ें
(a) भारतीय कार्य बल में महिलाओं की भागीदारी पर लिंग आधारित मनोवैज्ञानिक रचना ‘ग्लास सीलिंग’ के प्रभाव का विश्लेषण कीजिए । (15 अंक)
(b) उपभोक्ता के अधिकार तथा उपभोक्ता जागरूकता किस प्रकार उपभोक्ता के व्यवहार को प्रभावित करते हैं ? (15 अंक)
(c) व्यवहार, मूल्य तथा संज्ञान पर टेलीविज़न तथा डिजिटल मीडिया के प्रभाव का आलोचनात्मक विश्लेषण कीजिए । (20 अंक)
Answer approach & key points
(a) Requires the glass ceiling to be defined precisely as a psychological construct, the psychological mechanisms that produce it to be named, and its specific impact on Indian women's workforce participation and advancement to be analysed with data and policy. (b) Asks for the causal pathway from consumer rights and consumer awareness to actual consumer behaviour - requiring the statutory rights to be named, the effect to be traced through the stages of the consumer decision process, and the limits of the information-equals-better-choice assumption to be examined. (c) 'Critically analyse' the impact of television and digital media on three named outcomes - behaviour, values and cognition - requiring theory, empirical evidence including the negative and positive findings, and an explicit weighing of effect sizes, moderators and methodological limits.
Definition of glass ceiling as invisible attitudinal and organisational barrier
Psychological roots: stereotypes, role congruity, tokenism, stereotype threat or impostor feelings
Impact on Indian participation: low FLFPR, sticky floor, leaky pipeline, senior-level under-representation, pay gap
Remedies with Indian anchors (mentoring, Maternity Benefit Amendment 2017, POSH 2013, Companies Act 2013)
Consumer rights under the Consumer Protection Act 2019 (six rights)
Awareness leads to informed decisions, label reading, comparison and standard-mark checks